A spring ID camp from April 12-14 will kick start the Nanaimo Buccaneers upcoming season. With new coach Bill Bestwick at the helm the team is looking to made strides on the ice and in the community. (Dan Marshall)

By Dan Marshall

Turning Things Around

Buccaneers start rebuild with spring ID camp

Apr 13, 2024 | 10:43 AM

NANAIMO — The first look at potential players for the Nanaimo Buccaneers next season happens at the team’s ID camp this weekend at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.

New head coach Bill Bestwick said the upcoming ice sessions from Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14 will lay the foundation for their 2024-25 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League season.

“This ID camp is really important for this organization as we’re on a rebrand and working towards a more successful season. This is our first chance to be in front of 60 plus players, 60 plus families and to demonstrate our level of professionalism for people who wish to become a Buccaneer.”

Coming off a 1-47 season in 2023-24, Bestwick knows there’s a long road ahead to become a winning team on the ice and in the community.

“It’s about trust and earning respect. It’s energy in an energy out. You can’t expect people to support you because you’d like them to. You have to hope people will support you because they acknowledge and recognize that you’re doing a great service for the boys in uniform and the volunteers and the people who are involved in the organization.”

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Bestwick was hired in March and will be augmenting the Buccaneers coaching staff in the coming days.

He said the commitment to becoming a first class organization comes from the top down.

“I know that ownership is one hundred percent committed to making sure this organization comes to the forefront in every aspect of on and off the ice activities. There’s a lot of work to do and we know how much work there is. I’m excited for the chance to help rebuild this team.”

Bestwick has a vision for what kind of team he’d like to see when the Buccaneers hit the ice in September.

“I wish to be a proximity team which means local kids and Vancouver Islanders wherever possible. We want to be the absolute hardest team in the league to play against. We accomplish that through the type of the player that we’ll recruit. It can’t be all skill, it can’t be all grit and hardworking or greasy players. It has to be a combination of those things. And of course good goaltending will make any coach look good.”

His last stint behind a junior hockey bench was with the Oceanside Generals in 2014.

Bestwick was head coach of the Nanaimo Clippers from 1999-2011 and the Victoria Grizzlies between 2012-2013.

Bestwick guided the Clippers to a pair of BCHL and national championship victories in 2004 and 2007.

“I never thought that I’d be this excited to be back,” Bestwick told NanaimoNewsNOW. “To get to talk to kids through the recruiting process, they’re so wide eyed, they’re so eager, it really just gives me a sense of pride.”

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