"Excited to announce I will be joining @UBCMHKY in the upcoming fall!! Excited to see what the next chapter has in store!"
With those words on his Twitter account, Jake LeBrun made it official he'll be bringing his talents as a power forward to the UBC Thunderbirds hockey team.
The 20-year-old Prince George native, who helped the West Kelowna Warriors win the Royal Bank Cup junior A national championship in May, is one of four T-birds players with Prince George ties on the roster for next season.
The six-foot-one, 215-pound LeBrun captained the Prince George Spruce Kings until he was traded to West Kelowna in January. He recovered from a broken collarbone and returned to the ice in February. He played 24 playoff games for the Warriors, spicing the offence with four goals and six assists on the way to winning the B.C. Hockey League Fred Page Cup championship.
UBC has also recruited defenceman Joseph Carvalho, 20, who played the past four seasons in the WHL with the Prince George Cougars. The five-foot-eight, 170-pound native of Burnaby finished his junior career playing all but one of the Cougars 72 league games, finishing with two goals and 29 assists for 31 points. He also had an assist in the Cougars' four-game first-round playoff series loss to Seattle.
"I chose UBC because it's a fantastic university where I can continue my education as I work towards my degree - it has an excellent hockey program which gives me the opportunity to further my hockey career," said Carvalho, on the T-birds website gothunderbrds.ca. "After talking to many people, I knew UBC was the perfect choice for me. UBC is located in a world class city and I can't wait to be a part of its campus community."
Former Cougar defenceman Raymond Grewall is returning for his second season at UBC. The 20-year-old from Prince George was held without a point in 12 games in 2015-16 for the T-birds. Grewall played two full seasons with the Cougars (2012-14) and had a brief stint with the Spruce Kings in 2014-15 before he returned to the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders.
Former Cougar forward Nick Buonassisi, 24, is heading into his fourth season at UBC. He played three season with the Cats from 2008-12 before he was sent to Lethbridge. The native of Coquitam finished his WHL career in Brandon. He picked up four goals and 14 points n 23 games for the T-birds last season.
UBC finished sixth in the CIS Canada West Conference and was swept out of the playoffs by Mount Royal in a two-game series.
T-birds head coach Adam Shell has recruited three other players with WHL experience over the past month - defenceman Jerret Smith (captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds last season), defenceman Tanner Faith (Moose Jaw Warriors) and forward Carter Popoff (Vancouver Giants).
