Coaching Staff
Head Coach & General Manager – Mike Vandekamp
Mike Vandekamp is back for his second stint as Head Coach and General Manager of the Capitals. Previously with the team from 2018-2020, Vandekamp lead the Capitals to back-to-back appearances in the second round of the BCHL Playoffs. He has coached more than 1500 junior hockey games between the British Columbia Hockey League, Alberta Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
Assistant Coach – Dan Whiteford
Dan was most recently the Head Coach for the Lake Cowichan Kraken of the VIJHL. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach/scout for the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the BCHL for multiple seasons.
Dan grew up in Duncan BC, playing minor hockey there until moving on to play Jr B and Jr A hockey in Castlegar, Kerry Park and Williams Lake. He then got into coaching and Became the Assistant Coach of the Kerry Park Islanders of the VIJHL in 1999. After a couple years of Jr he took over Bantam and Midget programs here in Cowichan as well as in Victoria. In 2013-14 Dan would join the Cowichan Capitals as a scout and in 2016-17 Dan was appointed as Assistant Coach of Cowichan Capitals under Bob Beatty.
In 2019 Dan left Cowichan to pursue other opportunities which led him to taking over the expansion Lake Cowichan Kraken of the VIJHL. With the re-hiring of Mike Vandekamp Dan was brought back to Cowichan as the Assistant Coach in 2022.
Development Staff
Jason Becker is originally from Saskatoon, SK and has been coaching at various levels including the WHL, BCHL and CSSHL in BC over the last 12 years. Jason’s playing career began in the WHL(1991-1995), continued on to the University of Saskatchewan(1995-2000) and finished with a 9 year professional career with 8 years spent in Europe(2000-2009).
After his playing days, Jason joined the Prince George Cougars in December 2009 as an Assistant Coach. In 2014 he took a position at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton as a Head Coach. In 2016 Jason joined the Penticton Vees as an Assistant Coach(2016-19) where the Vees won the Fred Page Cup that season. In 2019 Jason joined St. Georges of the CSSHL where he coached the U18 team. The last 2 years Jason has been the Head Coach of the U18 team at the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy. This year he will oversee the new Pacific Coast Hockey Academy U17 Prep Team.
Jason has and continues to be heavily involved with Hockey Canada and BC Hockey Male High Performance Programs. He was the Head Coach for Team Pacific at the 2013 U17 World Hockey Challenge, an Assistant Coach with Team BC(U16) that won gold at the 2017 WHL Cup and an Assistant Coach with Team BC (U16)at the 2019 Canada Winter Games. Most recently he was the Lead Evaluator for Team BC(U16) that captured Gold at the 2021 WHL Cup. He is continuing this role as the Lead Evaluator for Team BC(U16) that will participate at the 2023 Canada Winter Games. Jason has also just completed his certification as a Hockey Canada Skills Coach.
Scouting Staff
Randy Barker – Regional Scout
TJ Clarke – Regional Scout
Team Pastor – Kevin VanderVeen
Medical Staff
Team Doctors:
Dr. D. Gee
Dr. W. Reynolds
Dr. M. Woods
Dr. Reimer
Team Dentist:
Dr. Gordon Levin
Team Optometrists:
Dr. Richard Anderson
Dr. Linda Kirsh
