A trio of former Williams Lake minor hockey players are taking their talents abroad at the university level this fall.
Chase Dubois, Daine Dubois and Landon Fuller have each made commitments to their respective schools for the upcoming 2020/21 hockey season.
While unclear exactly what that season will look like due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all three are expecting to report to their teams later this summer and prior to the fall school semester.
LANDON FULLER
Williams Lake’s Landon Fuller will suit up for the Trinity Western University Spartans for the 2020/21 season.
Fuller, a six-foot-five-inch, 225-pound defenceman, 20, began his junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans before finishing the season as a rookie in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League between the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and the Sicamous Eagles.
After that season Fuller would move on to play 21 games in the WHL and 184 games in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) over the next four seasons, including a playoff stint with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.
In 55 games last season with the Vernon Vipers as their assistant captain, Fuller notched 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points, along with 68 penalty minutes.
READ MORE: Lakecity well represented on provincial hockey stage
On committing to play at TWU for the Spartans, Fuller told the Tribune it’s an exciting opportunity as the university is moving up to compete at the U Sports level (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport) this season.
“With TWU, I have a Christian background so that pulled me toward it — I really liked that,” he said. “And being that they’re moving up to U Sports, so making that jump will be cool to start that foundation.”
Landon will be pursuing a business degree at the TWU campus in Langley.
“It just felt like a good fit to me,” he said. “I can be close to home and family, so it’s a good place to live and be able to play hockey.”
DAINE DUBOIS
Williams Lake’s Daine Dubois announced early this summer he would be taking his talents to the NCAA Division 1 Long Island University Sharks.
LIU will be competing in their inaugural season.
Daine, 20, joins the Sharks after playing two seasons in the BCHL with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in 2016/17 and the Trail Smoke Eaters in 2017/18.
READ MORE: Dubois, Loring win bronze medals with Team BC at National Aboriginal Hockey Championship
He then joined the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Bonnyville Pontiacs for the next two seasons playing 117 games and recording 47 goals and 69 assists.
“I’m most excited and a bit nervous about living in New York City and how different that experience will be coming from Williams Lake,” he said. “I’d seen on Twitter the NCAA put out there was a brand new school joining the league and what happened was once they named their coach he actually reached out to me, which was kind of nice.”
At LIU, Daine will be enroled in a sports management degree program, and will live on campus with teammates.
“I’m looking forward to making the jump to the next level and proving myself to be the player I was in junior,” he said.
CHASE DUBOIS
Chase Dubois, 22, is headed back to Alaska for his second season with the NCAA Division 1 University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks.
Chase was a junior ‘A’ standout in the BCHL with the West Kelowna Warriors where, in his last season, he scored 21 goals and tallied 41 assists. He added another nine points in seven games in the 2018/19 playoffs.
He said his rookie season with the Nanooks — who play in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association — was an eye-opening experience.
READ MORE: Dubois caps off final season with team awards
After coming home to Williams Lake to finish the remainder of the school year following the novel coronavirus pandemic, Chase said he’s looking forward getting back on the ice on Aug. 16 when he will rejoin the team for the 2020/21 season.
“It was a good year, with the highlight for me probably winning the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup,” he said, noting the series is an annual award given to the winner of the most games between his team and Alaska Anchorage during the season.
At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Chase is taking a business management degree.
greg.sabatino@wltribune.com
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