Why this North Vancouver club has produced 3 of the top young hockey stars

On a Friday afternoon in November, the North Shore Winter Club was buzzing with kids dragging hockey bags through the halls.

The members-only club in North Vancouver, which dates back to the 1950s, has four different ice surfaces where players of all ages can work on their skills. There’s also a gym and multiple courts for tennis and pickleball.

Behind the glass that peers into one ice sheet, there’s a wall of alumni.

That list includes three of the brightest stars in the game, all of whom could be wearing a Canadian jersey at the Olympics this February: University of Minnesota defender Chloe Primerano, and NHLers Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard.

Bedard and Celebrini were first overall picks in the NHL draft in back-to-back years and have become two of the best players in the league.

Primerano, an 18-year-old who’s in her second year of college, is one of the brightest prospects for Team Canada and someday, the PWHL. If she makes the Olympic team, she’ll be the youngest to do so since Marie-Philip Poulin in 2010.

In the summer, you’re likely to find all three of them taking advantage of the club’s ice or working in the fitness centre, training for the season ahead.

Bringing alumni back is something the club wants to foster as a way of building community, according to Kyle Turris, the retired NHLer who played at the club growing up, and is now its general manager.

“All three of them are very special talents,” Turris said. “It’s neat for all of the minor hockey kids to see that and learn from it.”

That all three come from North Vancouver is no accident. It’s a growing hockey hotbed, particularly for women’s hockey. With the Vancouver Goldeneyes beginning play in the PWHL this season, that will likely continue to grow.