Coaching Staff

Assistant Coach – Clayton Stoner – clayton@cowichancapitals.com

The NHL veteran of  10 years, Stoner enjoyed defending the blue line for the Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks and the Vegas Golden Knights.

Clayton was a top D man in the WHL and was drafted 3rd round by the Minnesota Wild in the 2004 NHL draft. He then went to play in the AHL to further develop his skills and prepare him for the NHL. A long career including a NHL final and Two Western conference final appearances throughout his career Stoner decided to retire in 2018 after struggling with recurring injuries.

As a defenseman Stoner learned all aspects of the game throughout his 14 year professional career. Since retiring in 2018 he has been coaching and developing players on to their future goals. He is passionate about working with junior age players and help them on and off the ice.

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.

Assistant Coach – Mike Stutzel – mike@cowichancapitals.com

Mike Stutzel will serve as both the Capitals assistant coach for the 2023-2024 season and the Director of Player Development.  Mike played 4 seasons in the BCHL before playing Div. 1 NCAA hockey at Northern Michigan University. Mike went on to play several years of professional hockey in the NHL, AHL, ECHL and Europe.

He rounded out his North American pro career with the Victoria Salmon Kings notching 52 points in 61 games before one season in the EIHL with the Edinburgh Capitals.

Goalie Coach – Nathan Wolfe

After finishing playing in 2016, Nathan began working as a coach for Paul Whintors at Complex Hockey Training.

Starting in 2023, Nathan was hired as the goalie coach and head goalie scout for the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the BCHL.  Nathan delivers both on ice and off ice programming for our netminders and prospects, while developing a fluid relationship with each individual to build them up for long term success.

Trainer – Duane Currie

Equipment Manager – Hunter Lang

Scouting Staff
Ross Simnor – Director of Scouting

Scouting inquires can be sent to: ross@cowichancapitals.com

Regional Scouts 
Mike Sikora – Head Scout Ontario/GTA
Bryan Elliott – Head Scout Southern Ontario/NY State
Randy Barker – Head Scout Minnesota
Isaac Scheetz – Head Scout South Alberta
Mike Hofstrand – Head Scout California
Jeff Grabinsky – Head Scout Fraser Valley
Rob Simnor – Head Scout Lower Mainland
Mason Mitchell – Head Scout Northern Alberta
Tim Coleman – Head Scout Austria/Central Europe
Justin Cohn – Head Scout Pennsylvania
Matt Audette – Head Scout Saskatchewan
Eric Walsh – Head Scout Massachusetts

Business Staff

Melanie Molleken – Business & Sales Director

melanie@cowichancapitals.com

Heather Horn – Office admin & Game day Coordinator
capitalshockeyoffice@yahoo.com

Lisa Bodnaruk – Community Liaison

Justis Doucet – Play by Play Broadcaster/Communications

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

About Us

2022-Present

Island Capitals Sports and Entertainment Group, headed by John Dewar, Bill Rai and Clayton Stoner bought the Capitals in September from seven-season former owner Ray Zhang.  The Group is working to restore the Cowichan Valley Capitals’ franchise to some of its past glory, while building strong relationships with the community.