Simon Fraser University adds longtime pro Jim Camazzola as Assistant Coach

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The Simon Fraser University Men’s Ice Hockey program is pleased to announce the addition of Jim Camazzola as an assistant coach for the 2011/12 British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League season. Camazzola will work closely with Clan head coach Mark Coletta and be primarily responsible for working with the team’s defencemen.

Camazzola was born in Burnaby, B.C. and joins his hometown university team with an impressive resume that includes a professional playing and coaching career spanning nearly three decades and two continents. His path to pro hockey began at the Burnaby Winter Club and led to the British Colubmbia Junior Hockey League, from where the Chicago Blackhawks drafted him in 1982.

He went on to star with the Kamloops Junior Oilers and New Westminster Bruins during a Western Hockey League career that saw him named to the All-Star team at the 1984 Memorial Cup. Jim made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks in 1986 and went on to play three seasons in the American and International Hockey Leagues before moving to Europe, where he spent 14 professional seasons in Italy and Germany before retiring as a player in 2002.

He has since coached at home and abroad, holding head coaching positions with Asiago HC in Italy’s Serie A and with the Pacific International Junior Hockey League’s Delta Icehawks.

“Jim’s experience, knowledge and ability to communicate with players make him a valuable and welcome addition to our coaching team,” says SFU head coach Mark Coletta. “His guidance will be a key to the success of our group of six freshmen defenceman, and personally I look forward to working closely with Jim as we begin the process of shaping a competitive team for another run at a BCIHL Championship.”

Camazzola joins an SFU team that is just weeks away from facing its first-ever NCAA Division I opponent, as the Clan will travel to Wenatchee, WA to face 2011 Atlantic Hockey conference champions Air Force on Saturday, October 1st.

“I’m very excited to be joining the coaching staff at Simon Fraser University,” he says. “I’ve had the opportunity of playing and coaching hockey for a large part of my life and I’m looking forward to helping this program grow and achieve their future goals.”

SFU’s 2011 training camp begins on Saturday, August 27th at the Burnaby Lake Arena.