While he hasn't set foot or skate on its campus, Vernon's Tyler Burke has a good feeling about the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans' men's hockey team.
Burke has committed to play for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Div. III team in Castleton, Vermont, starting in September. The signing comes after Burke helped lead the Grand Forks Border Bruins to the team's most successful season in franchise history in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
"I haven't been for a visit but the coach (Kyle Richards) showed me some videos and photos, and gave me a breakdown of the campus," said Burke following a shift as a summer attendant at Vernon's Predator Ridge Golf Resort. "He reminds me a lot of my coach in Grand Forks (Dave Hnatiuk). Same style, same personality. He's a guy you feel comfortable talking to, and he has a good plan of where he wants things to go in the future.
"It's along the lines of what Grand Forks has been doing. It's going to be a good hockey culture there."
Burke, 21, is coming off a standout season in the KIJHL, where he ranked second in league scoring with 72 points (33 goals, 39 assists) in 44 regular season games.
The six-foot-tall, 180-pound forward was a key contributor to the Border Bruins’ historic 2024–25 campaign. Grand Forks finished first overall in the KIJHL standings before capturing their first-ever Teck Cup championship and going on to win the Mowat Cup as B.C.’s Junior A Provincial Champions.
Burke was named the Teck Cup Playoff MVP after amassing 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 17 games. He continued his dominant play in the Mowat Cup, leading all scorers with 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in four games as the Border Bruins won the provincial title, 3-1, over the Ridge Meadows Flames from Maple Ridge and the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
"It's pretty crazy, and it was mind-boggling that it didn't really hit me until late in the year that the team hadn't won the KIJHL in its nearly 60-year existence," said Burke. "To be part of the first team to do something historical is pretty special, for sure."
Over his three-year KIJHL career, which began with the North Okanagan Knights in 2021–22, then the Sicamous Eagles in 2022-23 before being dealt in-season to Grand Forks, Burke played 171 regular season games, collecting 73 goals and 116 assists for 189 points. He also appeared in 39 playoff contests, producing 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists). His 2024–25 season marked personal bests in goals, assists, and points.
At Castleton University, Burke will join a growing list of KIJHL alumni on the Spartans’ roster, including Cam Reid (Kimberley Dynamiters) and 2022-23 league MVP Luke Chakrabarti (Osoyoos Coyotes, Creston Valley Thunder Cats). The program also recently added David Coyle, a former Revelstoke Grizzlies forward.
"A lot of universities are picking up players from the KIJHL and making the most of it because they're all really strong players," said Burke. "The plans (at Castleton) are for me to be in the lineup (as a freshman). The coach likes my two-way play, strong offensively and defensively, which he thinks he can utilize me in a number of ways."
VTSU Castleton Spartans went 5-18-2 (3-16-1) in its final run in the New England Hockey Conference. The Spartans will join the Little East Conference (LEC) with nine other programs for the inaugural season in 2025-26.
The Hobart Statesmen from Geneva, NY won the NCAA Div. III national championship. Its roster included freshman defenceman Connor Elliot, former captain of the B.C. Hockey League's Vernon Vipers.
