A Scotts Valley 17-year-old has headed to Minnesota to pursue his dream of playing ice hockey at a Division I university.
Adam Canepa left this fall to attend boarding school at Shattuck St. Mary’s School to play hockey and attend classes — both in preparation for college.
Shattuck St. Mary’s has been called the “Hogwarts of hockey,” as a reference to the school where magicians train in the popular Harry Potter series.
It’s the school many NHL stars attended, including Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Zach Parise — the New Jersey Devils’ leading scorer.
Canepa, who before his transfer attended Scotts Valley High School, has played hockey nearly his entire life.
“It’s been my passion since I was 5,” Canepa said. “I played on the Junior Sharks (hockey team in San Jose) for more than 10 years.”
Canepa applied for the school and was one of 55 players invited to try out for the hockey team. He found out later that of the 55 who tried out, he was one of eight players to make the roster.
But academics are a key part of the Shattuck St. Mary’s program.
“I’m excited, but I’m also nervous,” Canepa said. “I’m not that nervous about what happens on the ice. Academically, there is a lot of pressure.”
Canepa, a forward, began playing street hockey when he was four. He took part in roller hockey leagues at the former Scotts Valley Sports Center before joining the Junior Sharks Ice Hockey team when he was 8 or 9. The traveling team toured the country and even played in Canada at a tournament in New Market Ontario.
“We were getting booed and stuff,” Canepa recalls.
Despite the jeers, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
The Junior Sharks also won the California state championship several times with Canepa taking a lead goal-scoring roll.
After attending Brook Knoll Elementary School and Scotts Valley Middle School, Canepa attended one year at Scotts Valley High before he and his family decided last they would make a long-term commitment to hockey to see where it took him.
Now, his goal is to play at a Division I level.
“I’ll attend St. Mary’s my junior and senior year, and then hope to play Division I,” he said.
