Before entering his junior season at the University of Vermont this fall, former Okotoks Oiler defenseman Robert Hamilton has a chance to live his dream.

The 21 year old will be skating at Vancouver Canucks development camp this week, competing with the some of the best prospects the Canucks have to offer.

Hamilton says he’s excited to skate with prospects like 6th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft Jake Virtanen of the Calgary Hitmen.

“I hear about those guys on the news, I see them on the TV when I’m back in Calgary, it’s exciting,” he says. “There’s a couple of other guys on my team going to camps, just looking forward to meeting new guys and getting out there.”

Hamilton found out at Christmas time that he would be one of the team’s invites and says it’s been quite the journey to get to this point.

“I’ve pretty much been preparing since then, I’m excited," he says.  "It’ll be tough, I think I’ll end up being one of the older guys at the camp, there’s still a lot of really good young guys out there. I’m excited to see how I match-up against them and how everything goes.”

He says the invite to Canucks camp is something he’s been looking forward to his whole career.

“Always have that dream of playing in the NHL, playing in the show in front of 20 thousand people every night which would be an absolute blast,” he says. “I would absolutely love and die to do that.”

There's one small connection between Hamilton and the Canucks, as he played Atom hockey with Head Coach Willie Desjardins' son.

Hamilton played 115 games in an Oiler uniform in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, notching 51 points and earning a spot on the AJHL’s South Division all rookie team.

Hamilton begins skating with the rest of the Canucks prospects July 7 till July 11.

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