By Regan Bartel

Bruno Campese holds hockey's holy grail

West Kelowna based scout wins Stanley Cup

Jun 14, 2023 | 10:46 AM

West Kelowna’s Bruno Campese is a Stanley Cup champion.

The amateur scout with the Vegas Golden Knights was in the winner’s circle last night as the six-year-old franchise won hockey’s holy grail.

“It was nuts”, Campese told RocketFAN in an exclusive interview on the atmosphere inside T-Mobile Arena as the Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 9-3, winning the series in five games. “We watched the game from the stands, rather than the press box, and the chants, ‘We want the Cup’, echoed through the building. To be a part of the craziness in the stands was so much fun.”

When time expired with the result never in doubt, the scouting staff, Campese included, made their way to the ice surface to celebrate with the coaches and players.

“It was neat being on the ice”, Campese still on a natural high 12 hours after the fact. “It was so cool. There were so many people on the ice, and nobody wanted to leave. Everyone had their chance to lift the Cup, including us scouts who waited our turn and had a chance to lift it and share in that experience.”

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Campese is one of the original scouts hired by the Golden Knights, a year prior to the team taking to the ice for the start of the 2017-2018 season as an expansion franchise.

“Our owner [Bill Foley], when we got the franchise, he said the playoffs in three years and the Stanley Cup in six, and everyone was asking themselves, what did he just say?”, Campese said with a chuckle “But he had some foresight. He has some standards, and he laid the groundwork of how he wanted to operate.”

Campese is a long-time Western Hockey League coach and executive, spending time with the Calgary Hitmen as an assistant coach, before moving to the Prince Albert Raiders as a head coach and then general manager.

“I had other opportunities to go back to other management roles in the Western Hockey League, and when this opportunity came up [to be a scout], I wanted to work in the NHL, and I wanted to win the Stanley Cup”, Campese said honestly. “You don’t know how realistic that is with 32 teams, because it is so hard, and you don’t know when you are going to get an opportunity to win it. We are fortunate. We [Golden Knights] have had two chances in the last six years.”

Campese always dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup as a player, originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 12^th round of the 1982 draft as a goalie. Earning it as a scout was still extremely rewarding.

“You put so much into the team as a scout”, the 59-year-old Campese added. “You put in so much time, and you sacrifice so much. We are on the road constantly. You know you’ve had a small input in building a championship, and the team makes you feel like you are such a big part of it.

“I feel so fortunate because I was an original”, Campese hired by the Golden Knights a season prior to the team makings its expansion debut. “To be part of it, right from the start, is amazing. The very first year that we went to the Stanley Cup finals, no one expected that. We didn’t expect that. What we realized is we weren’t ready to win the cup that year. We just didn’t have the pieces. There was a great deal of learning on what it would take. You must hand it to our management group. We had to go out and get some stars and some depth and keep things under the salary cap.”

Campese will indeed get a Stanley Cup ring, but will he be afforded the luxury of having a day with it in the sunny Okanagan this summer?

“If I do get my day with the Stanley Cup, I will let you know. You live just down the street”.