The Kootenay Ice have hired Cory Cameron as the club's new athletic therapist, replacing Marty Palechuck who parted from the Ice in the beginning of August.

Cameron has previously worked with the Calgary Hitmen for two years and the Vancouver Giants for three when the squad won the Memorial Cup in 2007.

It can take time to find a qualified and experienced athletic therapist, however, worth the wait as Cameron will be a welcome addition to the club, said Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice general manager, in a press release.

"He comes highly recommended to our organization and will be an important fixture between the coaching staff and the players."

Palechuk tendered his resignation shortly after the club finished it's magical playoff run all the way to the MasterCard Memorial Cup last season, citing family reasons.

Cameron and Paleschuk know each other, as both worked together at the 2009 World Under 17 Hockey Challenge--Palechuk serving as the athletic therapist and Cameron as the equipment manager.

"He informed me of the fact that he wouldn't be coming back this year and that was intriguing to me," said Cameron, "so I made sure to get a hold of the people here in Cranbrook and get my application in as soon as possible."

He does have some prior Kootenay connections in the hockey world; his first job was with the Trail Smoke Eaters in 2002 and he has done some consulting work with the KIJHL's Revelstoke Grizzlies.

Prior to joining the Ice, Cameron was with Crash Conditioning, a training facility in Calgary geared toward improving player fitness and performance, where he worked with midget-aged players all the way up to NHL stars like Jordan Eberle.

Ice training camp will begin next week, but players and alumni will be trickling into the community for the upcoming golf tournament raising money for the Ice Education Fund, he said.

"Training camp's a pretty hectic time, I'm going to be doing the medical side of things as well as the equipment, so making sure everybody here is equipped with what they need as far as equipment so they can be on the ice, interviewing players and chatting with guys about their medical histories and things like that," said Cameron. "Fitness testing is another big part of it; we're going to be doing that on Tuesday next week to see the commitment level the guys had over the summer to make themselves better and assessing those things."

Once the camp ends, Cameron will adjust to the routine of day-to-day activities of on-ice and off-ice training and any potential rehab work that may be needed as the season grinds along.

Coming back to the Kootenays is a bit like a homecoming, as he was born and raised in Revelstoke, he said.

"It feels great to be back in B.C. to be honest with you, all my family and friends are still in Revelstoke and for my family, it's nice to be back in the area and close to home."