WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

2010 WHL Bantam Draft On Thursday

Published on April 29, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Edmonton, Alberta - The 2010 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft is set to go on Thursday in Edmonton, on the eve of the Championship Final between the Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans.

For the first time in franchise history, the Wheat Kings will not be selecting in the opening round and in fact, won't have their first selection until round three.

The Eastern Division pennant winning Wheat Kings, who will be hosting next month's MasterCard Memorial Cup in Brandon, traded away their first two picks in the January deadline deal that brought all star defenceman Travis Hamonic over from the Moose Jaw Warriors.

That means the Wheat Kings, who finished the 2009-10 season with an impressive 50-18-1-3 record, won't be making a selection until the 65th overall pick in a draft that many consider to be fairly deep in solid talent.

"I think the first grouping seems to kind of be identified by everyone and each team's scouting staff will have their own list," Wheat Kings' director of player personnel Al Macpherson told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun earlier this week. "I think certainly a lot of names enter into it by the time you get later in the draft and certainly everybody's list isn't the same."

The Prince George Cougars have the first pick in today's draft after winning last month's Lottery in Calgary. Edmonton is next, followed by Lethbridge, Seattle and the Regina Pats to round out the top five.

Recent first round selections by the Wheat Kings have included the likes of Eric Roy (2009), Klarc Wilson (2008), Brandon Regier (2007), Brayden Schenn (2006) and Sanfred King (2005).

While they don't pick until the third round, you can expect Macpherson's team to uncover some excellent talent throughout the day and past bantam drafts are a great indication of how valuable those middle to late round selections can be.

For instance, of the 24 players on Brandon's 2010 Memorial Cup roster eight were chosen by the Wheat Kings in either the third or later rounds of the draft. Among them - Jay Fehr (7th, 136), Brendan Walker (12th, 259), Mark Stone (5th, 92) Colby Robak (4th, 77) and Brodie Melnychuk (3rd, 50).

Top Manitobans expected to be chosen Thursday include the likes of Madison Bowey, Paul Stoykewich, Mike Lorange and Kurt Keats of Winnipeg. Western Manitobans that could hear their name called include Quinton Lisoway of Neepawa and Carberry's Daylon Creasy.

Live results from the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft can be found throughout the day on www.whl.ca

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 29, 2010


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