WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs make three local selections, Festa traded

Published on April 29, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


The Spokane Chiefs have selected Drayson Bowman, originally from Denver, Colorado, with the eighth pick in today's WHL Bantam Draft. Bowman, a 5'11" center, played the 2003-04 season with the North Shore Winter Club in North Vancouver, BC.

"Drayson is a special player," the Chiefs Director of Player Personnel Ray Dudra stated. "He is the type of player who will always be around to make things happen. He has poise, confidence good work habits and a tremendous amount of offensive skill. Drayson will have every opportunity to become an impact player in the WHL," Dudra said.

With the first of two second round picks Spokane selected 6'0" defenseman Dan Nycholat from Calgary, Alberta 28th overall. Forward Parker Thomas was the 35th overall selection, a pick acquired from the Calgary Hitmen in a trade earlier in the season. Thomas is a 5'11" forward from Leduc, Alberta.

"We couldn't be happier about this year's draft," Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said. "Having the depth of an extra second round pick and the fact that Bowman is the player that we had rated number one overall makes this draft really exciting."

In the third round, Spokane selected Kassidy Collins, a 5'11" defenseman from Cochrane, Alberta. Prior to the draft the Chiefs traded goaltender Gerry Festa to the Red Deer Rebels for Red Deer's fourth round selection. Spokane chose local forward Evan Witt, a Spokane American Youth Hockey Association product that played last season for the Under-16 Midget team, with the pick.

Following the selection of Witt, Spokane picked Chris Langkow from Vegreville, AB in the fifth round. Langkow, a 5'11", 155-pound forward, is the cousin of current Phoenix Coyote Daymond Langkow.

"We're thrilled about today's draft," Dudra said. "We think we have a number of guys that can be very productive players in the WHL."

The day was highlighted for the Chiefs with the selection of three local players, Witt (4th round, 78th overall), Jason Greenwell (11th, 208) and Andrew Christ (krist) (12th, 228), the most ever selected by the Chiefs from the Spokane area.

"These selections are a reflection of the quality of players in the Pacific Northwest, more specifically, Spokane," Speltz said.

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from April 29, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central