WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheaties busy draft day morning

Published on April 29, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Calgary, Alberta - The Brandon Wheat Kings were busy this morning as the 2004 Western Hockey League Bantam draft got underway in Calgary.

The Wheat Kings entered the daylong proceedings with the sixth overall selection but dealt it to Red Deer in exchange for the rights to 17-year old Tyler Dittmer as well as Red Deer's first (16th overall), second, sixth and seventh round bantam picks. A third round pick of the Rebels in 2002, Dittmer is coming off an outstanding season in leading the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings to the National Championship this past weekend in Kenora, Ontario. As well, he led the Manitoba AAA Midget League in scoring with 37 goals and 83 points.

"We are very excited to acquire Tyler," says Brandon general manager Kelly McCrimmon. "He is a tremendous talent that we think will be an exciting player in our organization.

McCrimmon then swapped first round picks with Kamloops in order to get the eleventh overall pick and used it to draft 6'4" 185 lb defenceman Keith Aulie of the Weyburn Bantam RedCoat Rams. In 27 games with the Rams this year, Aulie had twelve goals, 27 points and 58 minutes in penalties.

In round two, Brandon chose 6'2" 175 lbs defenceman Derek Robinson of the Winnipeg AAA Bantam Sharks. In 25 games with the Sharks this season, Robinson had three goals, eleven points and 89 minutes in penalties.

The Prince George Cougars, with the first overall selection, took Vancouver defenceman Ryan Kerr. With the second pick, Saskatoon chose left-winger Colton Gillies of White Rock, B.C. Seattle opted for Thomas Hickey of Calgary, Lethbridge chose Dwight King of Meadow Lake, the Regina Pats selected Wynyard's Brett Leffler and with Brandon's original pick (6th overall), Rebels' owner/general manager/head coach Brent Sutter opted for his son Brandon.

The top Manitoban to be selected was defenceman Alex Plante of Brandon. The talented defenceman went to the Calgary Hitmen with the first pick of round two. Plante is the younger brother of Wheat Kings' goalkeeper Tyler and the son of ex-Wheat King blueliner Cam Plante.

For complete up to date results from this year's draft, visit www.wheatkings.com.

Check out the Brandon Wheat Kings Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 29, 2004


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