WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winter Hawks Look to Solidify Goaltending and Scoring in WHL Bantam Draft

Published on April 29, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Two-thirds of one of the highest scoring forward lines in Western Canada bantam hockey were chosen by the Portland Winter Hawks in today's WHL Bantam Draft held in Calgary, Alberta.

Right wing Colton Sceviour (SEE-vee-er) and left wing Dion Knelson (Kuh-NELSON) combined for 204 points in 37 games while playing for the Red Deer Chiefs AAA bantam team that won the league championship. The two high scoring wingers were centered by Brandon Sutter, the son of Red Deer Rebels' GM/Coach Brent Sutter.

The Winter Hawks used the tenth overall choice in the first round to choose Sceviour, the leading scorer in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. Colton's father, Darin, played in the WHL from 1982-1985 with the Lethbridge Broncos.

"We had Colton rated a little higher than tenth and there were a couple of surprises earlier in the first round that opened up the chance to take him," said Winter Hawks' Director of Player Personnel Gord Loiselle (Loy-ZELL). "If he is not the top scorer in the draft, he is definitely one of the top scorers. He passes the puck very well, makes good plays, but I also saw him score some unbelievable goals this year that just make you shake your head. He has deceptive speed. He can be right next to defenseman and then all of a sudden he is by him. And when he gets in on goal, he doesn't very often miss."

Sutter traded up in the first round to get the sixth choice in order to pick his son.

The annual Bantam Draft is the first opportunity for WHL teams to add 1989-born players, or 14-year olds, to their current 50-player protected lists. Held for the first time in 1990, the Bantam Draft has produced first round selections such as former Seattle Thunderbirds' forward Patrick Marleau, who is having an outstanding Stanley Cup playoff with the San Jose Sharks; former Brandon Wheat King defenseman Wade Redden (Ottawa Senators); and former Prince Albert Raider forward Scott Hartnell (Nashville Predators). Portland picked defenseman Andrew Ference, who is having a terrific Stanley Cup playoff with the Calgary Flames, in the first round of the 1994 WHL Bantam Draft.

Loiselle also is very excited about the Hawks' second pick today, goaltender Kurtis Mucha (MOO-kuh) from Sherwood Park, Alberta.

"I see a lot of similar qualities between Kurtis and current Winter Hawks goalie Dustin Butler, who I think is going to be a real good goaltender in our league," Loiselle said. "I think Kurtis may fall in right behind him. There is a two-year spread (Dustin will be 17 years-old next season and trying to earn the nod as the Hawks' primary starter). So, I really think our goaltending situation looks very good for quite a few years down the road."

Here is a complete breakdown of Portland's choices in today's draft, with pertinent comments in quotes from Director of Player Personnel Gord Loiselle.

1st Round (#10 overall) – Colton Sceviour (4-20-89) – Right Wing – 5'10, 165 - Red Deer, AB - Played for the Red Deer Chiefs in Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. Was top scorer in the AMBHL. The team won the league championship and Colton was on the Southern All Star Team. Season totals: 37 games, 47 goals, 62 assists, 108 points. Playoff totals: 11 games, 15 goals, 9 assists, 24 points. Top scorer in the league playoffs. Played in the Western Canada championships (top Bantam team from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) and was the number two scorer of the tournament with 4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points in just 5 games.

"He is just a very, very good offensive talent and I talked to Darin (Colton's father) today. We had a great conversation. He said he has heard nice things about Portland and he knows all about the league since he played in Lethbridge and Swift Current. I also talked to Colton later in the day and he was very, very excited about the prospect of being a Winter Hawk."

2nd Round (#25 overall, via Prince George due to the Priestlay, LaPointe Trade) – Kurtis Mucha (MOO-kuh) (3-6-89) – Goaltender – 6'0, 145 - Sherwood Park, AB – Played for the Sherwood Park Flyers, 18 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie, .927 save percentage, 2.03 GAA. Flyers yielded only 72 goals...next best in that division was 101. Flyers were first place team in Northern Division, losing to Sceviour's Red Deer Chiefs in the League Championship Finals. Selected to AMBHL Northern Division All Star Team.

"Kurtis has a very calm demeanor in the net and moves extremely well side to side and up and down. He doesn't seem to get flustered about anything and he is always under control. He reminds me a little of Dustin (Butler) and I was very impressed with him when I spoke with him on the phone. Seems very intelligent and he wants to play."

3rd Round (#45 overall, via Prince George. Portland traded its 2nd round pick to Prince George for the Cougars' 3rd and 4th round picks) – Trevor Verwolf (VAIR-wolf) (4-17-89), Defense – 6'3, 200 - Victoria, B.C. - Played for Juan de Fuca Bantam AA (no stats available) in the Island Bantam League.

"Part-owner of the Hawks, Brian "Bunny" Shaw (who assists Loiselle and his staff in scouting), compares Trevor with original Winter Hawk defenseman Jeff Bandura, who apparently had a bit of a mean streak. He would just torque guys into the boards with a bit of nastiness and Trevor has a similar style. He needs to work on his skating a little bit, but he is a real physical presence. I talked to him before the draft, and he said he was 100% committed to play in our league."

4th Round (#70 overall) – Lewis Laczko (LAZ-koh) (5-18-89), Defense – 6'1, 155 - St. Brieaux, SK - Played Bantam A hockey in St. Brieaux. Also played for the Saskatchewan Wheatland Wild in the 2003 Canadian AAA Hockey Challenge last summer. He posted 0-4-4 with 6 penalty minutes in 5 games.

"I saw him last summer and I liked him quite a bit then. This winter, he did not play on a mainstream team in Saskatchewan. He could have played on Naicam, which ended up winning the provincial championship, but he decided to stay home and be a leader on his home town team. It worked out fairly well. He played in the Sask-First (invitational tournament involving the best 14-year-olds in Saskatchewan) and he looked very good there. He will probably play midget in Prince Albert next year. He's just a solid, all around guy. He does everything pretty well."

4th Round (#73 overall, via Everett and Prince George. This was actually Everett's pick that belonged to Prince George and was traded to Portland) – Dion Knelson (Kuh-NELSON) - (1/4/89) - Left Wing – 5'9, 155 - Three Hills, AB – Knelsen is a linemate of Sceviour and was the number two scorer on that team. 37 games, 42 goals, 54 assists, 96 points.

"He's a small guy, but he is a good skater and really good with the puck. Played on the big line with Sceviour and Sutter and they were dynamite all year. He battles hard. The reason he did not go higher in the draft was his size, but he has a brother that is 5'11 and if he ever gets to that size, we could be very happy with him. He's a good one and he is really excited to play."

5th Round (#85 overall via Prince George, Priestlay, LaPointe Trade. Portland's 5th round pick was traded to Calgary, along with Aaron Roberge, for Darrell May) – Jacob Verheyden (VERR-hay-dun) - (1/11/89) - Right Wing – 5'11, 176 - North Vancouver, BC – Jacob was part of the North Shore Winter Club Winterhawks out of Vancouver. They were a powerhouse team that featured the first overall pick in today's WHL Bantam Draft, Ryan Kerr, taken by Prince George, and other first round picks John Negrin (Kootenay) and Drayson Bowman (Spokane). No stats for Verheyden are available.

"Good skater, physical and pretty good skill. Supposedly he has some size in his family. If he ever got to be 6'2, he could be a really good power forward."

6th Round (#110 overall) – Aaron Lewadniuk (Leh-WADD-nick) - (7/8/89) - Center – 5'8, 150 - Carman, MB – Played for Carman Cougars in High School League (team won championship). Lewadniuk was the leading scorer with 12 goals, 21 assists for 33 points in 17 games.

"He played high school hockey in Manitoba, like Frazer Mc Laren (current Winter Hawk) did two years ago because it was the best level of hockey he could play in Manitoba while living at home. He was the "go to" guy on his high school team and he grew some during the season. He may be 5'10 now. He is very skilled, skates, and sees the ice well."

7th Round (#130 Overall) – Lukas Alexiuk (3/17/89) – Defense – 6'0, 155 - Winnipeg, MB – Played for the Winnipeg Warriors AAA Bantam team. 28 Games, 2 goals, 9 assists, 11 points, 20 penalty minutes.

"He skates pretty well and plays fairly physical. He played on the bantam team that won the provincial championship in Manitoba and I thought he played very well at the Western championships. He came along as the year progressed. He might have been the most improved player over the season in the entire draft."

8th Round (#150 Overall) – Colby Kulhanik (Kul-HANN-ick) (8/11/89) – Center – 5'11, 145 - Port Coquitlam, BC – Played for Port Coquitlam Bantam AAA - No stats available.

"Played on the same team, and wore the same number, as Everett's first round pick last year, Zach Hamill played on last season. Hamill is now skating a regular shift and contributing in the Silvertips' playoff run to the WHL Championship Series against Medicine Hat. Colby is not very thick, but has very good hands. A good offensive player with a lot of skill. We hope he grows some and gets stronger, but we felt he was a good pick in the eighth round."

9th Round (#170 Overall) – Matt Betker (2/5/89) – Center – 5'11, 150 - Chilliwack, BC – Played for Chilliwack (BC) Bantam AAA - No stats available.

"The reason Matt went as late as he did in the draft is he is from Chilliwack and all WHL teams have had a hard time recruiting top prospects from there. Harvey Smyl runs the tier two BCJHL Chilliwack Chiefs and he has been a very good recruiter over the years. We had Shane Palahickey and Nathan Martz, two players we had high hopes for in the past, choose to play there instead of coming to Portland. Gabe Gauthier, Saskatoon's first round pick in 2000, played there instead of coming to the WHL. So, you never know. We have not talked to him yet, but he can definitely play in our league and may even become a very, very good player in our league. So, we decided to take a chance on him."

10th Round and 11th Round (Traded to Kelowna for Future Considerations) – "We just did not think there was enough there to make any more picks because we would have had to drop players off our 50-player list to make room. We just could not see doing that".

No Portland area hockey players were chosen in this year's draft. Last year, Jason Reese from Gresham was taken in the first round by the Vancouver Giants. Reese played several games with Vancouver as a 15-year-old and should challenge for a roster spot next season. Very few U.S. born players were chosen in today's draft. Last year's Bantam Draft featured the most U.S. born players ever chosen, including three by Portland.

Asked to provide an overall evaluation of Portland's performance in today's draft, Loiselle said....

"We feel we picked up a true finisher in Colton Sceviour and one of the best goalies available in Kurtis Mucha. On defense, we have pretty good size back there and a guy in Verwolf who is another option to give us a physical presence on the back end. That is certainly an area that has not been up to par on our Winter Hawks' teams in recent years. And, up front, we think we have added quite a bit more skill and depth to what we already have on our list."

None of the players chosen in today's Bantam Draft are eligible to play with the Hawks next season. They all will be 15-year-olds next season and not eligible to play full time in the WHL until 2005-06.

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 29, 2004


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