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Musings about the WHL Draft, the NHL Playoffs, among other things for the News-Advertiser




Locals shutout in WHL Draft

by Jeff Bromley

For a region and city that couldn’t throw a rock without hitting an NHL’er over the years, we sure can’t produce ‘em like we used to. Starting with the WHL draft it’s now been so many years since a local product was drafted out of the Cranbrook/Kimberley/Fernie minor hockey systems that I actually couldn’t recall the last Cranbrook product taken in the WHL Draft. After a bit of a search I found forward Jesse Felski, taken by Swift Current in the 8th round in 2003 was the last one while Kootenay took Brady McMullin in the 9th round in the same year. That’s six years of being shutout.

Golden product Curtis MacKenzie, a forward with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL is ranked 158th by Central Scouting for the NHL Draft in June and was taken by the Red Deer Rebels in 2006 and looks to be going the NCAA route and to be fair it’s not like a prospect hasn’t come out of minor hockey locally.

Defenseman Jace Coyle of Medicine Hat; forward Dustin Donaghy with Spokane and forward Carter Bancks with Lethbridge are all Cranbrook/Kimberley products but none of them were drafted but rather listed by respective clubs after being scouted playing in the KIJHL with Fernie and Kimberley.

So what’s the problem? It’s not the be-all and end-all if you’re not drafted, as the three aforementioned names prove but the question still remains - why can’t our local minor hockey associations produce drafted players like they used to? Scouting? From what I’ve seen almost every WHL club has a scout in the region, so that can’t be it. Playing time? Bantam-aged players playing at the level needed to get into the that realm play a ton locally and local squads play in as many tournaments or league games as their big city counterparts. Sheer numbers? The Cranbrook association is stable in the amount of kids playing the game and actually has more than they did during their heyday producing the likes of the Niedermayers, Jon Klemm, Brad Lukowich et al. Is it coaching? Gawd, as one of the Peewee coaches next season I hope not. It’s an intriguing question that I don’t think that there’s just one answer to but from Revelstoke to Trail, to have only one player drafted of 200-plus (Revelstoke D Bradon Seyl - Kelowna) something’s amiss.

Around the horn - Some other interesting tidbits from the draft Thursday: Prince George nabbed D Dane Phaneuf in the third round, younger brother of former Rebel and current Calgary Flame Dion… The Vancouver Giants already started to retool their blueline after their Western Conference final loss to the Kelowna Rockets by acquiring D Matt Strong, 19, from the Chilliwack Bruins for a 8th round pick in 2010 and dealing a 5th round pick next year to Saskatoon for the rights to 20-year-old D Ryan Funk. The Giants are expected to lose D Jon Blum; G Tyson Sexsmith and also D Nick Ross along with graduated 20-year-olds Casey Pierro-Zabotel - the WHL scoring champion, D Craig Schira and D Mike Berube… Kootenay, with only two 20-year-olds returning next season in forwards Dustin Sylvester and Tylan Stephens, if he indeed returns because he’s mulling over starting his college career in Calgary a year early, are expected to be in the hunt for a 20-year-old defenseman to help out on the blueline… One of the good guys came back into the WHL fold last week when former Kamloops Blazer, Brandon Wheat Kings and Calgary Hitmen head coach Dean Clark was signed by the Prince George Cougars to a five-year deal to coach the club. After not surviving the ownership transfer with the Blazers in November of 2007 Clark, who was a power lineman in Alberta before joining the Hitmen in 1997, was working for a car dealership in Edmonton. It says here that he’s jumped to a somewhat more stable industry than where he came from in today’s economy. Yes, coaching in hockey is more stable than many things these days… The WHL Championship for the Ed Chynoweth Cup started Friday in Calgary with the Hitmen hosting the Kelowna Rockets. In case you were wondering, it’ll be the Hitmen in six. Forwards are a dead heat; the blueline the same while the goaltending edge has to go to Martin Jones of the Hitmen. Calgary is 12-0 in the playoffs and they could go 16-0, that’s how good they are… Switching leagues and allegiances, with all that former WHL talent and Western Canadian influence on the Chicago Black hawks (Toews, Barker, Seabrook, Ladd, Brouwer, Byfuglien, Keith, Versteeg and former Ice d-man Matt Walker) is it easier to root for the Hawks? Hey, just asking… Okay, hands up all those who thought Lethbridge's Kris Versteeg would be a Rookie of the Year candidate? Thought so... Is it me or is Mats Sundin slow?… I dunno, I always rooted for the Canucks when they were terrible. Them being contenders just doesn’t feel normal. If you’re looking for a predicition how about a ‘Nucks-Ducks conference final… And if you’re still wondering yes, the NHL has their marquee match-up in Ovechkin vs. Crosby. For my money Crosby’s the better all-around player but no one in the world has the talent Ovie has. That being said, it’ll be the Penguins in seven but they’ll be beat up and have to face the Bruins, who’ll make short work of the Hurricanes.