Ice draft Shirley

For the Townsman...

Ice take forward in WHL Bantam Draft

By Jeff Bromley

In the second round of the WHL Playoffs Kootenay swept the Saskatoon Blades four straight games. In the first round of the WHL Bantam Draft Thursday the Ice took one of that city's brightest prospects, forward Colin Shirley of the Bantam AA Saskatoon Bandits.

Saddled with the 17th overall pick after finishing 6th overall in the WHL standings this past season the Ice went with what they thought was the best player available at that spot.

"At that point we were looking for the best player available but also a player that will fit into the Kootenay Ice mould and one that will complement our 1995-born group," said - Garnet Kazuik, Director of Scouting for the Ice.

Though not eligible to play full-time for the Ice for another season, the kid's scoring prowess is something the club hopes can translate to the next level. As a first-year bantam with the Saskatoon Outlaws of the same league the year prior, Shirley tallied 40 goals and 32 assists. Notching 63 goals this season with the Bandits and adding 39 assists for 102 points, Kazuik admits scoring at that clip is probably not likely, at least not right away. "He didn't find that offensive scoring touch until this past year," added Kazuik. "He's a bigger guy. He's tall and lanky and started to find the back of the net at the start of this year and had some success. I don't expect he'll put up those types of numbers when he gets into AAA Midget next year or even in our league but he did find the touch."

"We're excited to have him and from his standpoint he thinks he can play here next season, that's how excited he was."

Devoid of a second round pick due to the Cody Eakin deal that sent Kootenay's other first round pick (13th overall via Vancouver in the David Musil deal) and a second rounder to the Swift Current Broncos, Kootenay dove back into the talent pool in the third round and fished out a blueliner from Sylvan Lake, D Jordan Steenbergen.

With two picks in the fourth round the Ice nabbed another D-man, this time from Kamloops. 6-foot, 181-pound Matthew Murray came in 70th overall with a pick obtained from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Cason Machacek deal in late 2009 while RW Kyle O'Connor, at 6-foot, 1-inch, and 158 pounds, was taken with the Ice's original pick 83rd overall.

Kootenay also had two 5th round picks stemming from the Petr Senkerik trade to the Prince George Cougars last season. With that pick the Ice took D Jake Dube from the Airdrie Extreme 98th overall. At 105th overall the Ice selected another forward C Zak Zborosky from Regina.

Another two picks in the 6th round - the 121st overall pick from Brandon after dealing the club's import pick last June to the Wheat Kings - Jackson Waniek, a forward with the Cloverdale Colts and D Carter Forsyth out of Swift Current who checks in at 6'3" 175lbs. Kazuik hopes that there's a diamond in the rough in this group of 14 players taken this year, the most ever taken by the Ice due mainly to Cody Eakin trade in which five players from their roster and protected list were dealt to Swift Current.

"We sure hope so," Kazuik said. "Obviously time is going to be the tell-all there. I'm sure that there's 22 organizations that hope that happens."

"It was very tough going into this draft having no second-round pick. I thought there was a shortage of defensman (in this draft) but hopefully we addressed that but we'll see if someone turns out to be a diamond in the rough. Time will tell."

In the seventh round the Ice took a Medicine Hat product, forward Ryan Risling and with the 171st pick the Ice took RW Jared Virtanen out of Abbotsford. Way back at the first overall pick the Calgary Hitmen took Jacob Virtanen. The former is the cousin of the Hitmen's number one pick but there's a difference. Jared checks in at three inches shorter than his cousin.. Listed at 5 feet, 9 inches and 160 pounds, Jared can also put the puck in the net with 21 goals and 42 assists in 59 games this season. His cousin nearly doubled him however with 68 goals and 49 assists but the Ice hope that the speedy forward might be a sleeper pick.

"He's smaller than his cousin but he's a very smart hockey player," Kazuik said. "He's got great hockey sense. I don't keep track of stats much but at the BC Cup I ask one of my scouts whether he had five or six assists already and he did. Time will tell how big he's going to be but his family thinks he'll grow and he'll have a lot of ability. We're excited."

Quick Hits - Kootenay's first goaltender came in 193rd overall. Bronson Ammeter out of Starbuck, Manitoba was the only puckstopper the Ice took…. RW Braden Jakubowski from Leduc was the club's 12th pick, 215th overall while two defensemen were the club's last two picks. D Joseph Leonidas from Calgary went in the 11th round 237th overall while D Jack Thomas, also from Calgary, went 259th overall…. Two Cranbrook Minor Hockey products were selected in the draft. G Peyton Lee was taken in the second round, 28th overall by the Vancouver Giants while LW Sebastien Barrette was taken in by the Everett Silvertips in the 10th round, 203rd overall. Both Lee and Barrette played with the Cranbrook Bantam AA Ice last season but Lee played this year with the Pursuit of Excellence hockey academy in Kelowna while Barrette played in Wilcox, Saskatchewan with the Notre Dame Hounds.