Thursday, May 5, 2011

A few draft notes . . .

 A tip of the cap — no, a thousand tips of the cap — to Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts at Large for his tremendous coverage of the WHL’s bantam draft.
If you haven’t visited his site, get over there. There’s a link over there on the right. And everything you wanted to know about the draft is right there.
———
I won’t even pretend to try and compete with that. But I have thrown together a few notes . . . It is rather interesting that the Tri-City Americans used their first selection (No. 75) on C Brian Williams of San Diego, who played for the L.A. Selects bantam AAA team. That is an interesting selection because the Americans used an eighth-round pick in the 2010 draft on F Brian Williams of Claremont, Calif. The latter Williams has signed with Tri-City. . . . The Americans, despite not picking until the third round, still took 11 players and seven of them were from the U.S. . . .
The WHL site shows that the Prince Albert Raiders selected F Mitchell Barker of the Kamloops Jardine’s Blazers with the 206th pick. However, that 10th-round selection actually was made by the Spokane Chiefs.
———
What follows are some of the bloodlines from the draft, showing draft position, selecting team and family connection. . . .
3. D Ryan Pilon, Lethbridge — Nephew of former WHL and NHL D Rich Pilon.
7. C Ty Mappin, Everett — Brother of former WHL F Cass Mappin, who was selected by Red Deer with the 12th overall pick in 2005.
18. C Blake Penner, Medicine Hat — Brother of Cole Penner, who was taken fourth overall by Prince Albert in the 2006 draft.
11. D Kord Pankewicz, Brandon — Cousin of former WHLer Greg Pankewicz.
15. F Rourke Chartier, Kelowna — Son of former WHLer Marc Chartier.
19. C Tanner MacMaster, Spokane — Brother of Calgary Hitmen F Nathan MacMaster.
 20. F Thomas Foster, Vancouver — Brother of Edmonton Oil Kings F T.J. Foster.
23. D Josh Thrower, Calgary — Brother of Saskatoon D Dalton Thrower.
24. F Dakota Odgers, Swift Current — Son of former NHLer Jeff Odgers.
36. F Dane Schioler, Regina — Son of former WHLer Dave Schioler.
50. D Connor Clouston, Kamloops — Son of Medicine Hat head coach Shaun Clouston.
52. C Tim Vanstone, Prince Albert — No relation to Regina Leader-Post sports columnist Rob Vanstone.
54. LW John Quenneville, Brandon — Cousin of Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville.
64. C Dominic Turgeon, Portland — Son of former NHL player Pierre Turgeon.
66. C Landyn Hickmott, Saskatoon — Brother of former WHL player Jordan Hickmott.
67. F Chris Wilkie, Victoria — Son of former NHL and WHL player David Wilkie.
76. D Sam Ruopp, Prince George — Brother of Prince Albert D Harrison Ruopp.
119. F Logan Mick, Edmonton — Son of former WHL coach and player Troy Mick.
123. F Riley Simpson, Edmonton — Son of former NHLer Craig Simpson.
137. F Jake DeBrusk, Swift Current — Son of former NHLer Louie DeBrusk.
138. D Connor Hamonic, Kamloops — Younger brother of D Justin Hamonic of the Tri-City Americans.
142. F Mitchell Lipon, Prince George — Younger brother of Kamloops F J.C. Lipon.
166. F Jason Miller, Brandon — Former WHLer Don Gillen is a great uncle.
171. F Jared Virtanen, Kootenay — Cousin to F Jake Virtanen, who went to Calgary with the first overall pick in this draft.
175. F Chase Thudium, Red Deer — Son of former WHLer Cal Thudium.
183. LW Nicholas Pouliot, Everett — Brother of Portland D Derrick Pouliot.
196. D Layne Viveiros, Portland — Son of former Prince Albert D Emanuel Viveiros. Layne played in Austria this season. (Alan Caldwell noted: “Now, this is an interesting pick. This is the son of Emanuel Viveiros and he has been playing in the Austrian league, where the family lives. The only way this is a legal pick is if the family has moved back to WHL territory, like the Musils two years ago. Layne is a 1995 born player, not 1996 like everyone else in this draft.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

  © Design byThirteen Letter

Back to TOP