Hurricanes 2007 Bantam Draft Sum

 Lethbridge, AB – Lethbridge Hurricanes were proud to announce their picks today at the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft in Calgary. In all the Hurricanes made 12 draft picks, (7 forwards, 4 defensemen, 1 goaltender) with two picks in both the first (#6 & #18) and third rounds (#50 & #53).

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The Hurricanes used their two first round selections to select Defenseman Alex Theriau (TERRY–Oh) 6^th overall and Forward Mark Reners (RAY-ners) 18^th overall.

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The 6’1”, 175 pound Theriau, is a product of Cowichan Valley, BC and anchored the blue line of the 2007 Western Canadian Bantam Champion Burnaby Winter Club. He is an all-around Defenseman who is good on his feet and can play very well on both the power play and penalty kill. In 65 games he tallied 45 points (14G, 31A) and 68 PIM. 

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Reners, a native of Pincher Creek, AB, already has ties to Lethbridge after starring this last season with the Lethbridge Val Matteotti Golden Hawks. The 5’10”, 155 lb. sniper set a new AMBHL record this season tallying an amazing 61 goals. In less then two seasons, he has totaled nearly a hundred goals in the AMBHL and finished the 2007 campaign with 99 points (61G, 38A).

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Hurricanes Assistant General Manager and Head of Player Personnel Brad McEwen said that finding another strong skilled D-man is exactly the type of need the Hurricanes were looking to address.

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“Alex Therieu is what we were looking for with our sixth pick. He’s a very well rounded and complete player with a big body. Just a really nice overall package to his game, we targeted that so we were very happy to get him with our first pick.”

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McEwen added that the being able to snag a sniper like Reners was an excellent opportunity with the 18^th pick.

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“With Mark [Reners] I don’t think anyone can deny what he does, he has 91 goals in two seasons and he obviously has very skilled hands and is just a natural goal scorer. We were very happy to take him with our second pick of the first round at that 18^th spot.”  

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In the third round, Lethbridge selected goaltender Brandon Anderson 50^th overall and Forward Brent Martin 53^rd overall.

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Anderson was a teammate of Hurricanes first round pick Alex Theriau with the 2007 Western Canadian Bantam Champion Burnaby Winter Club. The product of Langley, BC was instrumental down the playoff stretch as the starting goaltender for the BWC this season.

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Martin was a member of the 2007 Western Canadian Bantam Silver Medalist Spruce Grove PAC Timberwolves. The 6’1”, 170 pounder also hails from Spruce Grove, AB, and tallied 55 points (22G, 33A) and 64 PIMs in 32 games this season. 

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“We had interest in a goaltender for one of those top four picks, and Anderson was a guy we had our eyes on.” “Not only is he skilled but when you have a pedigree of winning like he has with Burnaby, that’s something that you love to see in a young goaltender so were very happy to get him.” Said McEwen “And along the same lines I think that plays to Martin’s strengths as well. He’s a big strong forward with a good skill set and obviously, playing with Spruce Grove this season he had quite a bit of success and he knows what it takes to win.”   

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The Hurricanes continued to add to their already impressive lineup of young talent in the latter rounds of the draft.

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Defenseman Derek Ryckman was drafted in the sixth round 119^th overall. A Red Deer local, the 6’3” 180 pound Ryckman is a big, strong mobile defensemen who totaled 11 points (3G, 8A) with the Red Deer Bantam Rebels of the AMBHL.

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In the 8^th round, 163^rd overall, Lethbridge selected Ryckman’s teammate; 5’10” 160 pound forward Neal Tarnasky. Tarnasky, a native of Caroline, AB is the younger brother of former Lethbridge Hurricane Nick Tarnasky. He totaled 13 points (4G, 9A) in 26 games with Red Deer this season.

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The Hurricanes then selected Dewbury, AB native Chris Romanchuk of the Lloydminster Universal Heat and Calgary Ranger; 5’11” forward Ryon Moser in the 9^th and 10^th rounds respectively. The 5’11” 165 pound Romanchuk had a strong season totaling 70 points (33G, 37A) in 33 games.

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Lethbridge then made two picks in the 11^th round, selecting 6’3” Kelowna Jr. Rockets defenseman Austin Baecker [BAKE-er] of Kelowna, BC (224^th overall). The Canes then used their second pick in the 11^th round to select their first U.S. born player of the 2007 Draft with the 229^th selection; Arizona born defenseman Cody Castro of the Bantam AA Peoria Roadrunners.  

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The second of the Hurricanes two U.S. born picks was skill-forward Brandon Brossoit [Brah-SWA] of the California Wave. The native of Los Alamitos, CA  was the 251^st overall pick. Finally, the Hurricanes concluded the draft by picking Calgary native Aaron Elaschuk, a 6’0” 165 pound forward from the Calgary Bison with their 13^th round pick, the 273^rd selection overall. Elaschuk managed 23 (10G, 13A) points last season.

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Afterwards, Lethbridge Hurricanes GM Roy Stasiuk was pleased with the way in which the 2007 Draft played out for his team.

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“Overall I thought it was an excellent draft for us and our organization took full advantage of the four picks we had in the first 53 selections.” said Stasiuk adding “I believe we addressed the needs of our team to the point where though they may have been concern for us today, they will certainly not be a concern 2 or 3 years from now.”

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The 2007 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft Kicked off at 8:30 a.m. today from Calgary, AB. The entire draft can be recapped online at www.whl.ca. All of the Hurricanes draft day information can be recapped at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.

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Here is a breakdown of the Hurricanes picks:

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1^st round (6^th overall) – Alex Theriau (D – Burnaby Winter Club)

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1^st round (18^th overall) – Mark Reners (F – Lethbridge Val Matteotti Golden Hawks)

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3^rd round (50^th overall) – Brandon Anderson (G – Burnaby Winter Club)                                  

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3^rd round (53^rd overall – Brent Martin (F – Spruce Grove PAC Timberwolves)

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6^th round (119^th overall) – Derek Ryckman (D – Red Deer Bantam Rebels)

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8^th round (163^rd overall) – Neal Tarnasky (F – Red Deer Bantam Rebels)

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9^th round (185^th overall) – Chris Romanchuk (F – Lloydminster Universal Heat)

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10^th round (207^th overall) – Ryon Moser (F – Calgary Rangers)

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11^th round (224^th overall) – Austin Baecker (D – Kelowna Jr. Rockets)

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11^th round (229^th overall) – Cody Castro (D – Peoria Roadrunners)

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12^th round (251^st overall) – Brandon Brossoit (F – California Wave)

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13^th round (273^rd overall) – Aaron Elaschuk (F – Calgary Bison)

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The WHL Bantam Draft is a talent identification process which serves as the first opportunity for WHL teams to add players in the bantam age group, 1992 birthdates, to their respective 50 player protected list.