NEAL’S NOTES: AWARDS, DRAFT, FINALS
Been a busy week with co-hosting the WHL awards & Bantam Draft, but now it’s on to Portland for game 1 of the WHL Championship between the Winterhawks and Edmonton Oil Kings Saturday night. It’s the third consecutive time the teams have collided in the final, the first time that has happened since 1969-71 when the old Edmonton Oil Kings met the Flin Flon Bombers.
Big news in Kamloops as Don Hay returns to be the Head Coach for the Blazers. Rumors had been swirling that this might happen and on Thursday news got out that Hay was headed home to guide a team that he helped take to four WHL titles and three Memorial Cups as either an Assistant Coach or Head Coach from 1986-‘95. The Giants confirmed Thursday that Blazers’ owner Tom Gagliardi contacted Giants’ owner Ron Toigo for permission to speak with Hay, who reached the 600-win plateau this past season and is second all-time in coaching wins in the WHL.
This is an enormous move by a Blazers’ team that has to rebuild once again after back-to-back 47 win seasons. Now, who do the Giants bring in as Head Coach? Toigo has made it clear that the Giants will take a run at hosting the MasterCard Memorial Cup in 2016, so perhaps a big name is what they’ll look for, much like how they hired Hay prior to hosting the 2007 event, which they won. Calgary and Saskatoon are still trying to fill out their spots, with June a likely timeline for the Blades.
______________________________________________________________
This may surprise some, or not, but the award ceremony is one of the most nerve-wracking days of my life. It’s an honor to be asked to co-host with my colleague and friend Peter Loubardias, but it’s a different can of worms when you can actually see the eye balls that are watching you. Someone asked how is it different than being on tv, where we have had ratings well into six-figures in these playoffs. It just is, okay?! But I’m glad I get to be a part of the ceremony and a big congrats to all the winners. Victoria Royals’ General Manager Cam Hope won Executive of the Year and Head Coach Dave Lowry is the Coach of the year, the first time the franchise has had individual award winners since its move to Victoria, and the first since 2008. That year, Mark Santorelli won the Top Scorer award with 101 points, the Chilliwack Bruins were the Scholastic Team of the Year and Oscar Moller was a named to the Western Conference First All-Star Team.
A big thanks is also in order for Kirt Hill, the Manager of Player Recruitment and Development for the WHL. Kirt provided a list of players that he thought could go in the first round of Thursday’s Bantam Draft and most of the players selected he provided information on. It can be real difficult in preparation for the draft to find any info, stats or storylines, for the kids. Kirt, along with Peter, did an exceptional job with analysis during the draft coverage on WHL Web TV.
Things that stook out during the first round of the draft, at least for me:
1) Stelio Mattheos – The first overall pick to the Brandon Wheat Kings who have become a favourite to be a championship contender in the next few years with their young stable of prospects. Mattheos had 53 goals and 103 points for the Winnipeg Monarchs during the season and led them to a Western Canadian Bantam Championship berth. Already at 6’1”, Mattheos is the first Manitoba prospect selected first overall in the WHL Draft since Quinton Howden by Moose Jaw in 2007. The Wheat Kings had three players help Canada to bronze at the recently completed World Under-18 Championship; Ryan Pilon, John Quenneville and Jayce Hawryluk. Last year’s draft saw Brandon take forward Nolan Patrick fourth overall and defenceman Kale Clague sixth overall, and their second round pick, Tanner Kaspick, a Brandon product, is also highly skilled. Something’s brewing in Brandon, for sure.
2) North Shore Winter Club – The prestigious club out of North Vancouver are the 2014 Western Canadian Bantam Champions and provided three of the first five picks for the day. Jordy Bellerive, whose brother Matt is now back with the Vancouver Giants after a trade from Kamloops, was taken second overall by the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Bellerive posted 61 goals and 114 points during the season and led the Winterhawks with 12 points during the Western Canadian Championship in Kelowna. Nolan Kneen was the first defenceman chosen in the draft, taken third overall by the Blazers. Kneen scored the double-overtime winner for the Winterhawks against the Lloydminster Heat to take the Western Canadian title. Justin Almeida went fifth overall to the Prince George Cougars. Almeida, who is originally from the northern BC town of Kitimat, had five goals and seven points during the Western Canadian tournament. Ted Clarke from the Prince George Citizen had a feature story on Almeida during the provincial bantam triple-A tournament in Prince George and explained how Almeida moved to North Vancouver two years ago as his mother underwent cancer treatment. Fortunately, the article continued to say that she is healthy again and Almeida will likely play next door to the Cougars as a member of the Cariboo Cougars in the BC Major Midget League. Cougars second overall pick in 2012 Jansen Harkins is also a graduate of the North Shore Winter Club.
3) Ian Scott – Not only is the Calgary product the first goalie taken in the draft by Prince Albert ninth overall, but Scott is also the first Alberta prospect to go in the draft, which is a long time for someone from Wild Rose Country to be taken. Scott’s selection at nine is the highest for a goalie in the Bantam Draft since Montreal Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price went seventh overall to Tri-City in 2002. Scott is 6’2” and was the South Division Top Goalie in the Alberta Major Bantam League, with a .916 save percentage for the Calgary Northstar Sabres. Was told after the draft that he is considered a potential first round pick when his time comes for the NHL Draft in 2017.
4) Vancouver Giants – After taking Tyler Benson with the first pick last year, two more picks in the top-10 awaited for Vancouver in 2014 with picks eight and ten. Dawson Holt was their first selection from Saskatoon, a high-skill forward with 35 goals and 73 points for the Saskatoon Generals. He then posted nine goals and 16 points in only six playoff games for the Generals. The Giants then took Brendan Semchuk from Kamloops with their second pick, a player that going into the draft some scouts believed to be a sure-thing, top-five pick. Of note for the Giants, they selected defenceman Max Gildon from Plano, Texas, in the third round, a player who was considered the best defenceman of the ’99 class. If the Giants can lure him to the WHL, then they appear to have found a franchise defenceman.
5) No US prospects in the first – With the uncertainty of commitments from players south of the border, it is a risk taking one in the first round. If not for that, then a few likely would have been taken, and real high, too, such as Gildon. Calgary was the first team to dip into the US with the selection of forward Mark Kastelic from Phoenix, AZ, in the second round. After a couple more were taken, the Portland Winterhawks took line mates from Shattuck St. Mary’s School in Minnesota (Sidney Crosby’s old stomping grounds) in the fourth round. The first was Brannon McManus, who just a few days before had announced he was committed to the University of Minnesota. Two picks later, the Winterhawks selected Scott Reedy. The two combined to put up a staggering 245 points in 130 games for St. Mary’s. With how well they’ve recruited players south of the border, I don’t think it would surprise anyone if both are Winterhawks down the road.
6) Royals Take D – Victoria’s 18th overall pick is the lowest the franchise had ever been placed in the draft, and with it they took defenceman Scott Walford of Coquitlam who played for the Okanagan Hockey Academy. Walford was one of five players taken from OHA in the first round, the most from any program. In 59 games, Walford produced 12 goals and 51 points and is considered to be a very intelligent player that plays a physical game and moves the puck very well in all three zones. Walford was the first of nine players the Royals chose during the draft, with four defenceman.
While nine new faces joined the Royals, it must have been difficult for the team to have to move defenceman Brett Cote to Red Deer. Given the fact the Royals had a half-dozen players going into their overage season, decisions have to be made and Cote is now a member of the Red Deer Rebels.
A pick that stood out for Victoria is the third round selection of Lakeville, Minnesota native Baron Thompson, who last played for the Omaha U-16 Lancers. Thompson is a big guy already at 6’4” and closing fast on 200 pounds. When he played high school hockey at Achiever Academy, Thompson posted 30 goals and 45 points in only 22 games, so not only does he have the size, but a high level of skill to go with it.
