NEAL’S NOTES: ROYALS BUSY AT THE AWARDS AND DRAFT

A hectic couple of days have concluded in Calgary with the Awards Banquet on Wednesday and the WHL Bantam Draft Thursday.

The Victoria Royals were big winners on awards day, with Dave Lowry taking his second coach of the year award in three years. Matt Phillips is the WHL’s rookie of the year after 37 goals and 76 points and Tyler Soy was named the most sportsmanlike player. Darren Parker, on behalf of the Royals, accepted the marketing and business award. After the banquet, Cam Hope joked that he wanted to see a recount of the executive of the year vote after being edged out by Peter Anholt of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Joe Hicketts, meanwhile, was out-voted for top defenceman by Brandon’s Ivan Provorov and Moose Jaw’s Dryden Hunt for outstanding player of the year, both very deserving of the honour.

The thrill of the day was the unveiling of the Top-3 Player vote to finish off the top-50 list of all-time in the WHL’s 50^th season. With it came a sort of hot stove conversation with Joe Sakic, Bobby Clarke and Jerry Price, the father of Carey Price. Sakic was voted the top player all-time in WHL history, with Clarke second and Price third. To hear some of the stories, especially from Sakic and Clarke who played in the days of old barns in small towns, was pretty neat.

Not sure why my co-host Cam Moon and I stress out so much about it since all we have to do is read the script, but speaking in front of a crowd has never been my favourite thing to do, but I am glad of being asked to be there.

After returning to the hotel, it’s all about the draft that night and literally sitting in front of a computer for upwards of six straight hours. The WHL Senior Manager of Player Development Kirt Hill is a real saviour. He gives me and Cam, who interviews the men who announce the first round picks, a binder filled with info on the draft, the top players expected to be picked in the first round, and about each team and who they drafted and are in the system. Kirt is pretty well our Bob MacKenzie for the bantam draft. Peyton Krebs from Okotoks, Alberta was selected first overall by the Kootenay Ice. It was the first time the Ice have selected first since 1997 and the first since the team moved to Cranbrook in 1998.

This was a very skilled and deep draft with depth up front, on defence and in goal. Most likely because of that, it was easily the most active first round for movement that I’ve seen since hosting the draft for five years. Saskatoon and Vancouver swapped picks early, with the Blades going from two to three. Kelowna stepped up and got Red Deer’s 11^th pick, while the Rebels moved down to 20. Brandon went from 21 to 12 swapping with Moose Jaw and then Red Deer moved the pick they got from Kelowna and traded that to the Giants. With the last pick of the first round, the Royals were about to make their pick and then at the last second dealt it to Edmonton for a second and a third round pick. Although the Oil Kings picked seventh in the first round, they would be picking fifth in each round after that and with the Royals not holding a second or third round pick prior to the trade, it made sense to wait five more picks and get two choices in the top 50 as opposed to one.

The Royals first pick is defenceman Luke Reid from Warman, Saskatchewan, who was one of just two 2001 born players to play in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. The other was Yorkton, SK, defenceman Kaeden Korczak who the Rockets selected 11^th overall. Reid played for the Battlefords Stars, coached by Martin Smith who was my former color analyst when I did junior A games in North Battleford many moons ago. Reid had six goals and 15 points in 43 games and is described as a good skater who makes a smart and simple first pass out of his own end. Reid is a solid all-around defenceman.

Reid was the first of 11 players selected by the Royals:
3^rd rnd, Jon Lambos, D, Winnipeg, MB – A physical defenceman who makes smart plays in his own zone.
4^th rnd, Tarun Fizer, F, Chestermere, AB – 33G-24A-57Pts for the Rocky Mountain Raiders in the Alberta Bantam Hockey League.
4^th rnd, Luke Mylymok, F, Wilcox, SK – Led Notre Dame Bantam AAA Hounds with 26G-33A-59 points this past season.
4^th rnd, Tyus Gent, F, Delta, BC – Led Delta Bantam Varsity 2 team with 40 points (23G-17A)
6^th rnd, Elan Bar Lev Wise, F – Played for the Burnaby Winter Club, four goals and six points to help BWC win the Western Canadian Bantam Championship.
7^th rnd, Mason Kruse, F, Brainerd, MN – 2G-1A in 15 games for Minnesota North Stars.
7^th rnd, Isaac Alvarado, F, West Vancouver, BC – From the Burnaby Winter Club, their bantam A2 squad. Already 6’0”.
8^th rnd, Shane Griffin, F, Lakeville, MN – A power forward who moves well.
8^th rnd, Brock Gould, G, Colorado Springs, CO – Big goalie at 6’3”, .935 save percentage and 1.40 goals against average for the Colorado U-14 Thunderbirds.
8^th rnd, Mitchell Becker, D, Rogers, MN – Remember former Royals’ forward Logan Nelson? Becker, a big defenceman, is from the same hometown in the Gopher State.