Lee and Hamaliuk Selected For CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game

Annual NHL Draft showcase game is January 23 in Red Deer

KENT, December 13, 2018 — Seattle Thunderbirds general manager Bil La Forge in conjunction with the Canadian Hockey League and National Hockey League Central Scouting announced today defenseman Jake Lee and left wing Dillon Hamaliuk are two of the 40 players that will compete in the 2019 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

The 24th annual showcase of the CHL’s top prospects eligible for the NHL Draft will take place Wednesday January 23, 2019, at the ENMAX Centrium, home of the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels. The 40 players were chosen by NHL clubs and include talent from across the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“We’re excited Jake and Dillon have been selected for the Top Prospects Game,” said La Forge. “Jake and Dillon have worked hard all season to get the opportunity to play in this game. Our coaching staff and player development staff have done an excellent job working with Jake and Dillon all season to help them get selected.”

Both Lee and Hamaliuk received a ‘B’ rating from NHL Central Scouting in the November Players To Watch List. This indicates they are both a second or third round NHL Draft candidate. The 2019 NHL Draft takes place June 21 and June 22 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Lee, born July 13, 2001, was the T-Birds first round selection, and the 18^th overall pick, in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. This season Lee has played 28 games and has two goals and 15 assists for 17 points. In his rookie year last season Lee played in 64 games and had four goals and six assists for 10 points with 69 penalty minutes. As a 15-year old Lee played in Game 6 of the 2017 WHL Western Conference Final against the Kelowna Rockets. The T-Birds won Game 6 3-1 to win their second consecutive Western Conference Championship.

Hamaliuk, born October 30, 2000, was the T-Birds sixth round selection, 111^th overall, in the 2015 Bantam Draft. Hamaliuk has nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 26 games. Last season Hamaliuk played in 72 games and had 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points. As an underage 16-year old in the 2016-17 season Hamaliuk played in 17 regular season games and had one goal. Hamaliuk played in Game 1 of the 2017 WHL Championship against the Regina Pats. The T-Birds won Game 1 2-1 in overtime.

The T-Birds play the Spokane Chiefs Friday at 7:35pm at accesso ShoWare Center. They then travel for two games before the annual WHL holiday break. They are in Everett to take on the Silvertips at 7:05pm Saturday and then head to Spokane to play the Chiefs at 5:05pm on Sunday.

Single game tickets are on sale online on the T-Birds website and at the accesso ShoWare Center box office.

The T-Birds are now taking orders for Flex-24 Ticket packages. Fans that purchase the 24-Flex Ticket Package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2018-19 season.

“The Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game provides scouts and general managers the unique opportunity to evaluate talent competing in a best-on-best showcase,” said Dan Marr, NHL Central Scouting Director. “All 31 NHL clubs contributed to the roster selection and have a great interest in this priority scouting event to see which players can elevate their game under the spotlight.”

Headlining the talent in Alberta are 11 CHL players identified by NHL Central Scouting as potential first round candidates in their November ‘Players to Watch’ list.  Six of those players hail from WHL clubs including forwards Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades, Nolan Foote of the Kelowna Rockets, and Peyton Krebs of the Kootenay ICE, along with defenseman Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants, and Matthew Robertson of the Edmonton Oil Kings.  Additional ‘A’ rated players competing in the event include OHL forwards Arthur Kaliyev of the Hamilton Bulldogs and Ryan Suzuki of the Barrie Colts, defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok of the Flint Firebirds, plus QMJHL forwards Raphael Lavoie of the Halifax Mooseheads and Samuel Poulin of the Sherbrooke Phoenix.

33 of the CHL’s 60 member clubs will be represented in the game with a total of 16 WHL players from 12 different teams, 15 OHL players from 12 teams, and nine QMJHL players each from a different organization.  Kelowna leads the way with three players selected followed by the London Knights, Medicine Hat Tigers, Ottawa 67’s, Peterborough Petes, and Seattle Thunderbirds each with two.  The host Rebels will be represented in the game by forward Oleg Zaytsev.

2019 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Roster:

Goaltenders
Colten Ellis (Rimouski Océanic)
Taylor Gauthier (Prince George Cougars)
Hunter Jones (Peterborough Petes)
Mads Sogaard (Medicine Hat Tigers)

Defensemen
Samuel Bolduc (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
Bowen Byram (Vancouver Giants)
Billy Constantinou (Kingston Frontenacs)
Thomas Harley (Mississauga Steelheads)
Artemi Kniazev (Chicoutimi Saguenéens)
Vladislav Kolyachonok (Flint Firebirds)
Kaedan Korczak (Kelowna Rockets)
Jake Lee (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Nikita Okhotyuk (Ottawa 67’s)
Matthew Robertson (Edmonton Oil Kings)
Lassi Thomson (Kelowna Rockets)
Michael Vukojevic (Kitchener Rangers)

Forwards
Nikita Alexandrov (Charlottetown Islanders)
Maxim Cajkovic (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Joe Carroll (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Graeme Clarke (Ottawa 67’s)
Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Kirby Dach (Saskatoon Blades)
Nolan Foote (Kelowna Rockets)
Matvey Guskov (London Knights)
Dillon Hamaliuk (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Peyton Krebs (Kootenay ICE)
Raphaël Lavoie (Halifax Mooseheads)
Brett Leason (Prince Albert Raiders)
Nathan Légaré (Baie-Comeau Drakkar)
Connor McMichael (London Knights)
Sasha Mutala (Tri-City Americans)
Jakob Pelletier (Moncton Wildcats)
Samuel Poulin (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Jamieson Rees (Sarnia Sting)
Nick Robertson (Peterborough Petes)
Ryan Suzuki (Barrie Colts)
Philip Tomasino (Niagara IceDogs)
Josh Williams (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Oleg Zaytsev (Red Deer Rebels)

The 40 players will be divided into Team Cherry and Team Orr by NHL Central Scouting prior to the event.  Coaching staffs for both teams will also be announced at a later date.

10 CHL players from last year’s game in Guelph were chosen in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft led by Barrie’s Andrei Svechnikov picked second overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.  In 23 years, a total of 317 CHL players from this event have been chosen by NHL clubs in the first round of the NHL Draft representing over 45% of all players selected.  Since the event was first introduced in 1996 the game has featured 14 players selected with the first overall pick in the NHL Draft including Nico Hischier, Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad, Nathan MacKinnon, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Marc-Andre Fleury, Rick Nash, Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Thornton, and Chris Phillips.

The 2019 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is proudly supported by title partner Sherwin-Williams, and CHL associate sponsors CIBC, Kia Canada, Cooper Tires, and Kubota Canada.  The game will be broadcast live across Canada on Sportsnet and TVA Sports, and in the United States on NHL Network.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased via reddeerrebels.com or ticketsalberta.com.  For further ticket details please contact the Rebels office at 403-341-6000.

For more information on the 2019 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game please visit http://sherwin-williamstopprospects.ca.

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