WHEAT KINGS SELECT IVAN PROVOROV
Brandon, MB. — The Canadian Hockey League’s Annual Import Draft was held Wednesday morning and the Brandon Wheat Kings had an early first round selection.
Using the 30th overall pick – the Wheat Kings opted for 17-year old Ivan Provorov from Yaroslavl, Russia.
The 6-foot-0 193 pound left shooting Defenceman played for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League last season, recording 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 56 games played. Provorov is a 1997 born Defenceman that isn’t eligible until the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
“All reports are he’s a pretty good young defenceman with a lot of ability and a guy that is projected to be a pretty good player,” Wheat Kings GM and Coach Kelly McCrimmon told CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston. “He’s responsible defensively; he’s got a good dimension offensively to his game and looks to be a good two-way guy.”
During Provorov’s 2012-13 Midget season the Defenceman recorded a whopping 97 points in 51 games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights.
Provorov recently gained some international experience represting Russia at the World Under-18 Hockey Championships this past spring.
“Because he has played in North America, because he played in the USHL last year, that’s probably going to help him with his transition to the Western Hockey League,” said McCrimmon. “We’ll wait and see how it all plays out.”
While the Wheat Kings currently have two imports – Richard Nejezchleb and Rihards Bukarts – on their roster, the WHL club was permitted to make a selection today as Nejezchleb is entering his final year of junior eligibility and could turn professional for the 2014-15 season. Nejezchleb was recently drafted by the New York Rangers in the 5th Round of last weeks NHL Entry Draft.
Nejezchleb scored 32 goals and 57 points in 66 games with the Wheat Kings last season while Bukarts, who was the seventh player chosen in the 2013 Import Draft, had 28 goals and 54 points in 65 games.
Canadian Hockey League clubs are permitted to carry a maximum of two imports on their roster.
The Sarnia Sting (OHL) had the number one pick in Wednesday’s draft and used it to select Pavel Zacha from the Czech Rebuplic. The WHL’s top pick belonged to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who opted for Russian forward Nikita Milekhin with the 3rd overall pick.
Today’s Import Draft caps a busy week for the WHL club and follows on the heels of this past weekend’s National Hockey League Entry Draft as well as as the unveiling of their 2014-15 regular season schedule.
