nivek_wahs
05-04-2007, 08:38 AM
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/sports/story.html?id=813a91f8-b151-48ff-a344-5fd826a2f9a8
Local product first-ever Oil Kings player
GM Green grabs Strathcona's Pysyk with third pick in bantam draft
Scott Petersen, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, May 04, 2007
EDMONTON - The expansion Edmonton Oil Kings only had to look as far as their own backyard for the first player in franchise history. And they looked often.
The team selected Strathcona County's Mark Pysyk third overall in the Western Hockey League's bantam draft held in Calgary Thursday. Between Oil Kings general manager Bob Green and his scouting staff, the Oil Kings didn't miss many of the 15-year-old defenceman's games with the Strathcona Warriors.
They came away impressed for good reason, according to Warriors coach Shawn Martin.
"He's going to be the face of that franchise," said Martin, who had Pysyk for two years. "I've coached a lot of players who are good players now in the WHL, but he's got that extra something.
"He's obviously a very skilled defenceman with good size and he's got great hockey sense."
Pysyk can attend the Oil Kings' training camp but can't play in the WHL until he's 16. That should put him in midget hockey for most of the Oil Kings' inaugural season.
The six-foot, 160-pound player registered 15 goals and 49 points in 33 games in 2006-07 and was a co-winner of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League's top defenceman award. The Florida Panthers' Jay Bouwmeester is among the award's previous recipients.
"We had Mark at the top of our list and are very pleased to have gotten him with the third pick," said Green in an Oil Kings press release.
"Mark is a big, strong, defenceman with a high skill level who should be a big part of our future."
The draft started with Portland dealing the first overall pick to Moose Jaw. They selected Oak Bank, Man., forward Quinton Howden, who had 197 points in 51 games last year. Kelowna then added Scottsdale, Arizona's Luke Moffatt, considered the prize of the draft if he plays major junior. That cleared the way for Edmonton to take Pysyk.
Martin debunked any thoughts that the Oil Kings had to stretch to take a local player as high as they did.
"I think they made the right pick," he said. "They got lucky that there was a local guy this good. If it wasn't them taking him at No. 3, another team would've taken him in the same spot."
Other early Oil Kings selections in the 15-round draft included Slave Lake's T.J. Foster in the second round, Saskatoon's Colton Stephenson in the third round and Beausejour, Man., native Devin Balness to start the fourth. Edmonton selected 11 players in total, also including defenceman Philip Samuelsson, the 15-year-old son of noted former NHLer Ulf Samuelsson.
Foster led a Spruce Grove team in scoring with 60 points in 33 games last year, en route to a provincial championship. He then added a six-goal, eight-point effort in a game at the Western Canada Championships. Stephenson had 97 points in 42 games, and his brother Logan is a defenceman with Tri-City.
Among local products, Bill Ranford's son Brendan, a top-tier scorer and co-winner of top forward honours in the AMBHL, went 15th overall to Kamloops. And a pair of local goalies rounded out the first-round action, with Tyler Bunz of St. Albert going to Medicine Hat with the 21st pick and Kent Simpson of Edmonton to Everett at 22nd.
Oil Drops: The Oil Kings originally surrendered their third-round pick to Medicine Hat for hiring Green from their organization. But they swung a deal with Regina to swap picks in the second round, nab a third-rounder and get an unnamed player in the coming expansion draft.
spetersen@thejournal.canwest.com
BUILDING A CLUB
The WHL Bantam Draft is the first step in the creation of the Oil Kings roster.
It's a way of transferring bantam-aged players to teams' protected lists.
Players can be selected from the four western provinces, Yukon and Northwest Territories, and the western United States.
The Oil Kings' draft selections will be among the players invited to the team's development camp that will run May 19-20 at the Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert.
The team will continue to build their roster of players through the league's expansion draft June 5 and import draft June 27, in which they have the first selection.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Local product first-ever Oil Kings player
GM Green grabs Strathcona's Pysyk with third pick in bantam draft
Scott Petersen, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, May 04, 2007
EDMONTON - The expansion Edmonton Oil Kings only had to look as far as their own backyard for the first player in franchise history. And they looked often.
The team selected Strathcona County's Mark Pysyk third overall in the Western Hockey League's bantam draft held in Calgary Thursday. Between Oil Kings general manager Bob Green and his scouting staff, the Oil Kings didn't miss many of the 15-year-old defenceman's games with the Strathcona Warriors.
They came away impressed for good reason, according to Warriors coach Shawn Martin.
"He's going to be the face of that franchise," said Martin, who had Pysyk for two years. "I've coached a lot of players who are good players now in the WHL, but he's got that extra something.
"He's obviously a very skilled defenceman with good size and he's got great hockey sense."
Pysyk can attend the Oil Kings' training camp but can't play in the WHL until he's 16. That should put him in midget hockey for most of the Oil Kings' inaugural season.
The six-foot, 160-pound player registered 15 goals and 49 points in 33 games in 2006-07 and was a co-winner of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League's top defenceman award. The Florida Panthers' Jay Bouwmeester is among the award's previous recipients.
"We had Mark at the top of our list and are very pleased to have gotten him with the third pick," said Green in an Oil Kings press release.
"Mark is a big, strong, defenceman with a high skill level who should be a big part of our future."
The draft started with Portland dealing the first overall pick to Moose Jaw. They selected Oak Bank, Man., forward Quinton Howden, who had 197 points in 51 games last year. Kelowna then added Scottsdale, Arizona's Luke Moffatt, considered the prize of the draft if he plays major junior. That cleared the way for Edmonton to take Pysyk.
Martin debunked any thoughts that the Oil Kings had to stretch to take a local player as high as they did.
"I think they made the right pick," he said. "They got lucky that there was a local guy this good. If it wasn't them taking him at No. 3, another team would've taken him in the same spot."
Other early Oil Kings selections in the 15-round draft included Slave Lake's T.J. Foster in the second round, Saskatoon's Colton Stephenson in the third round and Beausejour, Man., native Devin Balness to start the fourth. Edmonton selected 11 players in total, also including defenceman Philip Samuelsson, the 15-year-old son of noted former NHLer Ulf Samuelsson.
Foster led a Spruce Grove team in scoring with 60 points in 33 games last year, en route to a provincial championship. He then added a six-goal, eight-point effort in a game at the Western Canada Championships. Stephenson had 97 points in 42 games, and his brother Logan is a defenceman with Tri-City.
Among local products, Bill Ranford's son Brendan, a top-tier scorer and co-winner of top forward honours in the AMBHL, went 15th overall to Kamloops. And a pair of local goalies rounded out the first-round action, with Tyler Bunz of St. Albert going to Medicine Hat with the 21st pick and Kent Simpson of Edmonton to Everett at 22nd.
Oil Drops: The Oil Kings originally surrendered their third-round pick to Medicine Hat for hiring Green from their organization. But they swung a deal with Regina to swap picks in the second round, nab a third-rounder and get an unnamed player in the coming expansion draft.
spetersen@thejournal.canwest.com
BUILDING A CLUB
The WHL Bantam Draft is the first step in the creation of the Oil Kings roster.
It's a way of transferring bantam-aged players to teams' protected lists.
Players can be selected from the four western provinces, Yukon and Northwest Territories, and the western United States.
The Oil Kings' draft selections will be among the players invited to the team's development camp that will run May 19-20 at the Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert.
The team will continue to build their roster of players through the league's expansion draft June 5 and import draft June 27, in which they have the first selection.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007