Bantam draft

[Red celtic]

ISS has posted their top 10 top Bantam draft picks for the defferent CHL leagues just click on the league you want to see. see.http://www.isshockey.com/monthlychlguide.asp

[WHL Crazy]

See more here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/602878/

[Red celtic]

Thanks WHL Crazy if you could continue to keep us informed on some of these kids that would be great.

[Broncs in RD]

Teams would be silly not to take Brent Benson 1st overall.

[CJSenterprise4]

He is one of the top players no doubt but also with Ty Rattie and a couple others. It is all about opinion and i guess we will find out what Portland will do.

[Red celtic]

WHL Crazy posted this on the Saskatoon board.

How about:
2007
Charles Inglis and Josh Nicholls who will be franchise players and in their own dominated for 15 yr olds in Midget this year.

Jamie Crooks and Darian Dziurzynski-Both in the top 10 in scoring in the AMHL. Crooks is 15 and Dziurzynski is 16(listed).

Cody Chikie- Point per game producer and very fast in the AMHL.

Burke Gallimore-ANother 16 year player obtained this season from Spokane in the McCrae deal. He was in the Top 5 in scoring the AMHL!

Also goalies Adam Morrison and Matthew Krahn(team western) are considered elite leval goalies ready to enter the dub next season.

THat is 8 players I count who are dominant players in their midget leagues ready to make an impact and are all highly thought of in the scouting community.


This years bantam draft is loaded and it is a good bet the Blades will land 2 of:

Brent Benson-Forward....Leading scoring by quite a bit in the south sask bantam league with 37 goals and 74 points this season.

Mike St. Croix-Forward....demolished the scoring race in the Winnipeg Bantam League with over 50 goals and 94 points in only 25 games. Finished 23 points ahead of 2nd scorer and team mate Zach Franko.

Ty Rattie-Forward....Broke the record for goals scored in the AMBHL by a long shot with 75 goals and points with 131 points in only 33 games. Also amassed 101 PIMS. Finished 38 goals ahead of the next closest player in the South Division of the league. Won Top forward award in the south league of the AMBHL as well as MVP honors.

Mitch Topping-Defense...Blue Chip prospect who scored 40 pts and 14 goals with 100 Pims in 33 games. However his strong suit is positional play and ability to shut down the top scorers in the league which he did even against Rattie on a couple occasions. WON Top D-Man award in the south league of the AMBHL

Duncan Siemens-Defense...Steady, hard nosed defenseman with good skill. Won the D-MAN award in the North division of the AMBHL. Finished with 36 points and 14 goals and 56 pims in 30 games. Pick your poison here with Topping or Siemens as who will be the first dman picked.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Forward...Some say he could be the best all around forward of the top 4 North American kids. However he plays in BC and my feeling is the Blades will opt for 2 of the top prairie kids who are just as good.

Brandon Hurley-Forward....Power Forward in the Charles Inglis ilk with more skill. He is a force whenever on the ice and finds the back of the net consistantly. Hurley scored 51 goals this season in 31 games with 141 PIMS!

*****AMERICAN PLAYERS*****
Shane McColgan-Forward...California, could go high in the draft to an American based team such as Portland or Everett. Could possibly be the top player in the draft if you can believe that. Runs the same risk Kelowna took by selecting Luke Moffatt last season.

Colin Jacobs-Forward....Texas, Looks to be a high first rounder as well if a team is comfortable taking the risk.

***Others to consider****
Colin Smith-Forward, AB
Tyler Borstmayer-Defense, SK
Ryan Murray-Defense, SK
Laurant Brossoit-Goalie, BC
Zach Yuen-Defense, BC

[WHL Crazy]

1 . Benson, Brent A+ Apr 13/93 Wey SSBHL C L 5.11 171 Best player in the tournament hands down as expected.
Was a man amongst boys and a lock for the top player
in Saskatchewan this season. I haven't seen a better
player in 10 years of following this age group. Does
everything well, skates powerful and reminds me of a
Mats Sundin type player.
2 . St. Croix, Michael Oct 04/93 Mon WBD1 UA RW R 5.10 152 Very skilled in every area of the game is Michael. A
very consistent player and is heads and shoulders
better than any other in the province in terms of
offensive potential. A smart heady player, which should
guarantee him a first round selection. Sees the ice
very well and is a crafty playmaker. Will have to
overcome a slight lack of size as his team relies
heavily upon him.
3 . Rattie, Ty Feb 05/93 AirX AMBHL UA RW R 6.00 160 Has outstanding goal scoring instincts and excellent
hockey sense. Is big enough to fend off the
defenders consistently. Needs to work on his play
away from the puck. Needs to use his team mates
more to be successful in Junior.
4 . Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan Apr 12/93 BWC PCBT1 F 5.10 145 Wants to be the best game in and game out say his
coaches. Strong, quick starts and great acceleration.
Has incredible imagination with the puck and excellent
playmaking ability. Likes to shoot the puck often.
Isn't big or physical so he can be worn down in big
games. Projected as a First line WHL player.
5 . Topping, Mitch Feb 19/93 RDWhi AMBHL D L 6.01 165 His stride and the power in his stride is outstanding.
His firsttwo steps are improving but are above average
as well. Very hard, accurate shot and can shoot in
stride. His first pass out of the zone is the best
I've seen for a bantam player this year. He plays the
man well but sometimes go's out of his way to make
body contact. Mitch shows great leadership abilities
as he is the captain of his Bantam team this season.
Skates great laterally and has an above average point
shot. Is productive on the power play. Can get
caught out of position. Projects as a power play
quarterback and number 1 defenseman.
6 . Hurley, Brendan May 11/93 FSask AMBHL C L 5.11 160 Is one of the more lethal scorers in the ambhl.
Sometimes go's out of his way to instigate trouble
with the opposition. Plays a sound two-way game. He
is a streaky player and is beginning to learn
disaplain which was a major concern before this year.
7 . McColgan, Shane Jan 01/93 LA18 CalifM UA RW R 5.10 160
8 . Siemens, Duncan Sep 07/93 Sher AMBHL LD L 6.00 183 Big and strong and plays with an edge. Good slap shot.
Is the total package and hits lots. Can be a little
too over the top at times. Skating is good but could
improve with time. First rounder without a doubt. Is
one of the most natural blueline talents in this years
draft. Combines size, strength and toughness. His
overall ability makes him not easy to play against
nightly. Needs to make better decisions and struggles
against some of the top players. Projects as a top
pairing defenseman.
9 . Jacobs, Colins Jan 20/93 AttMi TexM F 5.11 185 Has great strength in his lower body and shows some
explosive speed. Can overpower defenders physically or
can use finesse if need be. Has the hands of a natural
goal scorer. Will dominate at the next level if paired
with other good players. Needs to stay on the ice and
get overly physical.
10 . Murray, Ryan A Sep 27/93 Balgo SSBHL D L 5.09 160 One of the leaders on one of the top teams in the
tournament. Shows a great ability to rush the puck
and stay composed in all situations. A great skater
and in my opinion in the Top 5-8 in Saskatchewan so
far this season

[Red celtic]

Well we got the number 1 pick looking forward to seeing what the club does with it. Got this artical off the Red deer advocate site. http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/sports/Rebels_win_draft_lottery.html Sounds like we have a lot of options.

[WHL Crazy]

This years bantam draft has as much top end talent as the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft which saw: Brule, Bertram, Gauthier, Durand, Setoguchi, McArdle and Carey Price being the top 7!

This year:
Mike St.Croix, Brent Benson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ty Rattie on forward have been on teams radar screens for the best couple of seasons already and whomever drafts one of these forwards will get a franchise player in the ilk of Setoguchi, McARdle, Brule or Bertram.

However the major difference with this years draft is that there are 2 bonified blue chip dmen in Topping and Siemens from Alberta!

Brandon Hurley rounds out the elite 7.

Shane McColgan and Colin Jacobs from LA and Texas respectively are just as good as the 4 forwards I mention but it remains to be seen if they'll choose the WHL route or not.

[wango tango]

my take on the article is the rebels are taking a forward and it will be one of st. croix, benson, or rattie. and the deciding factor could be performance in the tournaments over the next month. it'll be interesting to read what the general concensus is after those tournaments are done.

[WHL Crazy]

from someone who has watched this age group all year long, I wouldn't put too much stock into one tournament but it might confirm someones pick.

[Tinner]

its been well discussed as to the quality of this years draft as compared to others....as a weak draft. That said, it does make it very important that your 1st couple of picks are good ones and in the case of the Rebels, its imperative that they pick wisely. When you have the 1st pick overall, its more important that you select the best player regardless of what position they play. Some may argue that they took a player because he was the best for the team, but the concenus best player should be the pick.

[Red celtic]

its been well discussed as to the quality of this years draft as compared to others....as a weak draft. That said, it does make it very important that your 1st couple of picks are good ones and in the case of the Rebels, its imperative that they pick wisely. When you have the 1st pick overall, its more important that you select the best player regardless of what position they play. Some may argue that they took a player because he was the best for the team, but the concenus best player should be the pick.
It's my understanding that this is suppossed to be a good draft year with no clear #1 pick. Even with that a lot of people feel that Brent Benson out of Weyburn should go first over all.

[RebelsFan]

I can see them taking Rattie. An Airdrie player is almost a local guy for Red Deer. Brent will pick the player that has the best chance of putting bodies in the seats in three years. My sources tell me Rattie over Benson at this point.

[SectionNDeserter]

I have been hearing and reading the same as Red Celtic, one of the most talented draft years in years. No clear frontrunner for the #1 selection like in previous seasons, and tons of talent in the top 20 or so ranked players. Last time the Rebels had the 1st overall pick, they passed on Wade Redden and selected Mike McBain, lets hope that they do a little better this time!

[wango tango]

from someone who has watched this age group all year long, I wouldn't put too much stock into one tournament but it might confirm someones pick.

that is the sense i get too from reading this article is that these tournaments over the next month or so will help affirm who teams like.

[hockey4]

I can see them taking Rattie. An Airdrie player is almost a local guy for Red Deer. Brent will pick the player that has the best chance of putting bodies in the seats in three years. My sources tell me Rattie over Benson at this point.

Haha, well if thats the basis your going on, id have to disagree with you 100%. name me a time where sutter has made a hockey move so there will be more bodies in the seats. From what i can tell, he makes trades for the team first, not to make more money. edleast we know know you have no sources, hahahaha. and i wouldnt say airdrie is all that local.

also, do you really think they have put enough thought into it that 36 hours later they have a legit frontrunner, hahah. Its a close enough draft that it will take a little more time than a day or two for there scouts to come to a consensus.

[RebelsFan]

So picking Ferraro and Redmond had nothing to do with NHL'ers sons and potentially putting A**es in the seats. Brent is loyal to his NHL buddies first and to create media hype in Red Deer to sell tickets second. As for shopping local, can you honestly say that Mappin was the best available pick of the 1990 age group. I agree with it taking some time. If you were at the Sask First tryouts, you would have seen Benson already. Benson is fully grown and what you see is what you get ( beard and all)! Not that that is a bad thing but hey, fully grown at 15 is fully grown. He didn't stand out a SK First. There is a group of players at the top, yes, who will Red Deer pick? At this point, I have no idea. My guess is Rattie. That's what it is a guess. Red Deer hasn't taken a fully grown kid in the early rounds for a long time. Maybe they will start now, who knows. Typically what happens is everyone has SK kids ranked high early then AB and BC kids come on later due to their Alberta Cup and BC Best Ever tourneys being held later.
And Hey come on, smilies, are you a nine year old girl?

[hockey4]

So picking Ferraro and Redmond had nothing to do with NHL'ers sons and potentially putting A**es in the seats. Brent is loyal to his NHL buddies first and to create media hype in Red Deer to sell tickets second. As for shopping local, can you honestly say that Mappin was the best available pick of the 1990 age group. I agree with it taking some time. If you were at the Sask First tryouts, you would have seen Benson already. Benson is fully grown and what you see is what you get ( beard and all)! Not that that is a bad thing but hey, fully grown at 15 is fully grown. He didn't stand out a SK First. There is a group of players at the top, yes, who will Red Deer pick? At this point, I have no idea. My guess is Rattie. That's what it is a guess. Red Deer hasn't taken a fully grown kid in the early rounds for a long time. Maybe they will start now, who knows. Typically what happens is everyone has SK kids ranked high early then AB and BC kids come on later due to their Alberta Cup and BC Best Ever tourneys being held later.
And Hey come on, smilies, are you a nine year old girl?

(no idea how smiles got there)

and no, i would tend to disagree with you about drafting nhl players sons to create hype. Hell, ray ferraro was an average player and i have no idea who redmonds dad is. and i would dare you to try and find a person who bought rebels tickets so they could watch ray feraro's offspring.

i called you on you saying you had "a source" not on your opinion. becasue your "source" was the one that had the rebels picking rattie at this point. according to the advocate, who i would say is a decent source seeing greg and brent appear to have a decent relatonship (no slamming of media - the team operations), there are a number of players including many d-men, who the rebels are looking at.

and they probably dont take full grown kids who are 15 because thts exactly what they are. kids that are fully grown at that age tend to have reached there potential and are soon passed by kids still growing.

[RebelsFan]

I said my sources say Rattie over Benson at this point. I said nothing about them being Rebel sources. My first sentence said " I can see them taking Rattie", not my sources say they will be taking Rattie.
The following is how the Rebels announced that they had picked Connor Redmond.

"Rebels Hockey Club selected Connor Redmond with their first pick, 11th overall, in the 2007 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. Redmond was a forward with the Western Canadian Champion Burnaby Winter Club (Bantam AAA) this past season.

Connor is the son of former Los Angeles King and Edmonton Oiler Craig Redmond. "
Trust me, Brent likes the assumed value attached to having NHL'ers kids around the team. I am not saying there is anything wrong with it. But, when someone assumes that Landon will put up Rays numbers, they may be in for a surprise.

[SectionNDeserter]

Its a selection based on making the team better, and not some publicity thing. Players who are offspring of NHL players tend to grow up 'immersed' in the whole NHL thing whether their father was a superstar or a fringe player there. They themselves usually tend to have ties with other NHL players and staff, and may have a better idea of what it takes to make it to the NHL than a player that doesn't (at the very least, they have that edge). Look at Landon Ferraro, in the course of growing up with the various NHL teams his father played with, he took shots on NHL goalies and skated with NHL players. Beyond that, he is also a very talented player, which makes his selection at the #2 slot a no-brainer.

[Rebel66]

But, when someone assumes that Landon will put up Rays numbers, they may be in for a surprise.

I would be very surprised if anybody assumed that Ferraro would put up numbers like his father. Most people are intelligent enough to realize that it is a different era of hockey for one thing.

Just out of interest do you rate Ferraro or did the Rebels make the wrong choice selecting him. He was the consensus number two pick, pretty much, wasn't he?

[SectionNDeserter]

I would be very surprised if anybody assumed that Ferraro would put up numbers like his father. Most people are intelligent enough to realize that it is a different era of hockey for one thing.Greatly improved defensemen, backchecking forwards (or their actual existence now), as well as much improved and creative defensive systems, combined with a watered down talent pool will prevent Ferraro (or anyone for that matter) from putting up his father's numbers. I would also be surprised if anyone assumed that.

Far too soon to say whether or not it was the wrong choice, he probably suffered the most of any player from the team's lack of puck possession/poor transition game this season. He is a lot more noticeable in the other team's end than he is in his own end. I know one thing is for sure, if he is injured as much next season as he was this season, then it was definitely the wrong choice.

[Rebel66]

I know one thing is for sure, if he is injured as much next season as he was this season, then it was definitely the wrong choice.

Who would you have taken over him?

[RebelsFan]

Schenn, but hey isn't hindsight 20/20. It would be easy to say who now but Ferraro was ranked right up there at the time of the draft. Nobody had Schenn ranked that high except Brandon.

On the injury note. Some players are just too small, slight of stature what ever you want to call it to be durable enough in this league. Joel Kot is a fine example of this. An excellent hockey player but it is a tough grind out there.

[SectionNDeserter]

Who would you have taken over him?Not taking any kind of hindsight into consideration, I would have taken Jared Cowan (much like I am sure the Rebels would have, had he not already been selected). Aside from Cowan, Ferraro would have been my second choice. Having hindsight, I might select one of the top scoring rookies this season like Brayden Schenn, or maybe even Evander Kane, but it is really hard to compare Ferraro with them, given that they were in such different circumstances.

[sbtatter]

Schenn, but hey isn't hindsight 20/20. It would be easy to say who now but Ferraro was ranked right up there at the time of the draft. Nobody had Schenn ranked that high except Brandon.

On the injury note. Some players are just too small, slight of stature what ever you want to call it to be durable enough in this league. Joel Kot is a fine example of this. An excellent hockey player but it is a tough grind out there. Schenn was a risky pick in the fact that his dad tried to dictate where he was going to end up playing.....

[frontrow fan]

when is the bantam draft?? and where is it??

[Red celtic]

Rdreb and I went down to Airdrie yesterday and watched 3 games of the Western Canadian Bantam Championship. We were able to watch Ryan Nugent-Hopkins go head to head with both Ty Rattee and Duncin Seimens and at this tournament he was the better player. In the two games we watched he scored 6 goals and had at least a couple of assists. We also saw the St. Crois kid play and in my opinion he wasn't as dynamic as the other three players.

If the Rebels keep the first pick and with out seeing seeing Benson or Hurley I would hope they pick Nugent-Hopkins. If they do this it would be the third year in a row that they have chosen a Burnaby Winter Club player in the first round. He was a treat to watch.

If the Rebs decide to go with a defencemen with the first pick this Siemens kid is the real deal. He is a big strong defencemen who can skate real well with a booming shot. But with that in mind I still hope they take Nugent-Hopkins.

[Crush Kill Destroy]

St. Croix's ability to be 'dynamic' at this tournament took a big hit in the Manitoba bantam finals when his linemate (and second-leading scorer on the team), Zach Franko, broke his collar bone. Franko is also expected to be drafted fairly high in the upcoming bantam draft.

It certainly could be said that St. Croix should have still stood out more as a potential number one draft pick. However, he played all season alongside Franko and to suddenly not have your triggerman there could certainly result in a big adjustment to his game. St. Croix still had a fairly good tournament considering.

I would think it is still up in the air as to who the number one pick will be, and may remain that way until the draft. Lots of good players to be had this year.

[Red celtic]

Here is an artical that talks about some of the prospects that were at the Western Canadian Bantam Championships. http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/sports/Rebels_looking_to_Bruins_again.html

[Red celtic]

Looks like we are going for a forward http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/sports/Rebels_ready_for_bantam_draft.html

[Red celtic]

Rebels take Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the first pick overall.

[RebelsFan]

Rebels go back to the Burnaby Winter club for their first pick for the third year in a row.

[howley]

Matt Pufahl taken in the 4th rd


Matt Pufahl - 5'10, 150 - D - Generals
I didn't get to see Matt as much as I would have liked. He was
suspended or kicked out of a few of the games where I would have been able to watch him. This is what I saw in the very limited viewings.
Defensive D-man
Good solid all around player. Not flashy but fairly consistent. Can
be over physical taking himself out of the play. Fairly good shot.
Decent skater, not always in the right place. Very intense competitor
appears to have the drive to succeed. Add's sandpaper to the lineup. Appears to have strong leadership qualities. Has some good tools that could be
developed.

[Rebel66]

Rebels take Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the first pick overall.

Judging by your previous comments in this thread I bet that makes you VERY happy!

[rdreb]

Yes we are very happy :groovy: :groovy:

[Red celtic]

I Did see the kid play in Airdrie and yes this pick makes me very happy.