Americans Look For Buried Treasures in 2007 WHL Bantam Draft

[Stay-Puft]

http://www.amshockey.com/news/article.src?ID=2229
May 02, 2007

Dan Mulhausen Tri-City Americans


KENNEWICK, WA - The Tri-City Americans will get an exercise in patience before their first pick of the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft. This year's draft, set to take place on Thursday, May 3 at the Round-up Center in Calgary, AB, gets underway without the Americans owning a first-round selection. Tri-City, who traded their 2007 first-round choice to Lethbridge as part of the deal that brought in Colton Yellow Horn, will get their first pick in the second round (40th overall) of this year's draft. It will mark the first time since the 1993 Draft that Tri-City will be without a first-round choice.

The draft will be held on Thursday, May 3 at the Round-Up Center in Calgary, Alberta starting at 8:30 AM.

AMERICANS 2007 DRAFT SELECTION ORDER
Round 1: None, Traded to Lethbridge for Colton Yellow Horn
Round 2: Two, 40th and 43rd overall selections
Round 3: Two, 47th and 62nd overall selections
Round 4: None, Traded to Seattle for Ladislav Scurko
Round 5: None, Traded to Vancouver for Keith Voytechek
Round 6: One, 126th overall selection
Round 7: One, 138th overall selection
Round 8: Two, 173rd and 174th overall selections
Round 9: One, 195th overall selection
Round 10: One, 217th overall selection
Round 11: One, 239th overall selection
Round 12: One, 261st overall selection

"It will be difficult to predict what will be available when we get to our first pick," noted Americans' Assistant General Manager Terry Bangen. "We're not sure what direction we're going to go (with our first pick), but we will take the best player available."

Eligible players for the Bantam Draft will be 1992-born players who reside in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The bantam draft allows for the orderly transfer of players to WHL Protected Player Lists from the bantam ranks (14-15 year-olds).

Former Americans' first-round bantam picks include Jason Gardiner (2006), Eric Mestery (2005), Joel Broda (2004), Jonathan Toews (2003) and Carey Price (2002).

[Stay-Puft]

Boy, the Scurko trade didn't turn out quite right, did it? A 4th round pick for a player that played 11 games or so. Stuff happens.

[Stay-Puft]

Our second round picks:

pk #40 - Jordan Messier, Canmore, AB
Pk #43 - Brooks Macek, Winnipeg, MB

[Stay-Puft]

Our 3rd round picks

pk #47 - Peter Stoykewich, Winnipeg, MB
pk #62 - Traded to Red Deer (don't know for who/what yet)

[Stay-Puft]

Well, the Ams acquired a 4th round pick from Medicine Hat.

pk #87 - Josh Monk, Langley, BC

[Stay-Puft]

And the trading continues. A 5th round pick from Prince Albert.

pk #95 - Warren Shymko, Calder, SK