2004 Bantam Draft

[Hangar 84]

My 1st post, so be gentle. As bad as it was with Brad & Randy, the 2004 Bantam Draft appears to have been fairly strong. All except one pick (a goalie from Weyburn) were invited to their respective Provincial U17 team evaluation camps. These 16 yr olds will be here next week and I think as many as 4 of them will stick with the Broncos this year.

[Flathead]

Who do you think will stick with the team as 16 year olds. Personally I can't see four 16 year olds, sticking with the team. I think Dean likes the 16's to get another year of developing with a team where they will get a lot of ice time. Otherwise I'm pretty sure Bortis would have stayed last year. In fact Dean did say last year that Bortis probally was good enough to stay, but thought that by Kyle getting more ice time with the Contacts it would improve him for this year. Just my two cents.

[Hangar 84]

Kyle didn't feel he was ready last year and asked to be reassigned to AAA. Showed more maturity than some of the older players (Leavitt & Annesley for example) and expect good things from him once he recovers from mono. Players with a chance this year:
-Postma - a lock to make it; can move the puck and new rules will help his game
-Toulmin - 6'4" 200+ lbs and plays with a bit of grit
-Claffey - sounds like a future captain; has a presence on & off the ice but defence is already crowded
Also have a draft pick from Winnipeg (Shewchuk?) who led his AAA team is scoring and has grown some since being drafted.
Dean said the team may be even younger than last year and will almost certainly provide some excitement this year.

[Toswammi]

It's great that the Broncos have so many excellent 16 yr olds. It is going to great to see these players play in Swift in the future years , but do not get ahead of yourselves by saying multiple 16 yr olds will make the team. Remember that there is now a limit to the number of 16 yr olds in the league now, and the league will decide if there will be a team by team limit or whatever. Because of this rule, some of these 16 yr olds will not be able to make the team due to numbers.