Final Draft Recap / Calgary Bound

Ok, here's a rundown of all eight Bronco bantam draft selections yesterday. Thanks to Director of Scouting Jamie Porter for providing some background on each player. The quotes underneath each selection are his.


1st round, 15th overall - C Evan Richardson Nanaimo, BC. 5'6, 135

"Evan is quick, very skilled. We thought he was the fastest player in the draft by a long shot. We are excited that he has a second and a third gear, and he can make plays with the puck at high speeds."


2nd round, 37th overall - LW Shea Howorko, Regina, SK 5'11 165

"Shea is another good skating very skilled player. We think he's a goal scorer and think he can be a playmaker. He played on the top line at Notre Dame and has a Swift Current connection. We were very happy that he was still around in the 2nd round."


4th round, 81st overall - C Sutton Olsen, Deloraine, MB, 5'10 155

"Sutton put up some points and was the captain of his team. He's very good at both ends of the ice. He can put up numbers but at the same time he's an extremely responsible player."


6th round, 125th overall - D Matthew Allan, Coquitlam BC 5'9 135

"Matthew plays with our first round pick Evan Richardson at the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna. He's a fairly mobile d-man. Very good with the puck, very sound. Defensively he's extremely good."


6th round, 127th overall - LW Arthur Gordon, Edmonton 5'11 160

"Arthur is a good sized guy. He can skate very well, it's a strong powerful stride. We think he's a solid depth guy that at some point could play on our 2nd line."


7th round, 147th overall - D Ashton McLeod, Claresholm, AB 5'9 140.

"Ashton is a skilled defenseman. He's a real character player, leadership guy. We liked the fact he was extremely passionate and emotional about coming to Swift. We thought we needed to take a couple d-men who are very mobile."


8th round, 169th overall - G Michael Fredrick, Lethbridge, 5'7 145

"When we took a goaltender in the 2nd round last year (Austin Smith), a goalie was probably not a tremendous priority for us but this was a guy who are Alberta scouts really liked. He is a smaller bodied guy but the scouts were really excited he was still there (in the 8th round)."


8th round, 175th overall - D Colton Cassidy. Leduc, AB 6'1 175

"Colton was a player who played on an underachieving Leduc bantam team. He's a big guy that we had interest in throughout the season. He had a very good Alberta Cup. We were very happy with him. We think his skating has improved. We wanted to have some size in that age group and we think he fits that."

--------------

I'm off to Calgary later this morning for the weekend.

I was planning on just being a spectator for the WHL Championship series... maybe doing a few interviews for WHL This Week here and there but in talking with the producers at Shaw TV may have something for me to do. Not sure what exactly, maybe if they need some triple-overtime intermission filler I'll be their guy. I guess I'll pack a suit and see what happens on that front.

It'll be good to see Regan from the Rockets. I only run into my former co-worker once or twice a year at most. Brad Curle is always a good host in Calgary too. Plus Calgary's media room is always full of NHL Execs...and the buffet is good too.

Jon