Not a single Yorkton bantam AA Terrier was selected in the 2013 Western Hockey League bantam draft on May 2, but Saskatchewan was still well represented.
The Land of the Living Skies had 37 players chosen in the 22-team draft.
Jared Legien of the Balgonie Prairie Storm was the highest Saskatchewan-based draft pick. The 15-year-old forward, who scored 40 goals and 66 points in 26 games, was selected with the ninth pick by the Kootenay Ice.
"Legien is a great player but a surprise to go ninth overall," said Western Elite Hockey Prospects head scout Tyler Neisz. "But the head scout is based in that region and that could explain that pick and the Troy Murray pick from last year. They are both Balgonie products, and so is Kootenay head scout Garnet Kiziuk."
The Melville Millionaires were the closest club to Yorkton to have young guns picked in the draft. Three Millionaires had their names called: Dawson Davidson, who the Kamloops Blazers selected 58th overall, Caleb Riess, who the Red Deer Rebels picked 70th overall, and Marial Beny, who the Kelowna Rockets drafted 207th overall.
"I expected Dawson Davidson to go in the range he did," said Neisz. "Dawson is a good skating, smallish offensive defenceman who has the ability to run a power play in the junior level. Much was expected of him and he stalled a bit in his development this year but the feeling is that he can still be a very effective player."
"Caleb Riess was ranked in the four-six round range, so he went where he should have. He is a good sized forward with a decent skill set. He improved as the season went on along with his other team-mate Marial Beny."
In the Centre Four Bantam Hockey League, the Balgonie Prairie Storm and NorthEast Wolfpack led the way among draft picks with four apiece.
The Notre Dame bantam AA Hounds shinned the brightest as an organization in Sask. The club had 11 players selected in the draft, including Jeffrey Faith, the Spokane Chiefs' 16th overall pick, Dillon Dube, the Kelowna Rockets' 21st selection, and Kaden Elder, the Seattle Thunderbirds' 22nd overall draft choice.
Players with a 1998 birth date from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Â鶹´«Ã½AV Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming were eligible in the 2013 WHL bantam draft.
Here is a look at the results of first-round picks.
1. Vancouver, Tyler Benson, LW, Edmonton, AB; 2. Regina, Sam Steel, C, Sherwood Park, AB; 3. Prince George, Josh Anderson, RW, Duncan, B.C.; 4. Brandon, Nolan Patrick, RW, Winnipeg, MB; 5. Moose Jaw, Brett Howden, LW, Oak Bank, MB; 6. Brandon (from Lethbridge), Kale Clague, D, Sherwood Park, AB; 7. Everett, Tyson Jost, RW, Leduc, AB; 8. Seattle, Dante Fabbro, D, Coquitlam, B.C.; 9. Kootenay, Jared Legien, LW, Pilot Butte, SK; 10. Medicine Hat, David Quenneville, D, Edmonton, AB; 11. Victoria, Dante Hannoun, C, Delta,B.C.; 12. Swift Current; Tyler Steenbergen; C, Sylvan Lake, AB; 13. Prince Albert, Jake Kryski, F, Vancouver, B.C.; 14. Red Deer, Jeff de Wit, F, Red Deer, AB; 15. Tri-City, Parker Aucoin, C, Calgary, AB; 16. Spokane, Jeffrey Faith, D, Wilcox, SK; 17. Lethbridge (from Saskatoon), Stuart Skinner, G, Edmonton, AB; 18. Calgary, Beck Malenstyn, C, Penticton, B.C.; 19. Kamloops, Quinn Benjafield, RW, North Vancouver, B.C.; 20. Vancouver (from Edmonton), Matt Barberis, D, Surrey, B.C.; 21. Kelowna, Dillon Dube, F, Cochrane, AB; 22. Seattle (from Portland), Kaden Elder, RW, Saskatoon, SK.
MacAuley traded
At the bantam draft, the Calgary Hitmen traded the rights of Yorkton Terriers puck-stopper Dawson MacAuley to the Regina Pats. With the Pats losing their starter from this past year, Matt Hewitt, in the offseason as he not longer fits the age requirments, it seems MacAuley has a strong shot at making the jump to the WHL next year as a 19-year-old.
