With the 2011-2012 Bantam season now over, I think we can now make some preliminary guesses as to 1998 prospects. I feel that defensemen will be the class of the 2013 draft. Based only on players I've seen that I've liked:
Kale Clague - D Lloydminister
33GP 11G 23A 34PTS 44PIM
5' 11" 150lbs
An early favourite with good size and a terrific stride. Great both ways.
David Quennville - D SSAC Southgate Lions
32GP 16G 28A 44PTS 44PIM
5' 7" 155lbs
Northern conference AMBHL defenseman of the year. Terrific offensively and dependably defensively. Good penalty killer and a perfect powerplay quarterback. Impressed at the 2012 Westerns.
Dante Fabbro - D Burnaby Winter Club
Very impressive at Westerns. Mobile and terrific puck mover with a good shot. Played PP and PK on a stacked team. Great hockey sense and vision.
Matt Barberis - D Burnaby Winter Club
Quick and mobile. Good puck mover with a decent physical game.
Tyler Benson - F SSAC Southgate Lions
33GP 34G 50A 84PTS 44PIM
5' 10" 165lbs
Big forward with great hands and great vision. Works well in small spaces and can thread traffic with his passing. AMBHL North Rookie of the Year.
Sam Steel - F Sherwood Park Flyers
33GP 26G 24A 50PTS 10PIM
5' 7" 135lbs
Incredibly quick and elusive. Has amazing hockey sense and a decent defensive game. Top level hands and vision. Had a great second half to the season.
James Miller- D Spruce Grove PAC Saints
28GP 0G 12A 12PTS 26PIM
5' 11" 133lbs
Terrific skater with great transition game. Has good gap control and plays with an edge. Played on a weak team this year and should benefit from playing with a strong returning group next year.
Alex Rotundo - F Edmonton Knights of Columbus Squires
33GP 23G 17A 40PTS 40PIM
Tyler Steenbergen - F Red Deer Rebels Black
33GP 18G 30A 48PTS 48PIM
5' 9" 142lbs
Jaeger White - F Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds
32GP 28G 23A 51PTS 16PIM
5' 8" 146lbs
Last edited by AlbertaHockey20: 04-18-2012 at 10:15 AM.
Great list Alberta Hockey. I have seen many of these kids play and you nailed them. There are a number of others too. Alberta is very strong in the 98 age group and should have a large number of kids drafted in 2013. And I'm not from Alberta.
Great list Alberta Hockey. I have seen many of these kids play and you nailed them. There are a number of others too. Alberta is very strong in the 98 age group and should have a large number of kids drafted in 2013. And I'm not from Alberta.
There are plenty of others I would have gone into, but I wanted to stick to ones I think are first round threats for now.
Great list Alberta Hockey. I have seen many of these kids play and you nailed them. There are a number of others too. Alberta is very strong in the 98 age group and should have a large number of kids drafted in 2013. And I'm not from Alberta.
Agreed on that point; from BC, keep an eye on Beck Malenstyn & Taylor Ward (OHA), Tyson Jost (POE), Dante Hannoun (NSWC).
A bit of caution, though - looking back 1 yr ago, the top 1997 on some of these lists was Aaron Kellogg - so much changes with adolescence, program experiences, injuries, playing opportunities, etc. etc.
Garrett Pilon any good or is he just a product of his last name?
Good player. Second best forward for his age group in Saskatoon (behind Kaden Elder). Small, shifty player who sees the ice well and has natural hockey smarts. Size will be the determining factor in his draft year.
He has ridiculous hands, but I saw him at the north SaskFutures camp and he looked a little slow. He has been playing a lot of hockey, maybe tired? Great shot though and reads the ice very well. He finds his teammates anywhere.
Who surprised me was a kid out of Nipawin, hadn't heard of him, Riley Mayer? I counted two goals and an assist playing against Pilon (5-3 loss to Pilon's team). He never stops skating and always ends up with the puck behind the net. Anyone know anything about him? He didn't play Wolfpack and I couldn't find a AAA team for him.
one player i saw in st.albert was kody mcdonald from poe , was real good all weekend , big strong kid, looks like he is hard to play against , led them in scoring that weekend as first yr player
I saw Sam Steel and Alex Rotundo play for NSD in Alberta Champions Cup spring AAA tourney. Both are worthy top ten picks. They played on the same line with Nolan Volcan (MLAC Bantam AA/AAA) and were a force. There was a lot of top Calgary talent as well as Sask '98s that would be first round quality. Ex: Parker Aucoin CNHA Sabres, Kyle Dumba Calgary Bronks, who played for Jr Hitman and Nolan Reid & Kole Lind, Sask Jr Blades. There were others on NSD 98's, Jr Hitman and Sask Jr Blades that looked like they have great potential, if you are projecting going forward. There are also some hidden gems to watch, many were AA Bantam's last year and are not on anyones radar yet. I have 4 on NSD, 2 on Okotoks Jr Oilers, 4 on 98 Nationals and 1 on Jr Hitman. I got a chance to see most of them play Bantam AA in Calgary. (See Calgary Players to watch in 2012-2013 coming soon) If anyone gets a chance to take a look at the Sask Jr Blades players during the year as I won't have a chance to see them again until next year, if they come down again. As far as list below I think that Benson will go first overall if he has even a decent year. Sam Steel will be second forward, just as you have shown, just depends on need for scoring that will determine how many D's go before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbertaHockey20
With the 2011-2012 Bantam season now over, I think we can now make some preliminary guesses as to 1998 prospects. I feel that defensemen will be the class of the 2013 draft. Based only on players I've seen that I've liked:
Kale Clague - D Lloydminister
33GP 11G 23A 34PTS 44PIM
5' 11" 150lbs
An early favourite with good size and a terrific stride. Great both ways.
David Quennville - D SSAC Southgate Lions
32GP 16G 28A 44PTS 44PIM
5' 7" 155lbs
Northern conference AMBHL defenseman of the year. Terrific offensively and dependably defensively. Good penalty killer and a perfect powerplay quarterback. Impressed at the 2012 Westerns.
Dante Fabbro - D Burnaby Winter Club
Very impressive at Westerns. Mobile and terrific puck mover with a good shot. Played PP and PK on a stacked team. Great hockey sense and vision.
Matt Barberis - D Burnaby Winter Club
Quick and mobile. Good puck mover with a decent physical game.
Tyler Benson - F SSAC Southgate Lions
33GP 34G 50A 84PTS 44PIM
5' 10" 165lbs
Big forward with great hands and great vision. Works well in small spaces and can thread traffic with his passing. AMBHL North Rookie of the Year.
Sam Steel - F Sherwood Park Flyers
33GP 26G 24A 50PTS 10PIM
5' 7" 135lbs
Incredibly quick and elusive. Has amazing hockey sense and a decent defensive game. Top level hands and vision. Had a great second half to the season.
James Miller- D Spruce Grove PAC Saints
28GP 0G 12A 12PTS 26PIM
5' 11" 133lbs
Terrific skater with great transition game. Has good gap control and plays with an edge. Played on a weak team this year and should benefit from playing with a strong returning group next year.
Alex Rotundo - F Edmonton Knights of Columbus Squires
33GP 23G 17A 40PTS 40PIM
Tyler Steenbergen - F Red Deer Rebels Black
33GP 18G 30A 48PTS 48PIM
5' 9" 142lbs
Jaeger White - F Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds
32GP 28G 23A 51PTS 16PIM
5' 8" 146lbs
Beck Malenstyn is a very mobile player. Played SouthDelta AAA hockey before going to OHA. Nick Wicks from South Delta is also very good. Small, but useful on PK and setting his teammates up. If he isn't drafted, i'm going to be shocked.
Dylan Thiessen is one you should look at, he played 1 year up and he still got good points, both years actually, he is very comparable to either Thornton or Lindros, big, strong and has good hands.
I'm from Okotoks, and I think we have a couple of players who have the potential to be drafted in the later rounds next year. Most of these players will most likely play AA or AAA next season.
1. Jagger theissen
Theissen scored 4 goals and 24 assists this season as a first year with Okotoks AA. The only problem is that he is a tad small, but I'm sure he will grow.
2. Curtis Belbin
Belbin scored 9 goals and 12 assists this season, and was by far one of the better forwards on the Tier 1 team. He is a great playmaker, who can also score.
3. Tate Laycraft
Laycraft lead his team in scoring this season with 14 goals and 14 assists. He only played tier 2 but he also played one game with tier 1 this season where he scored 2 goals and 1 assist.
4. Tyler Coffey
Coffey scored 9 goals and 9 assists this season as a first year on tier 1. He does have a bit of a temper which resulted in a few penalties, but that's not a big deal.
5. Cameron shorrock
Cameron was a d-man for tier 1 this season who played very solid throughout the whole season. He scored 2 goals and 12 assists to lead his teams d-men in scoring.
I'm from Okotoks, and I think we have a couple of players who have the potential to be drafted in the later rounds next year. Most of these players will most likely play AA or AAA next season.
1. Jagger theissen
Theissen scored 4 goals and 24 assists this season as a first year with Okotoks AA. The only problem is that he is a tad small, but I'm sure he will grow.
2. Curtis Belbin
Belbin scored 9 goals and 12 assists this season, and was by far one of the better forwards on the Tier 1 team. He is a great playmaker, who can also score.
3. Tate Laycraft
Laycraft lead his team in scoring this season with 14 goals and 14 assists. He only played tier 2 but he also played one game with tier 1 this season where he scored 2 goals and 1 assist.
4. Tyler Coffey
Coffey scored 9 goals and 9 assists this season as a first year on tier 1. He does have a bit of a temper which resulted in a few penalties, but that's not a big deal.
5. Cameron shorrock
Cameron was a d-man for tier 1 this season who played very solid throughout the whole season. He scored 2 goals and 12 assists to lead his teams d-men in scoring.
I am sure these are all great kids but the reality is, scoring 4 goals in AA, 9 goals in Tier 1, 14 goals playing Tier 2, doesn't exactly put them in the top 80 or so kids who will get drafted from Alberta next spring. Tier 1 and Tier2 are the 3rd and 4th best teams in Okotoks, pretty watered down to have such unimpressive numbers. Lets see them crack the ever lowly Okotoks AAA team next year and see how they do. If they can't crack that team well then............... Another thing, knowing the 98 age group in Alberta, they would not be on anyones top 200 let alone top 80.
Manitoba has some exceptional talent as well to look out for. Brett Howden, Dylan Thiessen, Nolan Patrick, Vince Loschiavo, Tanner Kaspick and Dawson Martin at F. Garrett Kuklica and Eric Lavoie at D and Ryan Kubic in goal. All talented kids that can compete with the best in Western Canada.
Agreed on that point; from BC, keep an eye on Beck Malenstyn & Taylor Ward (OHA), Tyson Jost (POE), Dante Hannoun (NSWC).
A bit of caution, though - looking back 1 yr ago, the top 1997 on some of these lists was Aaron Kellogg - so much changes with adolescence, program experiences, injuries, playing opportunities, etc. etc.
Definitely agree on Jost and Hannoun. For Defence I like Barberis at BWC.
one player i saw in st.albert was kody mcdonald from poe , was real good all weekend , big strong kid, looks like he is hard to play against , led them in scoring that weekend as first yr player
The top dogs at POE have to be Tyson Jost and Trevor Ayre.
thats it, 3 kids? Heard a good stat....35% of kids drafted to the WHL will play, 60% of kids drafted on the OHL will play......14 is too young to draft kids....what's the rush
thats it, 3 kids? Heard a good stat....35% of kids drafted to the WHL will play, 60% of kids drafted on the OHL will play......14 is too young to draft kids....what's the rush
That will be the top 3 that will play there is more to draft but like you said that will be the forsure 35%
