2014 WHL bantam draft tracker

Centres were the rage of the Western Hockey League bantam draft first round on Thursday, May 1, 2014, with 10 pivots being chosen among the 21 selections made — including first-overall pick Stelio Mattheos of the Winnipeg Monarchs, taken by the Brandon Wheat Kings with a pick they acquired last year from the Saskatoon Blades.

Defencemen were claimed eight times in the first round, goalies and wingers twice.

Mattheos scored 103 points, including 52 goals, for the Monarchs, members of the Winnipeg AAA Bantam Hockey League. The 6-foot-1, 180 lb. team captain added 12 goals and 19 points in eight playoff games.

Of Edmonton and area interest, the Medicine Hat Tigers took Edmonton South Side Athletic Club centre James Hamblin 17th overall, while the Oil Kings selected Lloydminster winger Kobe Mohr with the 20th pick.

The 5-foot-8, 135 lb. Hamblin averaged about two points a game for the SSAC bantam AAA squad, scoring 32 goals and 30 assists in 31 games.

Mohr, who stands 5-foot-9, 159 lb., racked up 63 points (29 goals, 34 assists) in 29 games as well as 125 penalty minutes for the Lloydminster Universal Heat, this season’s Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League champion.

Round 1

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Round 2 saw six Edmonton-area players taken, three of them from the Spruce Grove PAC Saints, two from Edmonton SSAC and one from the Sherwood Park United Cycle Flyers.

- Josh Patterson, a left-winger for the SSAC Southgate Lions this past season, brings size to the Saskatoon Blades camp, standing 6-foot-2, 177 lb. He led the AMBHL in scoring in 2013-14, with 97 points (46 goals, 51 assists) in 33 games played.

- Second-year PAC Saints defenceman Marcus Kichton, taken 26th overall by the Moose Jaw Warriors, put up 36 points (6 goals, 30 points) in 31 games in 2013-14 after putting up nine points in 29 games last season.

- The Vancouver Giants took AMBHL North Division defenceman of the year Dylan Plouffe with the 29th overall pick. The Sherwood Park Flyers product led all AMBHL blueliners in goals (22) this past season, finishing second in points with 58, two behind Ty Smith of the Lloydminster Universal Heat.

- Ryan Peckford’s rights belong to the Victoria Royals, who took the 5-foot-10, 170 lb. centre with the 31st overall pick. The Stony Plain native scored 60 points, including 28 goals, in 33 games. Peckford played five games for the PAC Saints last season, spending the majority of 2012-13 with Stony Plain bantam AA.

- The Wheat Kings picked up defenceman Ian Mitchell of Calahoo, another member of the high-flying PAC Saints, who placed third in the AMBHL in team goals scored. Mitchell was a part of that, with four goals and 21 points in 24 games played.

- Edmonton’s Matthew Wedman, a 6-foot, 165 lb. left-winger with SSAC, was taken by the Seattle Thunderbirds with the 38th overall pick. He was the Lions’ second-leading scorer after Patterson, with 72 points (32 goals, 40 assists) in 33 games played.

- Zane Franklin of the Universal Heat, who finished second in league scoring to Patterson with 47 goals and 42 assists for 89 points, was picked up with the second-last pick of the second round, 43rd overall, by the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Marwayne, Alta., native scored AMBHL North Division MVP honours this past season.

Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

More draft results