The Vancouver Giants earned the first pick in the 2013 bantam draft lottery that took place among the six teams which missed the playoffs. That will likely net for the league-worst Giants the consensus No. 1 choice Tyler Benson from the Edmonton South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lions, whose 146 points in 33 games this season made heads spin and scouts take notice.
The Regina Pats actually won the draft lottery but because teams were only allowed to move up two spots, the Pats drew the second selection. The Prince George Cougars will pick third, Brandon Wheat Kings fourth, Moose Jaw Warriors fifth and the Lethbridge Hurricanes sixth in the draft, to take place May 2 in Calgary.
The Victoria Royals, who finished 12th overall in the 22-team league standings, will select 11th in the bantam draft.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather be picking 22nd,鈥� quipped Royals general-manager Cameron Hope.
That, of course, would have meant a league regular-season title, a standing Victoria fell well short of achieving in 2012-13.
Maybe the 2013 first-round pick will be the player to eventually help get the Royals there. That is always the dream. Forward Steven Hodges, the franchise鈥檚 first-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft taken ninth overall, was eventually selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft. The franchise鈥檚 2010 and 2011 first-round bantam picks 鈥� Keegan Kanzig and Joe Hicketts 鈥� are now regulars on the Royals blue line. The Royals鈥� top bantam pick last spring, forward Tyler Soy, is expected to make the team next season as a 16-year-old.
Hope said his staff have had some preliminary meetings and there appears to be a decent level of depth in this bantam class.
鈥淚f you do your homework, you should get an impact player in the first round in 2013,鈥� said Hope.
But that鈥檚 tomorrow talk.
The Western Conference sixth-seed Royals were concentrating on the present during practice Wednesday as they continued preparing for Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series Friday in Kamloops against the third-seed Blazers.
