Payton Mount of Victoria, a first-rounder taken 19th overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2017 Western Hockey League bantam draft, moved closer to his first Hockey sa国际传媒 international assignment.
The five-foot-eight, 175-pound forward joins fellow Greater Victoria product and Delta Hockey Academy teammate Dylan Garand in being selected for the national U-17 development camp July 21-27 in Calgary.
Mount grew up in View Royal and came out of Juan de Fuca youth sports as an all-arounder, also excelling in lacrosse. He said he patterns his forward play in hockey on that of Steven Stamkos.
鈥淚鈥檓 a playmaker who sees the ice and has a nose for the net,鈥� he told the sa国际传媒, when he was drafted in the first round by the Thunderbirds.
Mount is among four Island players selected in the first round of the WHL bantam draft in six years. Blue-liner and Racquet Club-product Nolan Bentham was taken by the hometown Victoria Royals 13th overall this year. Defenceman Jacson Alexander of Esquimalt was selected 17th overall out of Shawnigan Lake School in 2016 by the Swift Current Broncos. Defenceman Josh Anderson of Duncan went third overall in the 2013 first round to the Prince George Cougars and became a third-round 2016 NHL draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche. Anderson and Alexander won the WHL championship this season with Swift Current.
Garand, a six-foot, 160-pound goaltender, was selected 58th overall in the third round of the 2017 WHL bantam draft by the Kamloops Blazers.
Mount and Garand are among the 12 goaltenders, 36 blue-liners and 63 forward vying for spots on sa国际传媒 Red, sa国际传媒 White and sa国际传媒 Black for the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge running Nov. 3-10 in New Brunswick at both Saint John and Quispamsis.
Mount and Garand are among the 29 WHL bantam draft picks tabbed for the camp. There are 54 from the Ontario Hockey League and 28 from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They both continue on trajectory. Mount and Garand were also part of the sa国际传媒 team that won the 2017 WHL Cup, which used to be known as the U-16 Western Canadian Challenge Cup.
The U-17 level is the introductory step into international play in ice hockey, leading to the U-18 and U-20 levels.
鈥淭he national under-17 development camp provides a unique opportunity for players to learn about what it takes to be part of Team sa国际传媒 alongside the best young talent in the country,鈥� said Shawn Bullock, Hockey sa国际传媒鈥檚 senior manager of hockey operations and men鈥檚 national teams, in a statement.
鈥淭he players are here with the ultimate goal of wearing the Team sa国际传媒 jersey in international competition.鈥�
and we are supporting them in that goal by providing the on- and off-ice experiences they need to develop and grow as high-performance athletes.鈥�
