It鈥檚 not commodities on Bay Street or Wall Street. But major-junior is nothing if not a form of futures trading in hockey.
The Victoria Royals and Medicine Hat Tigers meet tonight in a WHL game at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre after the mid-term Central Scouting rankings were released Tuesday for the 2016 NHL draft to take place June 24-25 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.
Centre Ty Westgard, ranked 176th among North American skaters, is the lone player among the 51 ranked WHLers who will be in action tonight on Blanshard St.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to get the recognition but I can鈥檛 let it affect me. I have to stay focused,鈥 said Westgard.
The six-foot forward has yet to register a point in the 10 games he has played for the Royals after starting the season with seven goals and 22 points in 25 games for the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL.
Westgard admits it鈥檚 been a 鈥渢ough adjustment鈥 coming from the BCHL to the WHL.
鈥淚t was a pretty big jump. There has been a lot to learn. It鈥檚 been tough to adapt. The players are half a step faster and the decision-making is much quicker,鈥 he said.
Westgard is from White Rock, played for his hometown BCHL Eagles, and has had to deal with being away from home for the first time. That the move came in the midst of his Grade 12 year didn鈥檛 make it any easier. He will finish school at Vic High but will go back in June so he can graduate with his lifelong schoolmates at Southridge.
鈥淚鈥檝e already grown up a bit,鈥 he said, of the change of environs.
Royals head coach Dave Lowry described Westgard as 鈥渁 work in progress.鈥
Overlooked by Central Scouting was Matthew Phillips, despite the fact that he leads the Royals in goals with 23 and is second in team scoring with 48 points, and is tied for the WHL lead in goals by a rookie and is second in league rookie points. Other draft-eligible notables overlooked on Victoria are sophomore Dante Hannoun, who has 17 goals and 34 points, and emerging rookie goaltender Griffen Outhouse.
It鈥檚 further evidence a case can be made that hockey drafts players for the pros at too young an age and that a full assessment really can鈥檛 be made, especially for the later rounds, on players who are only turning 18. Case-in-point is the best player of the five-season Royals era. Defenceman Joe Hicketts, undersized in body but not heart, was undrafted but ended up being signed as a free agent by the Detroit Red Wings.
The fact Phillips is five-foot-six and Hannoun five-foot-five may have been a consideration among the scouts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great for Ty [Westgard],鈥 said Phillips.
鈥淚鈥檓 not focused on that. They are just lists. I just want to prove to myself that I can play at this level. I have confidence in myself.鈥
Don鈥檛 sweat the draft, said Lowry, who said he never discusses the rankings with his players.
鈥淭here are a lot of players who got no recognition from Central Scouting, but who went on to have good, long careers,鈥 he said.
Meanwhile, no Tigers were ranked for the 2016 NHL draft. But the rebuilding ninth-place Eastern Conference squad (18-22-4) is on a three-game winning streak, and is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games, to climb within three points of the final East playoff spot held by the eighth-place Edmonton Oil Kings. The Tigers, however, hold three games in hand on Edmonton. So tonight鈥檚 game on Blanshard is huge for the Hat.
鈥淢edicine Hat is right back in the playoff hunt. They put a lot of pucks off the net and we have to be prepared,鈥 said Lowry.
The Tigers traded Cole Sanford to the Regina Pats this month, and earlier in the season dealt fellow 20-year-old veteran forward Trevor Cox to the Vancouver Giants, to completely sever ties to their recent past.
Victoria (26-15-5) is also in the midst of a rebuilding season, but a much more successful one, and was third in the tight Western Conference heading into Tuesday night action in the WHL.
ICE CHIPS: Winger Matthew Tkachuk, of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, is the top-ranked North American skater for the 2016 NHL draft . . . Fellow American Auston Matthews, playing pro in Switzerland, is the top-ranked European-based skater and expected to go No. 1 overall. . . . This appears an off-year for the WHL, with Calgary Hitmen defenceman Jake Bean top-rated at No. 13 overall among North American skaters. . . . Consider that the Penticton Vees of the BCHL have two players 鈥 Tyson Jost and Dante Fabbro 鈥 in the top-18 . . . Carter Hart of the Everertt Silvertips, however, is the top-ranked North American goaltender.
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