Kamloops Blazers add 10 players from bantam draft

Photo: Eric Thompson

FILE PHOTO: Blazers in their natural habitat.

The Kamloops Blazers picked up 10 new potential teammates today (April 22) as part of the WHL bantam draft.

The young hockey players, all 14 or 15 years old, mostly hail from B.C. or the Prairies, with a pair of Americans also making the cut.

In the first three rounds, the Blazers selected players currently with the West Vancouver Bantam Prep team. In round one, it was Kaden Hammell, a defenseman from Langley; in round two, it was high-scoring forward Grayden Slipec from Surrey and, in round three, it was a high-skill forward named Luke Korte from Saskatoon.

“We are very excited to get Kaden. He can play the game anyway you like. He has great skill, and moves the puck well. Great both ways offensively and defensively. He also has an edge to his game,” says Robbie Sandland, the Blazers' director of player personnel, in a press release.

The team also added Ryan Michael, another defenseman from Langley, in the third round. In the fourth, they picked up one of Michael's current teammates from Yale Bantam Prep in Emmitt Finnie and Rylan Pearce, a defenseman from Martensville, Sask.

Their sole pick in the fifth round went to Kai Matthew, a highly skilled forward from Edmonton who's already in discussions to go to the University of Denver.

The final three picked all went in the sixth round, with forward Cooper Conway chosen from the Andover Huskies organization in Minnesota, defenseman Blake Jones from the Winnipeg Monarchs and Lenny Greenberg, a defenseman from El Segundo playing with the LA Jr. Kings.