Western Canada Bantam Preview

I thought I'd put up a bit of a preview of this tournament before I hit the road for Winnipeg later on today.  Once at the tournament, I hope to have re-caps (time permitting) and possible comments from the players as well.

Burnaby Winter Club

Burnaby Winter Club was consistently ranked in our #1 or #2 spot all season long so it really isn't much of a surprise that they are representing the province of British Columbia.  However, they didn't make it easy on themselves to say the least.  After losing the final four to Abbotsford in the PCAHA championships, BWC went in to the B.C. Bantam provincials as "host" team in Abbotsford due to the fact Abbotsford won the tournament.  Once at provincials, Abbotsford again was a thorn in the said of BWC as they defeated them in the round robin.  The BWC had last laugh though advancing to westerns with a 6-3 win over Abbotsford in the B.C. bantam final.  This will be the 2nd consecutive season that BWC has advanced to provincials.  They were hosts last year led by first rounder Anthony Ast.

Forwards
The BWC have a group of small, speedy forwards and are led by a group of 1997 born forward in Matt Barzal, Justin Szeto, Chris Seto.  Chris's 96 born brother Cam is a bit of a heart and sole player up front for BWC and leads in all areas.  The John Reid Memorial tournament was a bit of a coming out party for the trio of youngsters, playing against some of the top teams in all of western Canada they accumulated 20 goals and 36 points in 6 games.  The whole team scored 29 at the tournament.  Matt Barzal is just one of several 97 born players who lead their teams at westerns.

Defense
Victor Dombrovskiy has had a very strong season for BWC.  He leads a very under-rated BWC defense who has a mix of size, mobility and some toughness.  Towering Lucas Mercer who stands 6'3 will be relied upon to contain some of the bigger forwards on the other teams.  Connor Pasco combines offence and a strong defensive game and will be someone to watch.  Also take a look at young 97 born Ty Schultz who should be a fairly high pick in 2012 bantam draft.

Goalies
BWC will sport two of the biggest goalies in the tournament in 96 Maniel Rana (6'1 165) who to many people's surprise was left off his zone team for the B.C. Cup and 97 born Nick McBride (5'11 140).  McBride and Rana are likely to each get in to some action at westerns with the hotter hand playing the final if they get that far.  Goaltending shouldn't be a problem here.  McBride was named all-star goalie at the John Reid Memorial.

Kingpin
Matt Barzal -  This will be when everyone takes notice of this kid and he puts his name out there big time!

SSAC Southgate Lions

SSAC was at or near the top of the AMBHL standings all season long.  So it really wasn't much of a surprise that they were able to advance to the AMBHL final was the highly talented Calgary Bisons.  The Bisons though proved to be just a stepping stone for SSAC as they got past them 3 games to 1 to advance to westerns. 

Forwards
SSAC has a nice blend of size, skill and depth up front but are led by a pair of 2nd year forwards John Quennville and Riley Simpson.  Quennville was voted top forward this season in the North of the AMBHL.  Another player to watch will be another 97 born forward in Giorgio Estephan who put up over 60 points as a rookie and won the rookie of the year in the AMBHL.  6'4 Zachary Riauka and 6'1 Briar Ortynski give the Lions some size up front to give defenses fits.

Defence
This could very well be the strength of the team with 4 of the 6 defenseman over 6'0 tall.  They are led by a pair of defenders who could be selected in the top 30 of the draft on May 5th.  Aaron Irving and Zach Paterson provide leadership, skating, toughness.  Erik Donald and Ben Sowa cap off a top 4 that will be hard to match and should be able to shutdown some of the smaller forwards from the other teams at westerns.

Goalies
Jordan Papirny is one of the best goalies, if not, the best goalie in western Canada right now for his age group.  There is a very strong possibility he will be the first one selected and in the top couple rounds.  Backup Daniel Robinson isn't likely to see any action but they may start him in a game if they figure they are in the finals already prior to that game.  Papirny was also named an all-star at the John Reid Memorial tournament.

Kinpin: Jordan Papirny - The hands down top goalie in this tournament and possibly in his age group in western Canada.  Papirny was an all-star at the John Reid tournament and was goalie of the year in the North of the AMBHL.  He could lead them to a championship.

Prince Albert Venice House Pirates

The Saskatchewan rep has traditionally not done very well at westerns but things could change this year.  The Pirates won pretty much every single tournament they entered in Saskatchewan this year and went 23-0-1 in league play scoring 246 goals or about 10 per game.  They won their league losing just once in the playoffs and was also the provincial rep rolling through everyone in the province.  They are the true wildcard in this tournament because they haven't entered any of the AAA tournaments so until they play the top teams from the other provinces atleast once, it is hard to guage where they stand.  They were in the WEHP rankings all season long.

Forwards
The forward group is led offensively by Ryan Duret.  Duret has tore up the Saskatchewan minor hockey ranks throughout seasons past and this year was no different.  In 24 league games, the 5'9 160lb Duret piled up 53-36-109 in just 24 games played and produced at a similar clip in tournaments.  He had approximetely 180 points in 40 games this season.  6'1 power forward Miles Warkentine will go in the first round of the WHL bantam draft and will provide size and scoring.  Warkentine had 70 points in 21 games this year.  Another 97 forward Matthew Campese, the son of Prince Albert Raiders head coach/GM Bruno Campese finished 6th in his league in scoring with over 60 points.

Defense
The defense in Prince Albert is led by a pair of very strong defenders in Jordan Harris and Bryton Sayers.  Both Harris and Sayers are expected to be drafted in the top 2 rounds of the bantam draft in May.  Harris had 34 points in 23 games while Sayers provides a good stay at home rough presence but can also chip in.  A 1997 born defenseman Lochlan Morrison is someone to watch for next years bantam draft and he could be relied upon as well. 

Goalies
The goaltending has been a bit of a problem with Prince Albert this year.  Both Morhart and Toporowski have blown hot and cold this year and this could very well be the achilles heal of the Pirates heading in to westerns when they face teams with more depth than the Saskatchewan teams have.

Kingpin:  Ryan Duret - the scoring leader on the team and in every tournament will have to produce for Prince Albert to have a chance.  He could be a game breaker.

Winnipeg Hawks

The Hawks were another team who were in the WEHP Top 10 all season long.  They rolled to a 26-2-2 league record and marched all the way to Manitoba provincials winning 15-3 over Brandon in the final.  The closest competition the Hawks had all year were the Winnipeg Sharks who finished 8 points back of the Hawks in the league standings.  In saying that, it is hard to really tell how Winnipeg will perform at westerns because if the John Reid tournament is any indication, they lost to POE (4-1), Calgary Bisons (8-1) and the Calgary Royals.  All three of those teams aren't at westerns.  However at the Medicine Hat tournament, they thumped POE (8-2), Spruce Grove (7-1), tied Airdrie and the Royals. 

Forwards
The Winnipeg Hawks sertainly have some forwards who can do some damage on their top two lines.  Adam Brooks led the Winnipeg AAA league in scoring with 53-37-90 which was 29 points more than 2nd place finisher and team-mate Dane Schioler 11-52-63.  Dallas Starodub was 3rd in league scoring with 28-28-56.  Adam Wowryk, Nick Matthews and Zach Sackett provide good secondary scoring for Winnipeg.  Nico Lisi provides a spark for Winnipeg as well and could be key in throwing players off their game.

Defense
The defense is led by a pair of small 5'7 dmen in Lucas Skrumeda and Ben Ingimundson.  Both are good skaters and Ingimundson has lots of compete in his game.  Eli Batt and Nigel Hoydalo provide a bit of size and strength for Winnipeg but this really could be a problem area against some of the bigger teams in the tournament.

Goalies
Both goalies, Reid Pennington and Zachary Hoger provided solid goaltending in league play but were a bit up and down at the tournaments against other top teams.  Zach Hoger and Reid Pennington just participated in the Manitoba Under 16 POE and really underwhelmed.  Hoger had a save percentage of .844 which placed him 11th out of 16 goalies.  Pennington had a .717 save percentage, placing him last of the 16 goalies stopping just 33/46 shots.

Kingpin:  Adam Brooks - Coming off a POE in which he had 7 points in 4 games, Brooks has scored all season long and at every tournament.  He, along with Schioler and Starodub will be relied upon heavily.

Winnipeg Sharks

The Sharks had a good, not fantastic season but were able to give the Manitoba rep Winnipeg Hawks all they could handle on a handful of games.  The Sharks have a few players who are really starting to turn it up at the POE and late in the season and should be fairly well rested as they've been off for a while now.  They will come in to westerns as the host team and hope not to be very gracious in that role.  However, they could be in tough here and would probably be a long shot to win.

Forwards
Another 97 born Dallas Miller is really going to be someone to take note of here.  He is a big, rough, talented player who led the Sharks in goals this year with 32 playing in the AAA as an underage being the youngest player in the league.   It will be interesting to compare Miller with fellow 97's; Barzal, Estephan, Campese, Seto and Szeto.  Also the Sharks have small forward Rhett Lough who is coming off a fantastic POE in which he finished 2nd in scoring with 5-3-8 just 1 point back of Dallas Starodub (Hawks).  Lough was also productive in the regular season, finishing 2nd behind Miller with 46 points in 30 games.  The Sharks are very balanced up front and should be able to roll 2-3 lines pretty consistently. 

Defense
The defense is definitely anchored by 5'10 159lb Reid Zalitach.  Zalitach is one of those players who just keeps getting better and better this season.  The POE was one of his coming out parties as he was a pretty dominant force during the tournament.  Tristan Beach-Ducharme will provide some size and help for Zalitach and Kevin Breen is a huge 5'11 217lb defender who will try to keep the front of the net clear.

Goalies
There is no denying that Kyle McColm will play all the games early at westerns.  McColm, was ok at POE allowing 5 goals on 37 shots. 

Kingpin:  Dallas Miller - This could really be a chance for Dallas Miller to put his face on the map as a future power forward.  Miller is anxious to play Matt Barzal in speaking with him and it should be fun to compare the two very different 97 born players.

Western Elite Hockey Prospects Fearless Guessing

Champion

SSAC Southgate Lions -  This will be our guess as to who wins westerns this year.  They have too much size, too much depth, go-to scoring and the best goalie at the tournament.  If defense and goaltending win championships, this will be our pick.