Pre-Draft Chat

I was reading over some of the WHL blogs this morning and came across some pre-draft talk on Gregg Drinnan's blog over here on the right. To read more, head to Gregg's blog. Here's his post:

"The pre-bantam draft buzz among WHL scouts is that Matt Needham, who totalled 253 points in 64 games with a bantam team in Penticton this season, has let it be known that he wants to play for the Kamloops Blazers and that his family wants him to play in Kamloops.
If that, indeed, is happening, it should come as no surprise. After all, his father, Mike, spent three seasons (1987-90) with the Blazers. Mike had 125 points, including 59 goals, in 60 games in his final season.
So while the Blazers, who hold the eighth overall pick in Thursday’s draft, aren’t about to tip their hand, it won’t be a surprise if they take Needham in the first round.
However, there also is word that Needham has said he won’t commit to the WHL — or to college — until he plays his 16-year-old season.
Meanwhile, there is a whisper out there that the Seattle Thunderbirds, who went young, young, young this season, are shopping the fourth overall selection, wanting an impact 18- or 19-year-old in return.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes, with three second-round picks, would love to move up to the four hole. They already hold the third selection, so a deal with Seattle might allow them to take Morgan Klimchuk and Jay Merkley, a pair of scorers from the Calgary Bisons, with back-to-back picks.
Merkley had a tournament-high 11 points at the Alberta Cup on the weekend, while Klimchuk had nine, including five goals."

Let's put it this way, it should be a very interesting day on Thursday for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. I guess you never know what Rich Preston & Brad Robson might have up their sleeves. With all these draft picks I suppose the Canes' do have a few cards to play this week. Gregg's blog post certainly is intriguing, I guess we will soon see.

Thanks,
Pat