ICE increase size at Bantam Draft

By Jeff Bromley
Go Big or go home. That was the order of the day for the Kootenay ICE as the WHL held their 12th annual Bantam Draft at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary this past Thursday. In this years draft, held for players born in 1986 and who will be at least one year away from playing the WHL, there wasn’t the hype of any one player who would immediately set the league on fire like a Jay Bouwmeester or a Steve McCarthy but rather an even keel of possible talent spread throughout the early rounds. For the Kootenay ICE, there was a theme set throughout the draft, size. There was a conscious effort to increase the club’s dimensions and even though these kids are one or two years away from attempting to make an impact and still have those years in which to fill out – the message was clear – almost to a player, size was a factor.

Finding themselves picking eighteenth out of nineteen WHL club’s, Director of Player Personnel Roy Stasiuk was taken a little off guard when still waiting at number eighteen was Jeremy Schenderling, a highly touted prospect playing for the Western Canadian Bantam Champion Langley AAA Eagles. Consequently, the ICE immediately made the 6’1″, 170lb Langley product their first overall pick. “This might sound like a bit of a cliche, but we honestly couldn’t believe that our first round pick, Jeremy Schenderling from Langley was still available at number eighteen. We had him rated in our assessment of the Bantam Draft in the top three, so we are extremely pleased at landing a player of Jeremy’s caliber,” said Stasiuk. Although Schenderling is not ready for the bright lights of the WHL yet, the Stasiuk believes he can be a force in the WHL. “Jeremy will be at least a year away from joining the club but we see him becoming a goal-scoring, power- forward in this league,” said Stasiuk.

The optimism is always guarded however as Stasiuk admits that it’ll be a challenge for his number one draft pick to step into the line-up as a sixteen yr old, “Many people don’t realize how tough it is for a sixteen-year-old player to step in and play at this level. We’ve had some special ones in Steve McCarthy, Jarret Stoll, Dan Blackburn and this year in Andy Thompson but it not something that happens all the time.” Jeremy will come to camp and then play another year of Bantam with a very good program in Langley, who are the reigning Western Canadian Bantam champions.”

Going down the list of ten players taken in the draft by the ICE and one gets the feeling that size could play in increasing role in the very near future editions of the Kootenay ICE. Of the ten drafted, only two were less than six feet tall, with one of them, Schenderling’s teammate Taylor Dakers, being a goaltender. Given the fact that these kids are only fourteen, its only natural to assume that they are going to get bigger. “Size is something we were very aware of going into this draft,” said Stasiuk. “We’ve focused on speed in recent drafts and this year we were looking to achieve more of a balance of size, speed and skill.”

In previous drafts, Stasiuk and his staff had the benefit of a young, fledgling expansion club’s high picks in the draft that resulted in the McCarthy’s, Blackburn’s and Stoll’s. The fruits of those drafts produced two straight second place overall finishes in the regular season standings the last two years but also produced late picks in the order of the draft. Stasiuk doesn’t think that it’s ever easy whether you pick high or low in the draft order but rather it’s always tough identifying talent at this level. “If anything it teaches you patience when you draft lower but even with the high picks it’s never easy.

Sometimes there were three players we wanted when we drafted high but could only have one. It’s just a matter of identifying those players who will fit in best with the needs of your club. We have a philosophy with the players we draft. It’s not necessarily who you draft but rather what you do with them in terms of their development when they join your club.”

Here are the Kootenay ICE 2001 WHL Bantam Draft Picks

Jeremy Schenderling, RW/Center – 1st (18th overall) 6’1″, 170lbs.
Ryan Issel, LW – 2nd (53th overall) 6’3″, 165lbs.
Mark Wilson, RD – 3rd (55th overall), 6’2″, 165lbs.
Joshua Fauth, LD, 4th (75th overall), 6’3″, 225lbs.
Mike Boxma, C, 5th (94th overall), 6’1″, 180lbs.
Taylor Dakers, G, 6th (113th overall), 5’11″, 160lbs.
Jerris Paul, RD, 7th, (132nd overall), 6’2″, 165lbs.
Riley Jones, RW/C, 8th (151st overall), 5’11″, 175lbs.
Adam Bunz, LW, 9th (174th overall), 6’2″, 170lbs.
Ryan Morris, LW, 10th (189th overall), 6’1″, 155lbs.

Quick Hits - It was a slow year for local and regional Bantam products at this years WHL Draft as Dane Tress of Sparwood, B.C. was the only East Kootenay player taken at 185th overall by the Calgary Hitmen. Ryan McConnachie of Fruitvale in the West Kootenays was taken 100th overall by the Tri-City Americans….. If you look closely at the number five pick of the Kootenay ICE you’ll see a familiar name. Mike Boxma is the younger brother of former ICE goaltender B.J. Boxma, who now toils for the Swift Current Broncos and was stellar in backstopping Speedy Creek to seven game, second round series win over the ICE. As a forward, I’m told that the younger Boxma is as tenacious as his older brother is between the pipes.