| Nbr | Ht | Wt | F | D | G | BC | AB | SK | MB | US | |
| Brandon | 12 | 70.5 | 157.8 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Calgary | 10 | 70.8 | 161.4 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Edmonton | 10 | 71.6 | 159.3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Everett | 11 | 71.2 | 159.4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Kamloops | 11 | 71.3 | 164.2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Kelowna | 10 | 71.5 | 157.6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Kootenay | 14 | 70.8 | 161.1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Lethbridge | 11 | 70.1 | 161.1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Medicine Hat | 11 | 69.3 | 151.5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Moose Jaw | 9 | 70.2 | 161.6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Portland | 10 | 69.9 | 153.6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Prince Albert | 10 | 70.9 | 168.9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Prince George | 10 | 69.9 | 151.3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Red Deer | 9 | 71.7 | 163.3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Regina | 10 | 71.5 | 163.3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Saskatoon | 12 | 71.1 | 170.3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Seattle | 9 | 73.2 | 167.8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Spokane | 11 | 70.3 | 149.9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Swift Current | 12 | 70.8 | 161.4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Tri-City | 11 | 70.3 | 156.2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Vancouver | 9 | 72.3 | 166.3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Victoria | 10 | 70.8 | 171.1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
For reference, the average player picked today is 70.5 inches tall and weighs 160.1 pounds.
The team picking the biggest players is Seattle, at an average height of 73.2. Vancouver is second but almost a full inch shorter at 72.3 inches. Obviously Seattle put a priority on size.
Shortest team is Medicine Hat at 69.3, followed by Portland and Prince George at 69.9. (Side note here - one of Portland's players, Ryan Collins, has no ht/wt to be found and so I did not average him in. He is the only drafted player excluded from the ht/wt numbers)
When it comes to position, there were 129 forwards, 82 defensemen, and 21 goaltenders picked. Most teams took some kind of roughly proportional mix of those. A few exceptions:
- Brandon took 8F-3D-1G
- Everett took 8F-2D-1G
- Moose Jaw took 7F-2D-0G
Guess those teams were targeting forwards over defensemen. Vancouver took 3F-5D-1G, so they may have been targeting defenders.
For where the players came from, there were 52 from British Columbia, 80 from Alberta, 46 from Saskatchewan, 29 from Manitoba, and 25 from south of the 49th.
Something to think about - Alberta and B.C. typically team up to form Team Pacific at the U-17 Challenge, while Saskatchewan and Manitoba are Team Western. If this draft is any indication of the overall strength of the 1996 born players, how's that U-17 Challenge going to look in 2 years? Alberta alone had more players drafted than Saskatchewan and Manitoba put together. In theory, Pacific should be crushing Western in 2 years.
Manitoba almost got beaten out by the American players. Not a great year for the Manitoba hockey programs?
Interesting to see how some teams draft more heavily from their own region, and some draft from wherever. A few notes there:
- Tri-City picked 4 kids from Alberta and the rest of their draft was American kids. Trying to put the "Americans" in "Tri-City Americans", I guess.
- Regina, the provincial capital, did not pick a single kid from Saskatchewan.
- Lethbridge's 6 Alberta kids included 4 from Calgary. What do they say about keeping your enemies closer?
- Calgary minor hockey produced 24 draftees altogether. That's almost as many as the entire province of Manitoba.
6 comments:
The Wheat Kings drafted Pankewicz as a defenseman per comments from Kelly McCrimmon after the pick was made.
I wouldn't be too critical of Manitoba or Saskatchewan! Both provinces produced more hockey players per million of population than did either Alberta or BC.
Approx populations:
BC = 4.5 million
Alta = 3.7 milluion
Sask = 1.2 millon
Man = 1.2 million
Based on population per million
Alta produced 21.6 players
BC " 11.6 players
Sk " 38.3 players
Man " 24.2 players
As you can see Saskatchewan was the hotbed for picks, followed by Manitoba. The pacific region has an population of 8.2 million people. The Western region has a combined population of 2.4 million. Yet the pacific region has a huge base to pick from and the west region doesn't even have the population of Alberta alone!
Based on population per region the pacific region (BC & Alta) produced 16.1 players per million for this years draft. The western region (Sk & Man) produced 31.3 players per million. Maybe Manitoba and Saskatchewan hockey programs aren't all that bad ya think?
@Anonymous2 - The great thing about statistics is that the numbers never lie, but you can (mis)represent the numbers however you like.
I do like your breakdown by population though. It provides some perspective.
You could even spin it that the kids from the more sparsely populated areas could be more committed than that kids that had their choice of rinks to go to.
My comments were more intended to point out the difference in the amount of talent (as defined by drafted players anyway) being produced in the Pacific region versus the Western region, rather than to poke fun at the smaller provinces or criticize them.
Alan, I am sure you were not meaning it as a put down, however there really isn't anything wrong with Manitoba's hockey program for example. Based on how many players come from small population provinces like Manitoba and Saskatchewan it is realy quite amazing. It's a good thing that the populations aren't 4 million each or the numbers would be stunning.
I can't speak to commitment by individual players but the challenges in any rural areas are greater. The numbers above reflect total numbers, but also what kind of a job the areas are doing in producing WHL talent. After all if you have a larger pool with more fish in it, shouldn't there be more coming out. Just saying...
your stats for Van are wrong as they drafted one player from Manitoba
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