Rating the bantam drafts: 2001

Now 2001, the draft of the 1986's. I think this will be the last one I do for now. If there's really a lot of demand, maybe I'll go further back sometime in the future.

	Total Picks	Under 50	50 - 100	100 - 150	150 - 200	Over 200	Total GP	WHLers%	GP/pick
Brandon	11	0	1	0	3	3	1454	63.6%	132.2
Calgary	11	0	2	0	1	3	1197	54.5%	108.8
Kamloops	9	0	0	1	1	2	889	44.4%	98.8
Kelowna	11	0	0	0	1	3	908	36.4%	82.5
Kootenay	10	1	1	2	0	1	717	50%	71.7
Lethbridge	8	0	0	1	0	1	380	25%	47.5
Medicine Hat	9	1	0	1	0	3	839	55.6%	93.2
Moose Jaw	8	1	0	0	1	3	1059	62.5%	132.4
Portland	11	0	1	3	0	2	1051	54.5%	95.5
Prince Albert	11	0	1	0	0	2	538	27.3%	48.9
Prince George	10	1	0	0	0	3	834	40%	83.4
Red Deer	11	0	0	1	0	5	1452	54.5%	132
Regina	11	2	0	1	1	1	639	45.5%	58.1
Saskatoon	9	1	0	0	1	3	1010	55.6%	112.2
Seattle	10	0	0	0	0	5	1428	50%	142.8
Spokane	11	1	0	1	1	2	833	45.5%	75.7
Swift Current	11	0	2	2	0	3	1194	63.6%	108.5
Tri-City	11	0	0	0	0	4	1113	36.4%	101.2
Vancouver	10	1	0	0	1	3	942	50%	94.2

Very good draft for Brandon, with six WHL regulars picked. Also another good draft for Seattle, with five 200+ game players out of 10 picks. (With two very good back-to-back drafts in 2001 and 2002, don't you wonder why Seattle didn't have more on-ice success in 2003 - 2007?). Other teams who had good drafts this year are Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Calgary, and Tri-City.

Bad drafts....Lethbridge for sure had the worst draft this year, and Kootenay's wasn't very good either. Regina and Prince Albert were a couple other poor ones.

Best picks:

- Garrett Festerling (10th round, Portland). His twin brother Brett was a first rounder but Garrett carved out a nice 250 game career for himself despite being picked nine rounds and 183 picks later.

- Curtis Billsten (9th round, Red Deer)

- Dustin Slade (10th round, Kamloops). Goaltender whose talent was exceeded (and overshadowed) by his temper.

Worst picks:

- Spencer Dillon, 13th overall to Portland. A player so nice they drafted him twice - the Hawks had previously drafted local boy Dillon in the 8th round in 2000, and then for some reason used a first rounder on him in 2001. He never played in the WHL....he played two seasons in the NCAA for Northern Michigan and has not been seen in the hockey world since 2006-07.

- Jeff Preston, Deder Klassen, Bryce Macek, Scott McCulloch....all 2nd rounders who played barely or not at all in the WHL.

And the players/games played....

Brandon: Jeff Topilko (277), Tyler Harder (58), Derek Werenka (159), Corey Courchene (197), Teegan Moore (330), Dustin Byfuglien (189), Derek Leblanc (244)
Calgary: Aaron Boogaard (273), Jeff Schultz (262), Andy Rogers (158), Steve Covington (327), Tyler Feakes (81), Jamison Orr (96)
Kamloops: Reid Jorgensen (297), Devan Dubnyk (192), Kyle Deck (268), Dustin Slade (132)
Kelowna: Tyler Spurgeon (212), Blake Comeau (253), Mike Card (269), Brent Howarth (174)
Kootenay: Jeremy Schenderling (321), Josh Fauth (143), Mike Boxma (95), Taylor Dakers (138), Jerris Paul (20)
Lethbridge: C.J. Jackson (124), John Lammers (256)
Medicine Hat: Cam Barker (214), Deder Klassen (7), Kyle Pess (228), Brett Robertson (277),
Kyle Howarth (113)
Moose Jaw: Dustin Boyd (265), Michael Busto (331), Darcy Stewart (5), Devin Welsh (188), Jordan Henry (270)
Portland: Alex Aldred (331), Aaron Roberge (136), Shane Halifax (121), Matt Isbister (71), Scott Bowles (144), Garrett Festerling (248)
Prince Albert: Kyle Chipchura (216), Dane Byers (236), Brandon Peet (86)
Prince George: Eric Hunter (323), Curtis Cooper (276), Dylan Yeo (228), Luke Boyer (7)
Red Deer: Kyle Ross (288), Ted Vandermeer (202), Blair Jones (249), Jared Walker (295), Curtis Billsten (279), Joel Eisenkirch (139)
Regina: Max Gordichuk (265), Craig Lineker (178), David Graden (22), Todd Davison (49), Jesse Deckert (125)
Saskatoon: Joe Barnes (240), Evan Haw (284), Wacey Rabbit (289), Dalyn Flatt (177), Russel Monette (20)
Seattle: Cole Simpson (204), Aaron Bader (331), Zack Fitzgerald (248), Clayton Barthel (327), Aaron Gagnon (318)
Spokane: Steven Gillen (285), Ned Lukacevic (238), Andy Schenn (123), Jim Watt (169), Sean Affleck (18)
Swift Current: David Schulz (304), Myles Rumsey (262), Kyle Moir (233), Colin Stone (108), Blair Stengler (103), Jovan Matic (99), Cole Hunter (85)
Tri-City: Brett Festerling (314), Logan Stephenson (249), Jason Beeman (326), Cody Thoring (224)
Vancouver: Mark Fistric (214), Joe Logan (314), Clayton Turko (11), Landon Jones (224), Chad Scharff (179)