(in all cases I have used the height, weight, hometown, and birthdate provided by the WHL site.....so if it's wrong, you know who to blame)
Tallest players:
D Cody Paivarinta (Prince Albert, 46th overall): 6'5"
D Aaron Hyman (Calgary, 49th overall): 6'4"
D Kyle Yewchuk (Edmonton, 64th overall): 6'4"
These three are all defencemen. The tallest forwards drafted were both 6'3": Regina pick Luc Smith (60th overall) and Hitmen pick Christopher Woods (107th overall).
Shortest players:
C Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane, 105th overall): 5'3"
C Jordan Taupert (Medicine Hat, 115th overall): 5'4"
(after that, four players are listed at 5'5")
These players were all forwards. The shortest defenceman drafted was 5'6" Cale Makar by Medicine Hat, 164th overall.
Average size:
Overall: 5'10.8", 162.4 lb
First round: 5'11.2", 169 lb
First half (first 111 players): 5'11.0", 165.0 lb
Second half (last 111 players): 5'10.6", 159.8 lb
Average size by position:
Forwards: 5'10.1", 160 lb
Defencemen: 5'11.7", 165 lb
Goaltenders: 5'11.5", 164.3 lb
Forwards are over an inch and a half smaller than defencemen on average. Not a big surprise there I guess. I was surprised to see how little difference there is between defencemen and goaltenders though. Showing the ever-increasing preference for big goaltenders over smaller ones?
Position breakdown:
Forwards: 118 (this further breaks down as 41 C, 35 LW, 37 RW, and 5 generic "Forward")
Defencemen: 83
Goaltenders: 21
Three teams picked two goaltenders (Kelowna, Saskatoon, Vancouver). Four teams didn't pick one at all (Brandon, Prince Albert, Red Deer, Victoria).
Province/State of hometown:
Alberta: 77 (34.7%)
British Columbia: 46 (20.7%)
Saskatchewan: 37 (16.7%)
Manitoba: 36 (16.2%)
United States: 26 (11.7%)
The U.S. players break down by state as follows: Minnesota (6), Colorado (5), California (4), Alaska (3), Arizona (2), Texas (2), Washington (2), Iowa (1), Nebraska (1)
By month of birth:
January: 32 (14.4%)
February: 35 (15.8%)
March: 34 (15.3%)
April: 29 (13.1%)
May: 15 (6.8%)
June: 13 (5.9%)
July: 13 (5.9%)
August: 13 (5.9%)
September: 9 (4.1%)
October: 13 (5.9%)
November: 6 (2.7%)
December: 9 (4.1%)
This stat is always one of my favourites because it shows the inequalities of the current player development model when it comes to heavily favouring kids born in the early part of the year.
58.6% of all players drafted were born in the first 33% (four months) of 1998. Assuming equal numbers of baby boys were born every day throughout 1998, the ones who were born in the last four months of that year (who make up just 16.7% of draftees) get screwed by the system.
Same thing every year. Not sure there's a solution to this though. Maybe just plan your families to have the births in the first few months of the year!
Also, 221 of the 222 players picked were born in 1998. The only exception is goaltender Devon Fordyce, a '94 who Seattle scooped up in the 10th round after Prince George dropped him.
And a last one, as this stat has been popular in the past:
Average height and weight by team: (heights given in inches)
Calgary: 72.4, 173.8 lb
Red Deer: 72.2, 159.2 lb
Tri-City: 72, 168.4 lb
Regina: 71.8, 161.5 lb
Edmonton: 71.7, 163.8 lb
Lethbridge: 71.5, 168.1 lb
Prince Albert: 71.4, 174 lb
Kootenay: 71.2, 163.3 lb
Kelowna: 71.1, 157.7 lb
Prince George: 71.1, 167.5 lb
Moose Jaw: 70.8, 166.9 lb
Portland: 70.8, 159.3 lb
Brandon: 70.6, 166.5 lb
Vancouver: 70.6, 170.9 lb
Kamloops: 70.6, 159 lb
Seattle: 70.4, 168 lb
Spokane: 70.3, 161.5 lb
Saskatoon: 70.3, 154.3 lb
Everett: 70.1, 158 lb
Swift Current: 70, 154.8 lb
Victoria: 69.6, 152.3 lb
Medicine Hat: 67.8, 150.2 lb
Calgary's picks are, on average, 4.6 inches taller and 23 pounds heavier than division rival Medicine Hat's are. Ummm....4.6 inches taller on AVERAGE???
Medicine Hat (who didn't pick a single player over six feet tall) is actually almost two inches smaller than the next-smallest team's drafts. It seems to be an organizational philosophy to go with small and fast over size (but aren't there any tall, fast players they could pick?). Calgary, on the other hand, always has big teams and this seems to be a continuation of that.
6 comments:
Unbelievable. Every year as a Tiger fan, I hear "we need to get bigger" from other fans. This breakdown is really mind-blowing. At least the Tigers give hope to the kids who feel they might not have a chance because of their size.
hey alan, do you think the canes made a big mistake on not drafting clague...and a big thanks on the hard work you do posting all this info, i use it religiously...
Good heavens. It's Bantam. Kids grow.
Yes, kids grow. The tall ones are going to grow too though, not just the short ones.
Teams that are drafting kids that are already over 6 feet tall don't need the kids to grow too much in order to have good size in the league. The teams drafting the 5'6", 5'7" players, they need to hope some of those kids will add several more inches and pounds in order to survive in the WHL.
Many will. But some won't. That's the gamble the team drafting smaller players is taking.
Sorry "tomtom", didn't see your comment at first.
My answer would be that if their scouts weren't sold on Clague then moving down is not a bad move. And in drafting Skinner the Canes did try to address a weakness that has plagued them for a number of years now and that is the inability to draft or develop a #1 goaltender internally. They've mostly used #1 goalies acquired via trade (Boes Rimmer, Ketlo, Maniago) or import draft (Metsola) for years now. Only Brandon Anderson was homegrown in the last 8 years or so since Justin Leclerc. So they've taken a step which could solidify them in net for several seasons and that's good.
I just question whether they got enough in return in exchange for moving down. Boes is an overage goalie and so they're getting one season out of him at most. Regardless of the need for a goalie prospect like Skinner moreso than a defenceman like Clague, is that enough to justify passing on Clague?
I guess we'll see in a few years.
no problem alan, the second part of your post was kinda what i was wondering to..they may not have gotten a full return for droping 11 spot but solved the problem of useing next years draft pick to find a number one goalie this year...thank again....
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