Kootenay Ice earn first pick in Western Hockey League bantam draft

CALGARY – The Kootenay Ice won first pick in Wednesday’s lottery for the Western Hockey League’s bantam draft. The Vancouver Giants, Saskatoon Blades, Swift Current Broncos, Tri-City Americans and Medicine Hat Tigers joined the Ice as the non-playoff teams in the lottery.

The bantam draft of players born in 2001 will be held May 5 in Calgary.

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The winning team could only move up a maximum of two positions in the first round, but the Ice finished last this season with a 12-53-6-1 record and thus held their position.

Vancouver has the second pick followed by Saskatoon, Swift Current, Medicine Hat and Tri-City respectively in the first round. The draft order in the remaining rounds will be the inverse order of the regular-season standings.

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The WHL’s draft-territory covers Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.