The Calgary Hitmen bucked their trend of taking a defenceman in the first round by landing a northern boy fourth overall during the annual Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.
The process of turning around the fourth-worst season in franchise history took a big step forward this morning in Red Deer when Hitmen Director of Scouting Dallas Thompson announced the name of Sean Tschigerl with the fourth pick.
“I was really excited to hear my name get called by the Hitmen,” said Tschigerl, who was streaming the draft online from Philadelphia, Penn., while at the the World Selects International tournament. “I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I am glad it’s the Hitmen.
“Staying close to home and my family and friends is huge for me. It has been my dream to play in the WHL and it’s absolutely the place I want to be.”
The Hitmen struggled defensively this season, allowing the fourth-most goals allowed (276). It may take years for this pick to suit up regularly with the Hitmen, but Tschigerl should help out in the defensive end.
“What (Hitmen) fans can expect is a very hard-working, competitive, complete hockey player that can play against other team’s top players every night,” said OHA Edmonton Prep Head Coach Sean Beissel. “He’s the most complete player that I’ve seen at this age group and he’s a physical specimen.”
“We had (Sean) at the top of our list all year. Every tournament he played in, he was great and you saw it all; his ability to score, play 200 feet, his physicality, and the desire to be the best on the ice all the time,” said Hitmen Director of Player Personnel Dallas Thompson.
His efforts in the defensive end rarely go unnoticed, but he also carries the capacity to put the puck in the net on a consistent basis at the other end.
In his first year with the Okanagan Hockey Academy Edmonton Prep, he finished fifth on the team in scoring, with 13 goals, 18 assists and 31 points in 30 games.
This year, as the team captain, he led them in scoring with 31 goals, 39 assists and 70 points in 30 games. He also led his team to capture the Canadian Sport School Bantam Hockey League Championship by adding 10 goals and four assists in five playoff games.
He recently returned from the Alberta Cup with Edmonton Yellow, a team he also captained. In five games, he supplied three goals and three assists, guiding his team to a second-place finish.
“It’s very, very important for us to see a player like that have that kind of success already. We have talked with his coaches this year and guys who have worked with him in the past and the message stays the same: He’s been this way the whole way through, a real team-first, not selfish and plays the right way all the time,” said Thompson.
Unsure how the first three picks were going to shake out, the rest of the league made the Hitmen’s choice a little easier when two defencemen were taken off the board in the picks preceding.
Tschigerl was the second forward taken, following the selections of Dylan Guenther (centre), Carson Lambos (defenceman) and Nolan Allan (defenceman).
“There were a couple of other guys that had great years. Guys like Stankoven and Stringer were high up on our list, but we thought that Tschigerl fit the Hitmen mould better. We came to a 100 per cent consensus on the pick which made it easier to sleep last night,” said Thompson.
After Tschigerl, the Hitmen were able to pick up a couple defencemen in the following rounds.
With the Hitmen’s first of three picks in the second round, they decided to select Tyson Galloway 25thoverall, a left defenceman out of the Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Prep program.
“Oh, I’m very flattered to be drafted by a WHL organization and especially a team like Calgary. I’m very excited,” said Galloway. “It’s kind of hard to believe, but it’s super exciting. It’s mind boggling.”
Galloway is the biggest player on his team. The Kamloops product checks in at 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds.
“He’s a very strong defenceman who skates extremely well. He’s dependable and played a lot of minutes for us. He might not be the flashiest guy, but he is very productive,” said Yale Hockey Academy Head Coach Brad Rihela.
He also was the third-leading scorer for a defencemen on his team, with three goals, 11 assists and 14 points in 29 games, and only got called for three minor penalties. His dependability also allowed Rihela to use him in any situation on the ice; whether it was the power play or the penalty kill, the first shift or the last shift, he was also sent over the boards to control the game.
The Hitmen picked up an extra pair of second round picks via a couple massive trades this season.
The club landed forward Tristan Zandee out of the Airdrie Xtreme bantam AAA program courtesy of the Jake Bean trade 36thoverall, and landed Zackary Funk seven picks later out of the Yale program courtesy of the Matteo Gennaro and Beck Malenstyn trade with Swift Current.
“I’m really excited to be drafted by the Hitmen. They have a great reputation for being a high-class WHL team. I’m speechless right now trying to process it all,” said Zandee.
Zandee was a key contributor in the Xtreme’s Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League championship drive, supplying six goals and five assists in 12 games.
“Tristan is a very high end and deceptive skater. He is very fast, but so smooth it looks effortless. Before the defencemen know it, he has blown past them,” said Xtreme Head Coach Dave Millard. “He can score in so many ways. He has a great, accurate shot, has the speed to create several breakaways and can control the puck down low. He can really create in any style of offence.”
Zandee was competing in the same tournament as Tschigerl in Philadelphia, but on a different team. Zandee was on the ice when he got drafted and was playing for a team coached by Martin St. Louis.
Already a winner at the AMBHL level, Zandee also added scored a pair of goals in Team Central’s Alberta Cup championship, the Hitmen are hoping that he can pickup a couple pointers from the Stanley Cup champion this weekend that could help him down the road.
“I see myself as a top-six forward for the Hitmen one day. I like to think of myself as a power forward that can do it all. I like to get physical with my size but I also like to go around defencemen. I can make plays and shoot when I need to. Hopefully Sean (Tschigerl) and I can play on the same line one day.”
Funk was the second player chosen from the Yale program by the Hitmen.
“Zack is a power forward with good hands in front of the net. He is a big kid that plays with an edge. He has great finishing ability and scored some really big goals for us this season,” said Rihela.
In 28 games, The 5-foot-11, 181-pound Funk found a way to pound home 21 goals, delivered 31 assists and picked up 73 penalty minutes.
In the third round, the Hitmen chose local puck stopper Marek Pocherewny out of the Calgary Bisons bantam AAA program 47thoverall.
“He really improved from last year to this year. Last year was tough for him and a learning experience coming out of peewee to the triple-A level, but he came in with the right attitude this year and kept getting better. As his numbers improved, his confidence grew and he never looked back,” said Bisons Head Coach Brent Harrison.
The 5-foot-11, 143-pound Pocherewny was named the top goaltender in the AMBHL this season with a stupendous 15-0-3 record punctuated with a .953 save percentage, 1.06 goals against average and six shutouts.
“He might not be the most athletic goaltender in the world, but he is technically strong and controls his rebounds very well. He is a really calm and relaxed kid. Nothing seems to faze him,” said Harrison.
The Hitmen nabbed their second blue liner of the draft later in the third round, when they used the pick they acquired back in 2016 when they sent Aaron Hyman to Seattle for the third rounder. That pick turned out to be Rory Neil, a 5-foot-10, 145-pound defenceman from the Winnipeg Hawks bantam AAA program.
“Rory is a puck moving guy that skates very well. We watched him in the playoffs and he’s a good sized kid. His team made it to Westerns just like Zandee’s team did, so it was great to see them perform at that level,” said Thompson.
Neil destroyed the Winnipeg Bantam AAA league this year by popping in 30 goals and 72 points in 34 games to finish as the highest scoring defenceman. The left-handed, 5-foot-10, 146-pound defenceman also added nine goals and 16 points in eight playoff games en route to the WBAAA title.
The Hitmen weren’t just drafting players today; they were also busy making moves to better their pool of future draft picks.
Hitmen GM Jeff Chynoweth sent 2000-born Justyn Gurney to the Regina Pats for a sixth-round selection in the 2019 Bantam Draft.
After recording four points in 31 games in his first season with the club, Gurney failed to progress during his 17-year-old campaign and only registered four points in 54 games this season, as his plus-minus rating plummeted to minus-24.
In a separate deal, the Hitmen also received the Pats seventh rounder in 2020 for the Hitmen’s eighth, ninth and 10-round pick in the current draft.
“Sending Justyn to the Pats provides him with a fresh start while opening up a roster spot for one of our prospects,” said Hitmen General Manager Jeff Chynoweth in a press release. “With an abundance of early picks in both the 2018 and 2019 drafts, we felt it was in the best interest of our team to move some of our later picks for an earlier selection down the road.”
With only one pick in the fourth round, the Hitmen selected their first international player of the draft in David Hymovitch. Hymovitch is a forward that hails from Phoenix, Ari., and played for the North Jersey Avalanche 14U program this season.
Standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 150, Hymovitch amassed 24 goals, 21 assists and 45 points in 42 games with the Avalanche.
Rounding out the Hitmen’s eight picks in the top 71 of the draft, Thompson announced they had selected James Gibson, a forward from the Edmonton Canadian Athletic Club.
The pick originally belonged to the Kamloops Blazers, but was acquired by the Hitmen in 2017, when they sent Jordan Stallard and a 2017 7thround-pick to the Prince Albert Raiders for Luke Coleman and this year’s pick that ended up being Gibson.
In 36 games, Gibson grabbed 28 goals, 34 assists and 62 points in the AMBHL, along with netting one goal and seven points in five playoff games.
Gibson was a teammate with the No. 1 overall pick Dylan Guenther on Edmonton Blue at the Alberta Cup. In five games, he tallied a pair of goals and three assists.
With their final two picks of the draft, the Hitmen selected a pair of right side blue liners.
First, the picked Jacob Romanchuk 113thoverall from the Northern Alberta Xtreme Bantam Prep program, followed by Rylan Jockims 12 picks later out of the Saskatoon Stallions bantam AA program.
Romanchuk was a teammate of Gibson’s at the Alberta Cup and took home three assists. In 30 games with the Xtreme, he chipped in with four goals and 17 points.
Jockims played out of the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League this season and scored 11 goals, added eight assists and 42 penalty minutes.
With their three picks following Jockims selection sent to Regina, the Hitmen put their feet up knowing they drafted five forwards, four blue liners and one net minder. They have drafted some high-end goal scoring at different positions to what they hope will nicely pair with some defensive-responsible players.
Now, they just have to wait and see how everyone develops.
