Record six Brandonites selected

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This article was published 19/05/2022 (1385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon set a new record at the Western Hockey League draft on Thursday when six local players were selected, and the fireworks started early.

The Regina Pats swapped picks with the Swift Current Broncos to select highly touted 15-year-old Brandon forward Cole Temple fifth overall in the Western Hockey League draft.

“I think it’s pretty special that a team wanted to trade a pick to get a higher one up to get me,” Temple said. “It makes me feel pretty special.”

The five-foot-nine, 150-pound forward led the U15 AAA Winnipeg Hockey League with 108 points on 58 goals and 50 assists in just 28 regular season games, and then added 30 more points in 11 playoff games.

Temple started an avalanche of players from the under-15 Brandon Wheat Kings team to be taken, which included forwards Easton Odut and Brady Turko to their hometown Wheat Kings, defenceman Kaeson Fisher to the Vancouver Giants, and forward Colton Worthington to the Saskatoon Blades.

Brandon goalie Burke Hood, who goes to school at the Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, was also taken by Vancouver.

When Worthington was picked in the 11th round, he became the sixth Brandon player drafted, which eclipsed the previous high of five taken in 2000.

It was widely expected that Temple would be taken in the top handful of picks. Swift Current, which already has Brandonite Clarke Caswell in its talent pool, traded the fifth-overall pick and a fourth-round pick in 2024 to Regina for the sixth-overall pick and a third-round pick in 2022, 54th overall.

The Pats will certainly be welcoming a motivated young player.

“It makes me want to work harder and train hard and make that team eventually,” Temple said. “Then I’ll work from there and just get better and better.”

Temple and his drafted U15 teammates will likely graduate to the U18 club next year, with their first year of eligibility in the WHL in the 2023-24 campaign.

A number of the U15 Wheat Kings took the afternoon off from school to monitor the draft together at Odut’s house.

“They were the best people to be around because they hyped you up and they were there to support you like they’ve always been,” Odut said. “They all jumped up and give you big hugs when your name gets called so it’s the best feeling ever.”

Turko agreed.

“It was amazing,” Turko said. “When I saw my name pop up, everybody started screaming and yelling they were so excited for me. It was like they got drafted. Everybody is so nice and everyone is so humble. We had a great team this year and I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

The Wheat City had a previous high of five players picked in 2000, and four in 2017, 2015, 2009, 2008 and 2002.

The other Westman players selected were defenceman Ryan Gower of McCreary, Dauphin forward Luke Myhre and Wawanesa forward Jack Clark.

A year ago, three Brandon players were taken, including forward Clarke Caswell, defenceman Owen Wallace and goalie Ethan McCallum, who played prep hockey at Notre Dame.

The Temple family certainly has ties to the Wheat Kings, since Cole’s grandfather Ted and his father Jeff both played for the club. But some loyalties are about to change.

Cole Temple chuckled when asked about playing just down the highway.

“It will be nice,” Temple said with a laugh. “For once Brandon will be the enemy.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson