Brandon, Manitoba set records for players taken

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This article was published 10/05/2025 (283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Both Brandon and Manitoba set new records of success in the Western Hockey League draft on Wednesday and Thursday.

Brandon has six players drafted and Manitoba had 39 taken, which were both new highs.

Reid Nicol of Brandon, who was the first player from the province taken when he was grabbed by the Everett Silvertips fifth overall on Wednesday, said the 2010-born players in this draft class have shown signs over the years this day might be coming.

“Obviously the 2010s were a very strong group in Manitoba,” Nicol said. “We’ve always been really good and competitive, and it’s good to see how many guys went from Manitoba.”

“We’re growing and hockey is continuing to get better in Manitoba,” added Kevin Knee, who went 88th overall to the Victoria Royals

Brandonites Cooper Dryden (Portland, 130th, with a pick that originally belonged to Brandon), Talon Scinocca (Penticton, 139th), Nash Lenton (Everett, 161st) and Brayden Watt (Brandon, 176th) were also taken.

The new Brandon record of six players drafted beat the mark of five that was tied in 2024 when Urijah Moosetail (Brandon, 81st), Knox Burton (Prince Albert, 111th), Hudson Champagne (Tri-City, 127th), Theran Turner (Moose Jaw, 173rd) and Hunter Ethelston (Saskatoon, 287th) were taken.

There were also five players selected in the 2000 draft with Riley Day (Medicine Hat, 38th), Brett Boschman (Moose Jaw, 63rd), Travis Mealy (Portland, 109th), Brett Koscielny (Brandon, 131st) and Tyler Stinton (Brandon, 173rd) hearing their name called.

Knee was in the car on Thursday with his sisters Tara and Brooklyn driving to Steinbach, where the province’s top players are attending Hockey Manitoba’s Pursuit of Excellence top 40 camp as they prepare for the annual WHL Cup next fall. He was going onto Instagram when his phone began to blow up with the news he was headed to Vancouver Island.

“It was great,” Knee said. “Everyone is telling me it’s a beautiful place and a lot of great fans are going to be there. I’m pumped.”

Nicol managed to get home from a hockey tournament in Philadelphia and was with family at his grandmother’s house in Brandon when the draft began.

“I was pretty surprised,” Nicol said. “Just after Penticton picked, my agent called me and told me I was going there. That was pretty exciting. My family kind of knew because I had a big smile on my face when I walked back into the room. I didn’t tell them anything they just had to watch.”

Nicol’s selection with the fifth pick of the draft was the third time in four years that’s happened for a Brandonite, with Jaxon Jacobson going to the Wheat Kings fifth in 2023 and Cole Temple to the Regina Pats in 2022. Clarke Caswell, who is heading to Denver University next season, was taken sixth by the Swift Current Broncos in 2021.

“That’s pretty sweet, honestly,” Nicol said. The Brandon player selected the quickest was Calen Addison when the Lethbridge Hurricanes grabbed the defenceman with the second overall pick in 2015.

Elsewhere in Westman, Prince Albert added forward Athens Shingoose of Waywayseecappo, who spent last season with the Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, with the 15th overall selection.

One member of the Southwest Cougars was taken, defenceman Jake Beaty of Virden, with the Yellowhead Chiefs getting shut out.

Four members of the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy’s under-15 squad were taken, forward Cole Landreville of St. Claude (Edmonton, 25th overall), forward Maddox Ramage of Pilot Mound (Swift Current, 125th overall), defenceman Brett Buors of Niverville (Prince George, 155th overall), and goalie Gavin Hildebrand of Morden (Penticton, 231st overall).

Of the record 39 Manitobans taken, 23 were from Winnipeg. The next step for the players is heading to training camp in the fall

“Everett is going to be great,” Nicol said. “It’s a great team, a lot of the guys have reached out to me and I’ve had nice conversations with all of them, and the coaches and managers. Great fans too, it’s great overall.

Knee agreed.

“Oh my God, I’m so excited,” Knee said. “I can’t even put it into words.”

pbergson@brandonsun.com