Once the annual NHL entry draft extends beyond the third and perhaps fourth round, it becomes somewhat of a crap shoot.
But at least NHL teams are selecting 18- to 20-year-olds, players who have shown they are adept at playing a younger man’s game, be it at the major junior, college or even — to a lesser degree — junior A level.
Western Hockey Leagues teams face a much larger challenge while selecting in the later rounds, considering the available talent is harboured by 14- and 15-year-olds. It takes a keen eye and more than a little luck for a team to dip into the second half of the WHL bantam draft and emerge with a future roster player.
The Red Deer Rebels have had their share of success in the later rounds, their bounty of players drafted from the sixth round on even including a few stars.
A top-10 list of Red Deer Rebels picked after the fifth round of various bantam drafts:
(1) Colby Armstrong (sixth round, 1997)
The Saskatoon product emerged as a front-line skater with the Rebels, scoring 42 goals and collecting 90 points in 93 regular-season and playoff games during Red Deer’s 2000-01 Memorial Cup season. A chippy and carefree winger with good skills, Armstrong was the Rebels’ captain during part of his final season and finished his three-year WHL career (from 1999 to 2002) with 88 goals and 214 points in a total of 251 games.
(2) Matt Ellison (ninth round, 1998)
The native of Duncan, B.C., spent just one season in Rebels silks, but what a season it was. Drafted by Chicago in 2002 after winning the BCHL scoring race with 117 points, Ellison, who played three years of junior A hockey while pursuing a U.S. college scholarship, decided to join the Rebels for the 2002-03 season and finished his one and only WHL campaign with 47 goals and 116 points in 94 total games.
(3) Bryce Thoma (sixth round, 1997)
Thoma, from Saskatoon, was the definition of steady on the Red Deer blueline from 1999 to 2003. Not an overly large player at six-foot, 190 pounds, he nevertheless was able to play a physical game while keeping his errors to a bare minimum. Thoma was hardly an offensive defenceman, but he did rack up 76 points, including 19 goals, in 312 regular-season and post-season outings.
(4) Blair Jones ( sixth round, 2001)
Another Saskatchewan product, from Central Butte, Jones never hit his full stride with the Rebels but did contribute 21 goals and 49 assists in 177 regular- and post-season contests with Red Deer from 2002 until early in 2005, when he was dealt to the Moose Jaw Warriors. It was in Moose Jaw that he blossomed, garnering 85 points (35g,50a) during the ‘05-06 regular season and another nine goals and 21 points in the Warriors’ extended playoff run.
(5) Shay Stephenson (10th round, 1998)
The six-foot-four winger holds the Rebels franchise record for post-season games played with 87 over four seasons from 2000 to 2004. He was a the member of a large and physical fourth line — that also included Devin Francon and Diarmuid Kelly — during the Rebels’ Memorial Cup season. The native of Outlook, Sask., contributed 112 points (49-63) in a total of 317 games played.
(6) Andrew Bergen (sixth round, 1996)
An intelligent player who never fulfilled his expected offensive potential in the WHL, Bergen played five years with the Rebels (1997-2002). He appeared in 297 regular-season games, producing 56 goals and 134 points, and recorded 10 goals and 26 points in another 63 playoff outings. Bergen, from Luseland, Sask., was a defensively responsible player and a valued member of the Rebels’ Memorial Cup team.
(7) Adam Kambeitz (seventh round, 2007)
The Coaldale product earned a spot on the Red Deer roster as a 16-year-old and over the next four seasons earned a reputation as a leader and all-out labourer that eventually resulted in him being named team captain. Kambeitz wasn’t an offensive whiz, but he did score 19 goals in 45 games during an injury-shortened 2011-12 season, The left winger, who was dealt to Saskatoon as a 20-year-old, appeared in a total of 279 games with the Rebels, scoring 47 goals and collecting 103 points.
(8) Brooks Maxwell (eighth round, 2009)
The Raymond native earned a roster spot at the age of 17 and played four full seasons with the Rebels. Blessed with fast feet, the soft-spoken Maxwell emerged as a leader-by-example and scored 27 goals and garnered 59 points in his overage season. The Rebels qualified for the playoffs just once during his time in Red Deer and he sniped sniped four goals and added four assists during a nine-game run in the spring of 2013. In total, he recorded 160 points (61-99) in 265 WHL games.
(9) Jared Walker (eighth round, 2001)
The six-foot-three winger from Winnipeg joined the Rebels in 2002 but was eventually reassigned to the junior A St. James Canadians for the remainder of the season. Walker never blossomed into a legitimate top-six WHL forward but did appear in 171 regular-season games with Red Deer before being dealt to Prince George 19 games into the ‘05-06 campaign. He had 29 goals and 58 points in regular-season play and another four goals and seven points in 26 playoff games.
(10) Scott Feser (eighth round, 2010)
A graduate of the Red Deer minor hockey system, Feser bounced back and forth between the WHL and AJHL before spending the entire 72 regular-season game 2014-15 season with the Rebels. Adept in the faceoff circle and a solid two-way player, Feser was in a Rebels jersey for a total of 166 games, during which he scored 33 goals and contributed 44 assists for 77 points. He was dealt to the Swift Current Broncos in June.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com