Oh, friends. It’s here. The day we’ve been waiting for; the first true sign of spring. The Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, for 14- and 15-year-olds. A window on what Canadians west of Ontario and Americans west of the Mississippi were naming their children in 2004.
The full draft list is here, but Adam Herman as usual has your immediate needs covered:
Here are my favorite 21 or so names, ranked. Perhaps there is a future Hockey Hall of Famer among them:
21. Cash Arntsen
20. Layton Feist
19. Hunter Mayo
18. Kaden Dyck
17. Cyle Clayton
16. Graydon Gotaas
15. Conor Geekie
14. Koehn Ziemmer
13. Dallyn Peekeekoot
12. Jhett Larson
11. Kylynn Olafson
10. Jaeger Murdock
9. Jagger Firkus
8. Ridge Dawson
7. Elouann Lemonnier
6. Kolby Hay
5. Colby Woogk
4. Ryder Ringor
3. Rylen Roersma
2. Shawn Paul St. Arnaud
1. Oasiz Wiesblatt
Congrats to all the extremely talented teens. And remember: