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Airdrie bantam players drafted by WHL teams

The names of two Airdrie hockey players were called at the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) 2019 Bantam Draft, held May 3 in Red Deer.

Fourteen-year-olds Jaren Brinson and Joshua Davies were the city’s lone picks this year. The Prince George Cougars selected Brinson as the second-round, 36th overall pick, and Davies was named by the Swift Current Broncos as the 54th overall pick.

While both players are from Airdrie, Brinson and Davies line up for the Edge Mountaineers bantam prep team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL).

A blue-liner, Brinson recorded three goals and 11 points in 28 games in 2018-19.

“He’s a very good skater and very smart defensively,” said Jeff Shantz, Mountaineers head coach. “He uses his stick very well, skates well, handles the puck well and is able to make plays.

“He’s also super competitive, which, as a coach, I love. He wants to get better everyday, asks lots questions and wants lots of feedback. He’s definitely bought-in to being a good player and wanting to be a good player.”

Davies, a forward, scored 20 goals and recorded nine assists for the team last season.

Shantz said Swift Current has drafted a “powerful” player in the Airdronian.

“He skates very well, is very strong and, from that standpoint, he’s ahead of most kids at his age,” he said. “He’s got a junior-level shot already and possibly could shoot the puck as hard as some pros.”

Before enrolling at Edge School, Brinson and Davies spent their first year of bantam hockey with the Airdrie Xtreme in 2017-18. It was a stellar season with the team, winning the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League championship.

The Edge School was one of the most-represented programs in this year’s WHL Bantam Draft, with 11 players from the Mountaineers picked up by the major junior league’s teams.

Considering Brinson and Davies are still too young for junior hockey, they will move up to the midget AAA level next year for further development, before hopefully cracking their respective WHL teams’ rosters for the 2020-21 season.

“That’s the big thing, and the message to all the kids here at the school – that [getting drafted] is just the start,” Shantz said. “[They can’t] sit back and think they’ve made it already.

“They’re 14 years old and still need to work on everything – their skating, their strength, their shooting. They know how to do all that, but it’s all done at a faster pace [in the WHL], so it’s a matter of sticking with it and working on everything.”

The draft capped off a great couple of weeks for Brinson and Davies – they were also among the three Airdrie hockey players who competed at the 2019 Alberta Cup, held in Red Deer April 24 to 28. The annual tournament included six regional teams comprised of the top bantam-aged players from across Alberta.

Brinson and Davies played on Alberta Blue, which ended the tournament in fifth place with a 2-3 record. Davies finished the tourney with a goal and an assist.

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