The Estevan TS&M Bruins had a pair of players drafted into the Western Hockey League’s bantam draft last week.
Goaltender Zane Winter was called in the eighth round with the 160th pick overall by the Red Deer Rebels and the Kelowna Rockets drafted forward Turner McMillen in the ninth round with the 191st pick.
“They put the work in and now they have a place to play, or at least a chance to play in the western league,” said Bruins head coach Tom Copeland, who has been there for both of them since the start of their bantam careers. “At the end, it’s just the start of something. That’s what they both need to realize. If they’d have gone undrafted they’d have undoubtedly gone to somebody’s camp next year. I don’t worry about it as much anymore but it’s a nice honour for them to be drafted and I’m proud of them.”
Winter and McMillen have both played a league record amount of games for their positions.
McMillen played 68 regular season games over the last two seasons plus time as an affiliate player three seasons ago. This year, he scored 13 goals and 12 assists in playing all 31 games despite being injured for much of the campaign. He also suited up for a pair of playoff games with the Apex midget AA Bruins last season.
“He played through a pretty tough injury,” Copeland said. “He did his best all season but he was playing on one arm all year. The point totals don’t add up but he played through it and was a quiet leader.”
McMillen, who has committed to the Prince Albert Mintos next season for midget AAA, was listed at 5’8”, 134 pounds but like his older brother Kade McMillen, he’ll likely fill out some size as a midget player. Three years older, Kade is now listed at 6’1”, 185 pounds.
“There’s a lot of upside in Turner’s game, that’s for sure,” Copeland said.
A 6’3” netminder, Winter had a 3.45 goals against average in 23 games this year with the Bruins.
One player who didn’t get the call was defenceman Cade Bendtsen, the team’s captain, who went down with a broken tibia near the middle of the season. He scored a goal and seven assists over 14 games, and between that and Kaleb Poole’s broken collarbone it wasn’t a very healthy season for the Bruins on the ice.
“He’s going to have to recover and if he shows well, he’ll undoubtedly get those opportunities potentially,” Copeland said. “I have no doubt that he would have gotten drafted otherwise but that’s a pretty radical injury. He understands that and I don’t think that’s got him down. He knows he’s got a long way to recovery and he’s working through that.”
Also selected was Parker Bell, in the fifth round, 102nd overall by the Tri-City Americans. Bell moved from Estevan after atom hockey but spent some years growing up here.
