Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
For a trio of local hockey players the dream of playing major junior hockey became a lot more real when they heard their names announced at the Western Hockey League’s Prospect Draft on Thursday.
Caleb Philp, who lives in Shellbrook but played in Prince Albert, Luke Trann and Lachlan Vandall were all selected during the second day of the draft and will now try and further impress the teams that chose them as they work to cracking a line-up in the next couple of years.
Philp, a 6’0”, 160-pound winger, was selected with the 25th pick by the Swift Current Broncos while Trann, a 6’1”, 165-pound defenceman, went 78th overall to the Kelowna Rockets and Vandall, a 5’11”, 155-pound forward, was scooped by the Prince George Cougars with the 115th pick overall.
All three were members of the provincial U15 AA champion Venice House Pirates last winter and their head coach Tyson Dallman was very pleased to see that they have a chance to someday play the game at the major junior level.
“Caleb has a high hockey IQ,” says Dallman. “He understands the game, is a good skater and has size that he uses to his advantage. I’m very proud of where he got to from the start of the year.”
“Luke plays a really good 200-foot game,” continued Dallman. “His ability to defend is excellent and he has great offensive upside for a defenceman.”
“Lachlan was our captain this year so he has a ton of good leadership qualities,” added Dallman. “His offensive instinct makes him elite and his compete level is super high.”
Philip finished last season in fourth place in league scoring when he posted 28 goals and 45 assists in 27 games. Vandall also had impressive numbers as his 21-35-56 totals in 26 games was good enough for 13th place in league scoring while Trann was among the top blueliners in the league with seven goals 28 assists in just 22 games.
All three will be moving on to the Midget AAA ranks next year with Philp and Vandall set to play for the Prince Albert Mintos while Trann is heading to Yorkton to toil with the Maulers.
Dallman says his entire team is moving on next season including 14-year-old Jordan Labelle who has been granted exceptional-player status and will be with the Saskatoon Blazers of the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League next year.
While none of the local talent was tagged as a prospect for the hometown Prince Albert Raiders, the current Eastern Conference champions did stock their shelves with 10 players despite not having a selection until the third round as a result of trades that have bolstered the current line-up in their march towards a league title.
