Edmonton Oil Kings draft Joe Iginla in WHL Bantam draft

[Always Earned Never Given]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Part of me thinks the pressure of playing in Calgary with the last name of Iginla would be tough.

The fan in me thinks it was a missed opportunity. The kid the Hitmen drafted is listed as 5'6, 106 pounds, so he must be good if he's that small (albeit at 14).

Speaking of 14, Guy Chouinard is the only junior who scored a goal as a 14 year old.

Ok ok he was 14 and 353 days old but still.

He also scored the last goal in the Atlanta Flames franchise and the first goal in the Cgy Flames franchise.

[FiveSeven]

What the ####

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Knut

Picking for Optics is how we ended Up with Brent Krahn in the top 10.

Sounds like the kind of self deprecating humour thing Brent Krahn would say.

[dustygoon]

Omg. How inept. Obviously ranked in the area. They couldn't find a reason to take little Iggy?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

Omg. How inept. Obviously ranked in the area. They couldn't find a reason to take little Iggy?

Where was he ranked though? Near that spot or well below? Wouldn’t it be more inept for them to draft him because of who he is if he was ranked as a second rounder?

Of course, I have no idea how their rankings go, so maybe they are inept. Or maybe they are just more professional.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Just draft him before the Oilers do in three years

[3thirty]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

Just draft him before the Oilers do in three years

32 oa with the oilers picking 33.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Saw Joe play quite a few times this year. Not exactly Iggy Sr. quite yet, but he has some of the same qualities. Right hand shot, bit of a sniper, similar skating stride. Not nearly as aggressive yet and needs to go through a growth spurt but that may come. Going to to be really interesting to watch him progress.

[sharkov]

He can be redeemed if the flames draft him in the fiture

[Hi-Psi]

Gross

[hixxes]

At Christmas Kosick was ranked #1 by Elite Prospects, I believe Iginla was 7. Not sure how much that changed to now.

As said earlier, Kosick might be the best player in the draft. Hopefully the Hitmen have assurances that he’ll sign.

[soulchoice]

In the grand scheme of things, it is probably not a big deal, so long as the Kosick kid pans out. Having Joe on the team would have been interesting though, it might have actually made me pay attention and/or cheer for the Hitmen. If both players were deemed to be equal as of today, then ya, bad move.

[Samonadreau]

This Kosick kids U15 stats are insane.

Edit: Iginlas Stats are pretty crazy too almost 1.5 goals per game

[Scornfire]

Realistically, unless Kosick (who will face as much internal and external pressure as Joe would have now that they're inexorably linked by this draft) single handedly drags the Hitmen to a few Memorial Cup Competitive seasons, he won't come close to directly impacting ticket and jersey sales as much as an Iginla would have. Nobody is so invested in the Hitmen in a 3 team town that they're super concerned with winning as a fan here. People go for the novelty and a (relatively) cheap night out with family/friends. The team had the ultimate hook to bring people in the gate, would've also surely meant higher frequency of Jarome visits. Just a braindead decision from a business perspective, but godspeed to them if they're really taking a 14 year old draft so seriously that they just absolutely positively had to go "BPA"

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by sharkov

He can be redeemed if the flames draft him in the fiture

Tij is up in 2024.

[Red_Baron]

Joe should do the right thing and go the NCAA route...


E=NG

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

.... but godspeed to them if they're really taking a 14 year old draft so seriously that they just absolutely positively had to go "BPA"

Why wouldn't they take this draft seriously? It's the only way to get talent on the team, it is arguably more important that the NHL draft, as at least NHL teams can supplement talent through UFA.

The Hitmen have previously been able to get players who fall because of "college" issues to join them because they are in one of the most preferred markets. I've long suspected that certain players throw out that "maybe going to college" in hopes of falling to a more preferred team who may be told something entirely different. I expect Calgary got an excellent player who fell for that reason, and they have a pretty good idea he'll play for them.

The draft for European etc players can play out the same way, and teams want to choose players who will actually come to Canada to play. Players may give the word they are willing to come to a city like Calgary vs., say, Cranbrook. I know that Fredrik Sjostrom did this, Calgary was the only team that knew he would come over to Canada to play junior.

[Spurs]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

Realistically, unless Kosick (who will face as much internal and external pressure as Joe would have now that they're inexorably linked by this draft) single handedly drags the Hitmen to a few Memorial Cup Competitive seasons, he won't come close to directly impacting ticket and jersey sales as much as an Iginla would have. Nobody is so invested in the Hitmen in a 3 team town that they're super concerned with winning as a fan here. People go for the novelty and a (relatively) cheap night out with family/friends. The team had the ultimate hook to bring people in the gate, would've also surely meant higher frequency of Jarome visits. Just a braindead decision from a business perspective, but godspeed to them if they're really taking a 14 year old draft so seriously that they just absolutely positively had to go "BPA"

Is this true? People would actually go to a game just because Iginla's son is playing in it? That is wild if true. Especially if the impact could only be outweighed by a few Memorial Cup seasons which is a rarity in junior hockey.

I can't see how a guy just based on his last name could have such an impact, as the only player that has come close to that was Bedard but maybe Calgary is a weird hockey market.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Spurs

Is this true? People would actually go to a game just because Iginla's son is playing in it? That is wild if true. Especially if the impact could only be outweighed by a few Memorial Cup seasons which is a rarity in junior hockey.

I can't see how a guy just based on his last name could have such an impact, as the only player that has come close to that was Bedard but maybe Calgary is a weird hockey market.

I haven’t gone to a Hitmen game in years. Maybe decade+

I would probably go if they drafted Joe Iginla. But likely only once.

[Ozy_Flame]

Blows my mind his oldest is university age playing NCAA hockey and his two boys are WHL draftees, of which the older one is NHL-draft ready in 2024. And Jarome is only 45.