Tigers’ last pick thrilled
The last pick in the 2017 Western Hockey League bantam draft might just be the most motivated.
Davis Chorney never gave up hope as he sat watching the draft unfold. Even as team after team passed on their options in the later rounds, the North East Wolfpack forward kept watching. When it came down to one last team — picking on their own for three consecutive rounds — he kept his eyes peeled. And finally, Chorney’s name popped up.
“After the first 10 rounds it was after lunch so I went home for the last half of the day. I was just waiting for my name to be called and lucky enough I got it called by a great team ... You never know where you’re going to go but I was really glad to go to Medicine Hat. It’s a great city,” said Chorney, selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 14th round at 230th overall. “You’ve just got to trust working out in the summer, getting better every day. All my hard work throughout the winter and the summer before it all paid off.”
Chorney says he’s not fazed by the title of last pick in the draft, it’s quite the opposite. The 14-year-old Nipawin, Sask. product says the ring of those words will serve as the impetus for his future training and development.
“I’m going to use being the last pick of the draft as motivation,” said Chorney. “Teams passed up on me, and I’m going to use that as a key to motivate myself this summer and get better.
“I read a stat from Medicine Hat’s Twitter page that 44.6 per cent of all draft picks have played at least one WHL game. I believe that’s probably higher than most WHL teams, so I’m excited to be part of that.”
Chorney is coming off a standout season with the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League’s Wolfpack. The big-bodied forward more than tripled his numbers from last season, jumping from 14 points in 29 contests to 49 in one less game this year — collecting 28 goals and 21 assists while adding a whopping 102 penalty minutes. His near goal-per-game pace continued into the playoffs where he added four tallies and five assists in five games, and as Chorney points out, that’s not even counting tournament play. “We played 50 games and I played 48 of them. I had 48 goals, 39 assists and 87 points,” said Chorney, who stands 5foot-11 and is 180 pounds at just 14 years old. “I use my size to my advantage and I have a good two-way game. I like to play in the defensive zone as well ... I’m working on my skating and my hands every day, but my greatest attributes are my hockey sense and my size.”
While hockey is his greatest passion, Chorney says he doesn’t shy away from calling himself a multisport athlete. The budding forward also dabbles in golf, baseball and swimming when he’s not putting in time at the rink, and he says it all factors in to his development as a hockey player.
“All these sports, you can compare them,” he said. “Swimming really helped because of the cardio aspect, and I feel that golf has also helped me because of the mental toughness. You’ve got to focus on your next shot like you have to focus on your next shifts.”