Western tournament laden with prospects

Scouts will have their eyes fixed on the ice at the Western Canadian Bantam AAA Hockey Championship in Warman, where many top prospects will be on full display.

Among the top-ranked 2002born players is defenceman Ryan Helliwell, from British Columbia’s Burnaby Winter Club Bruins. The Western Elite Hockey Prospects newsletter has Helliwell, who is already verbally committed to NCAA Division One college Notre Dame, rated No. 10 overall among all Western Canadian bantam hockey players.

Fort Saskatchewan Rangers goalie Sebastien Cossa is ranked 22 by the WEHP among all prospects and the top goalie in Alberta. The 6-foot-3 Cossa and the Rangers play the host SaskValley Vipers tonight. “He’s the straw that stirs their drink,” says Vipers coach Shaun Priel.

Next to Helliwell and Cossa, SaskValley’s Josh Pillar is the next top-ranked prospect. He is rated 37th overall in Western Canada by WEHP, while Saskatchewan-based Top Shelf Prospects has Pillar rated among the top 10 players in the province.

BWC has a number of players expected be selected in the upcoming Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. Goalie Koen MacInnis should draw attention. Kyler Kovich, a two-way forward with good size and 13 points in six playoff games, is said to have a game “perfectly suited for the WHL.”

Bruins teammate Kalen Szeto, a slick stickhandler who racked up 22 points in six playoff games, is a smaller skilled forward who logs big minutes for BWC.

Besides Cossa, Fort Saskatchewan boasts 2002 forwards Noah Boyko, Raphael Pelletier, Alex Thacker, Jesse Burchart and Riley Fiddler-Schultz, along with defenceman Damon Cyr and 2003 forward Blake Eastman.

Swift Current’s top prospect is forward Reed Jacobson, ranked No. 78 in Western Canada by WEHP and No. 11 in Saskatchewan by Top Shelf.

Other prospects from Speedy Creek include defenceman Mac Gross, forward Riley Dekowny and a group of highly touted 2003-born players — Hayden Wilm, goalie Justin Dueck, Joe Arntsen, Cash Arntsen, Ryan McLeary, Keogon Little, Rhys O’Neill and Noah Wills.

Among the players to watch on the Winnipeg Monarchs are 2002 forwards Reece Belton and Braden Fischer and goalie Brett Murphy.

As for the host Vipers, joining Pillar on the watch list are Austin Tkachuk, Chase Taggert, Keenan Allan, Ryan Conlon, Daylan Weigel, and goalies Matt Hennessey and Brodie Guenther.

Meanwhile, Burnaby has Jackson Murphy-Johnson along with 2003’s Trevor Wong and Ethan Samson also on ranking lists.