Brule, Byram lead list of best young Giants
Sourdif sparks conversation about which Vancouver players enjoyed best year as a 16-year-old
In limited viewing, Justin Sourdif looks like one of the most talented 16-year-old players to ever play for the Vancouver Giants.
We decided to take that a step further and pick our top five 16-year-olds in Giants history. And we’ll go back at the end of the year and see where Sourdif might slot in when his season is over.
Players can be regulars for the first time in the WHL in their 16-year-old season: 1 GILBERT BRULE (2003-04, 67 GAMES, 25-3560, 100 PIMS)
It’s a shame many people forget what a dominating junior player Brule was.
The centre was the first overall pick in the 2002 WHL bantam draft. His 16-year-old season was the Giants’ third year in existence, and he was the second leading scorer on a team that made a 20-point jump in the standings from the campaign before, winding up 33-24-9-6.
He remains the only Giant to win the WHL’s rookie of the year honour. 2 BOWEN BYRAM (2017-18, 60 GAMES 6-21-27, 52 PIMS)
Byram, a defenceman, was one of the three or four best players on a team that made a 35-point turnaround from the season before, finishing 36-27-6-3. They also advanced to the playoffs for the first time in four springs.
He was certainly among the leaders in ice time, and that’s rare for a 16-year-old blueliner.
The third overall selection in the 2016 bantam draft, Byram was the Western Con- ference nominee for rookie of the year but lost out on the award to Lethbridge Hurricanes centre Dylan Cozens. 3 EVANDER KANE (2007-08 65 GAMES, 24-17-41, 66 PIMS)
The left-winger came to the forefront the spring before, seeing action as an underage call-up for Vancouver en route to the Giants winning the 2007 Memorial Cup out of the host spot.
In his 16-year-old campaign, he was third in goals on a Giants team that finished an impressive 49-15-2-6 in the regular season.
The 19th overall choice in the 2006 bantam draft, Kane was the Western Conference nominee for rookie of the year, but lost out to centre Brayden Schenn of the Brandon Wheat Kings. 4 DAVID MUSIL (2009-10 71 GAMES, 7-25-32, 65 PIMS)
He doesn’t have the marquee appeal some of the other names on this list have, but the defenceman was an eye-popping, team-leading plus-33 as a 16-year-old on a Giants team that went 41-253-3.
He would play 2½ more seasons with the Giants, and there’s an argument his best hockey in Vancouver colours came during that inaugural season.
Vancouver traded two draft picks to the Kootenay Ice for Musil in July, 2009 after Kootenay won a lottery for his rights following Musil’s family announcing they were relocating from the Czech Republic to the Lower Mainland.
The league reasoned that he grew up in Edmonton while his father Frank Musil was playing for the Edmonton Oilers, and it kept the younger Musil from being available for the CHL Import Draft, where he could have been selected by Ontario or Quebec teams. 5-TIE TYLER BENSON (2014-15 62 GAMES, 14-31-45, 55 PIMS)
Benson and veteran defenceman Mason Geertsen were arguably the best two players on what was a lacklustre Vancouver team. They finished 27-41-2-2.
Benson, a left-winger, played in all situations as a 16-year-old and drew raves in particular from Claude Noel when he stepped in as head coach midway through the year for the fired Troy Ward.
Benson endured several injuries throughout his Vancouver career and also was massively hyped after going first overall in the 2013 bantam draft. 5-TIE JON BLUM (2005-06 61 GAMES, 7-17-24, 25 PIMS)
There’s an argument that Blum had the greatest career in Giants colours of any player: a member of four consecutive 100-point teams, a WHL championship, a Memorial Cup, and the team career mark for assists.
The 2004 seventh-round bantam pick started strong, playing largely second-pairing minutes for a team that finished 47-19-0-6 and then went on to win the WHL title. Sewen@postmedia.com twitter.com/SteveEwen