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WHL teams draft 11 Yale students

Three Lions chosen in first round of Bantam Draft
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A total of 11 Yale Lions hockey players were selected in this year's Western Hockey League bantam draft.

The hockey-player-producing factory at Yale Secondary had another banner day at the Western Hockey League Bantam draft on Thursday.

A total of 11 student athletes were selected from the school, just one shy of the record set back in 2014.

Josh Williams was the highest player taken, as he was selected fifth overall by the Medicine Hat Tigers.

The Langley native scored 59 points in 25 games for Yale this season. Williams was the Canadian School Sport Hockey League's most valuable player and top scorer.

Picked 13th overall was defenceman Rhett Rhinehart from Lloydminster, who is now property of the Prince Albert Raiders.

Also going in the first round of the draft was Kelowna's Jackson Van de Leest, who was picked 16th by the Calgary Hitmen.

Other Lions selected in the draft included: Harrison Blaisdell (31st, Vancouver Giants), Alex Swtlikoff (62nd, Seattle Thunderbirds), Abbotsford's Austin Herron (65th, Moose Jaw Warriors), Alex Cotton (99th, Lethbridge Hurricanes), Ethan Leyh (160th, Spokane Chiefs), Blake Wood (169th, Kamloops Blazers), Alex Rolfe (192nd, Calgary) and Holden Kodak (229th, Portland Winterhawks).

The 11 players were key members of the Yale Bantam prep team, which won the CSSHL title back in March.

For more details on the draft, visit whl.ca.



Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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