Blizzard’s first pick Aaron Brown accompanied by head coach Ryan Salvis (left) and Blizzard’s president André Lebel.
The Maritime champions made some very good choices, especially in the first round despite their two late picks. In eighth place in the first round, they selected forward Aaron Brown. Then, they closed the round by pronouncing the name of forward Cole Stewart, 12thoverall.
Brown was the most coveted midget player by the Blizzard. The team’s scouts and general manager did not hide their surprise that he was still available.
Aaron Brown is a 17-year-old forward from Timberlea, Nova Scotia. Last year, he tallied 48 points in 36 games with the Halifax Macs. Brown was named to the NS Major Midget AAA league’s First All-Star Team.
“We are surprised that no teams from Nova Scotia have not drafted him before us. He is a player who is ready to play this season. Aaron is an excellent skater and he is very skillful offensively, “said Blizzard general manager Steve MacPherson.
The numbers for 16-year-old Cole Stewart of Moncton are also impressive: 28 points in 15 regular season games and 15 points in 8 playoff games with Moncton Flyers of the NB/PEI Major Midget AAA.
“Before the draft, we had a list of 25 players that were of interest to us, and all 10 players we selected were there, “MacPherson said. In addition, we decided to make trades this year in order to have more choices in the 2019 draft to be held in Edmundston. Next year we will have two first-round picks, two in the second and three in the third. ”
Blizzard made three transactions on Saturday. They traded goalkeeper Myles Hektor to the Truro Bearcats in return for a conditional 4thround pick in the 2019 and future considerations. The Blizzard traded 3rdround pick in the 2018 draft to Valley Wildcats for 2ndand 3rdround picks in the 2019 draft. Then Summerside traded its 1stround pick in the 2019 draft to Edmundston for 5thand 8thround picks in the 2018 draft and 3rdround pick in the 2019 draft.
A few days before the draft, the teams picked territorial players. Thus, the Blizzard selected goalkeeper Frédéric Plourde, of Saint-Léonard.
Here are the 10 players selected by the Blizzard Saturday with their 2017-18 midget stats.
1stround
– Aaron Brown, forward, born in 2001, from Timberlea, NS (36gp, 25g, 23a, 48pts)
– Cole Stewart, forward, born in 2001, from Moncton, N.-B. (15gp, 12g, 16a, 28pts)
2ndround
– Kale McCallum, defenseman, born in 2002, from Quispamasis, NB (33gp, 7g, 22a, 29pts)
– Nicholas Bourque, defenseman, born in 2001, from Moncton, NB (34gp, 1g, 8a, 9pts)
3rdround
– Ewan MacDonald, goalkeeper, born in 2001, from Antigonish, NS (25gp; 2.74; .900)
– Brant King, defenseman, born in 2001, from Lower Sackville, NS (33gp, 1g, 15a, 16pts)
4thround
– Jeremy Duguay, forward, born in 2002, from Tracadie, N.-B. (29pj, 6b, 11p, 17pts)
– Patrick Leblanc, forward, born in 2002, from Moncton, NB (35gp, 9g, 20a, 29pts)
Territorial pick #1
– Frédéric Plourde, goalkeeper, born in 2002, from Saint-Léonard, NB (27gp; 5.06; .862)
Territorial pick #2
– Alex Arsenault, forward, born in 2002, from Saint-Charles, NB (36gp, 17g, 10a, 27pts)