The Valley Wildcats brought home some Nova Scotia talent at this year's Maritime Hockey League draft.
The Berwick, N.S.-based club had the first overall pick and selected Ethan Landry from St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Ontario.
The Halifax native played with the Halifax McDonalds before spending the last two seasons in Ontario. In his final season at St.
Andrew's, Landry tallied seven goals and 28 points in 54 games.
“I’m really excited to join the team,” says Landry. “I had some great conversations with Coach (Brandon) Benedict and heard awesome things about the Valley organization. I’m really excited for the season to start, whenever that may be.”
The 18-year-old says it meant a lot to him to be selected first overall.
“There were so many talented players in this year’s draft, and it was an honour to be selected first overall. This isn’t something I take lightly. The draft was a huge day for me and my family.”
Wildcats head coach and general manager, Brandon Benedict, says he believes Landry can come in right away and contribute.
“We feel that he's going to step into our forward group right away. He's got the intangibles. His intelligence on the ice is his biggest attribute. Make players around him better, I think that's what he does, his ability to create offence.”
Landry calls playing hockey at St. Andrew’s an amazing experience. “To have the chance to live away from home and play for a school like St. Andrew’s is something I’ll never forget. I feel that it gave me the opportunity to be more accountable and independent as a person. I feel that will help me add to the team success in the Valley.”
'Building for the future'
The Wildcats made a total of 10 selections in the MHL draft, including their two territorial picks. Benedict says the team got a little bit of everything.
“We're definitely building for the future. We got a lot of young kids.
We got a lot of good character kids that we know want to come, and want to be part of this organization," Benedict said. "That's a huge component, and we put a huge emphasis on that this year.”
In addition to Landry, the Wildcats picked centre Aidan MacLeod, winger Zack Lorette, and defenceman Aidan Clarke from their own U18 team.
Valley selected a pair of PEI defencemen in round four, Marshall Gallant and Crosby Andrews. In round seven, they landed goalie Marcus Pettipas from Lantz, N.S., who played U18 hockey in Pictou County last season.
Round eight saw Valley take two players from the Dartmouth Steele Subaru U18 team, Hammonds Plains, N.S.-based defenceman Joseph Power and Sackville, N.S. winger Jaden Hardie. Valley's final selection was in round nine with Cole Harbour Wolfpack defenceman Ethan Vallis from Lantz, N.S.
Online draft
The MHL draft was originally scheduled to be held at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, N.S. but due to COVID-19, the event was conducted virtually. Benedict, along with a small component of coaching and scouting staff, sat distanced around a long boardroom table, making picks online with the other 11 teams. Although being apart meant no walking to other team's tables to make trades, he thought the draft went very well.
“I thought it was very productive and efficient. From a league perspective, I thought it all went very smoothly.," he said.
Landry had to finish his final term of school online because of social distancing, but he says St. Andrew's handled it very well.
“I had a regular school day with online calls and schoolwork, which was great to keep me busy and continue my education," he said. "I was also fortunate to have some gym equipment around the house so I could keep in shape. Now I’m just itching with anticipation to get going.”
First picks by team
Some clubs had to wait a lot longer than others to make their first selections at the 2020 MHL draft.
After the Wildcats selected Landry first overall, the second pick was Braeden MacPhee of the Moncton Flyers, who was snapped up by the Miramichi Timberwolves.
Pick three belonged to the Grand Falls Rapids, which selected Bathurst, NB native Antonie Roy from Rothesay Netherwood school.
Fourth choice was Bridgewater's South Shore Lumberjacks. South Shore selected Alex Carr. The Sackville native played last season with the Cole Harbour Wolfpack.
Antigonish's Trey Sturge was selected by the Truro Bearcats fifth overall. Sturge played U18 hockey with the Sydney Mitsubishi Rush last season.
Sixth overall, the Edmundston Blizzard took hometown boy Jacob Long of the Fredericton Caps.
The Campbellton Tigers picked seventh, selecting Stillwater Lake, NS native Camden Pellerine of Dartmouth Steele Subaru.
The Fredericton Red Wings had to wait until pick number 10 to make its first selection, taking Sydney's Brendan MacRitchie.
Four teams did not have a pick in the first round. The Amherst Ramblers selected Halifax Macs defenceman Matheas Elles in the second round, 19th overall.
Summerside selected Moncton N.B. native Jonah Jelley 21st overall. Jelley played last season with the Notre Dame Hounds in Saskatchewan.
Also in round two, Yarmouth picked Sambro's Jacob Newcombe of the Halifax McDonalds.
The Pictou County Weeks Crushers selected Kiefer Avery of Westville, N.S., as a territorial pick in round three. Their first selection that wasn't known ahead of time was Preston Pattergale of Sydney, who they picked 48th overall in round four.
In total, 120 players were drafted into the MHL during the event.