The Victoria Royals hope small translates into big results as they look to put some artful finishing touches around the opposition net in future years.
“Small players have a place in hockey if they are smart,” said Grant Armstrong, the Royals first-year director of player personnel.
Victoria used its first two selections, and six of its first eight, in the 2013 WHL bantam draft Thursday to take offensive but generally undersized forwards.
Five-foot-five, 140-pound centre Dante Hannoun of Delta, who had 63 goals and 151 points as captain of the North Shore Winter Club bantam triple-A team, was selected 11th overall by Victoria and was by far the smallest player taken in the first round.
Five-foot-six, 129-pound centre Matthew Phillips, who had 40 goals and 77 points with the Calgary Bisons, came 33rd overall to Victoria and was the smallest player selected in the second round.
Victoria used its second pick of the second round to nab six-foot-one defenceman Ralph Jarratt of Grand Prairie 37th overall. Jarratt played for Kelowna-based Pursuit of Excellence.
The Royals added five-foot-nine centres Noah Gregor of Beaumont, Alta., with the 55th overall pick in the third round and Brayden Dunn of Calgary with the 77th pick in the fourth round. Also taken in the fourth round were six-foot-one blueliner Blake Jameson of Brandon at No. 75 and five-foot-nine wingers Jared Dmytriw of Craven, Sask., and Ethan Frank of Omaha, Nebraska, back-to-back at Nos. 83 and 84.
The early run on smallish forwards was glaring.
“We’re addressing a skill deficiency [on the current roster] and we took some quality skill guys,” said Armstrong.
The first-round pick is always the most scrutinized.
“Dante [Hannoun] may be a bit small but that’s not a deficiency for him because he plays big because of his great ice vision,” said Armstrong.
“He is a fantastically smart player. Dante is the smartest player we had on the board. And [second-round selection] Phillips plays an incredibly high-energy game and has great vision.”
During his previous stint with Portland, Armstrong was instrumental in building the current powerhouse Winterhawks roster, which includes several diminutive but effective players.
“The bigger guys don’t expect me to hit, but I do,” said Hannoun, a Grade 9 student at Burnsview Secondary in Delta, who also plays soccer and lacrosse.
“I’m a playmaker that can score. But I’m solid and play physical, too.”
Hannoun, of Lebanese and Italian descent, came up in a hockey family. Brother Demico Hannoun is a talented 17-year-old forward with the BCHL-champion Surrey Eagles, who is committed to Michigan Tech of the NCAA, but whose WHL rights are intriguingly held by the Royals.
The Hannouns and Delta’s Nicolas Petan of the Portland Winterhawks, the 166-pound and five-foot-nine 2012-13 WHL co-leader in points with 120, are first cousins.
It’s a genetic tie Armstrong finds relevant.
“High intelligence and skill go hand-in-hand in hockey,” said Armstrong.
“That’s the direction [Royals GM Cam Hope] and I talked about going. That’s the winning formula — find skill players with high intelligence.”
The 2013 bantam draft class won’t come on-stream until 2014-15 at the earliest, but the Royals are looking to address some rough edges in the long view.
“Skill wins in this league,” said GM Hope.
“If you don’t set yourself up with it for the future, you’re always trying to backfill.”
The Royal finished the 2013 draft with 11 players — seven forwards and four blueliners.
Victoria, with the 99th pick in the fifth round, selected five-foot-10 defenceman Matt Hellickon of Rogers, Minnesota, the hometown of Royals forward and Buffalo Sabres prospect Logan Nelson.
The Royals again went with a centre in the eighth round with five-foot-11 Ty Westgard of Surrey, before closing out the draft in the ninth round with five-foot-11 blueliner Carter Stephenson of West Vancouver.
The 2012-13 WHL-worst Vancouver Giants had the first overall selection and picked Tyler Benson from the Edmonton South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lions, whose head-spinning total of 146 points came in just 33 games this season.
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