Rockets First Pick Is....

• It appears the Kelowna Rockets have traded their first pick in today's WHL bantam draft to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Stay tuned.


• The Rockets have used the Wheat Kings 13th overall pick and selected an American born player. Shane McColgan (pictured above) is a forward, who played midget triple 'A' in Los Angeles this season. McColgan is 5'10 - 160 pounds. McColgan's hometown is Manhattan Beach California.


• Note: The Rockets received a 4th round bantam pick from the Wheat Kings for allowing them to select 10th overall in round one.


• McColgan was coached this past season by Jack Bowkus. Name sound familiar? Bowkus was a forward with the Saskatoon Blades in the early 80's. Bowkus preaches the virtues of the WHL to his players, so landing McColgan shouldn't be a problem.


• The Rockets picked Zachery Franko, a smallish skilled forward from Winnipeg with their second round pick. Franko scored 43 goals playing bantam hockey this past season. He's 5'9 but weighs just 135 pounds. The Rockets then selected defenseman Tanner Clark in round three. Clark is from Jeff Truitt's hometown of Rosetown Saskatchewan.


• 13 of the 22 players selected in the first round were from Alberta. Only four of the first 22 picks were from BC, including #1 overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from Burnaby.