Thunderchild picked for WHL

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He wears number 79, but Lloydminster's Lenny Thunderchild was drafted 80th in this year's Western Hockey League's bantam draft.

Thunderchild, 14, captured the attention of many junior scouts when he played for the "AAA" bantam Strathcona Warriors in Edmonton this year. Seven out of the league's 20 teams contacted him prior to the draft, but it was the Lethbridge Hurricanes, a team that didn't forecast its interest with a phone call, that chose the talented defenseman on May 1.

That Thunderchild is heading to the "W" isn't a surprise. His fourth-round pick was however. In a mock draft conducted over the Internet, it was predicted he would be chosen late in the first-round. Thunderchild shrugs it off.

"I knew there were a lot of good players out there, so I didn't think I would be that high," he said.

The 6'2" Thunderchild has only been in the game for six years. This year he ranked second in points for defencemen in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League, netting 39 for the Warriors in 34 games, with about half the points scored on the power play.

"He's a big kid and a very good skater," said Hurricane assistant general manager Randy Maxwell about why the team chose Thunderchild. "For 14 years of age, we see a huge upside."

Thunderchild's a physical player, amassing 159 penalty minutes, the third highest in the league.

"On the ice I'm totally different, because if the game's close I'm a mean guy pushing people around, but off the ice I'm not mean to anybody," Thunderchild said.

Being chosen for the WHL represents the first step towards a career in professional hockey.

However the sacrifices from here to there are many, including a return to Edmonton next season for a year of "AAA" midget-level hockey.

"To improve you have to leave home," said Thunderchild's father Lester about both sports and life. "You'll mature quicker and become more confident and that will be beneficial when they're older."

Thunderchild knows he has to remain focused, both on the ice and at school. The WHL insists its players maintain respectable grades. "If I'm improving more, they'll keep my spot. But if I don't keep up my skills or my marks, they'll drop me," Thunderchild said about what he needs to do to impress the Hurricanes management next year.

The league is spread out over 2,000 kilometres east to west and 1,000 kilometres north to south. Should he eventually make the squad, Thunderchild will have support on the road. He has relatives in five of the cities where there are other teams and it's likely he will stay with a cousin in Lethbridge.

He will attend the Hurricanes' expanded fall tryouts where he will get a glimpse of the speed and strength required by players on the team. Though league rules prohibit any full-time player from being under 16, it is possible that he could take part in as many as five regular season games.

"Hopefully he'll stay in the main camp and play in the exhibitions in order to be ready to play in the WHL," said Maxwell when asked about what bantams can usually expect.

Thunderchild said that as he enters a new phase in competitive hockey, there is a bit of doubt that sometimes creeps in.

"You don't think it will happen this early and then you're left wondering if you should take it," Thunderchild said about the WHL. "But it's likely that I will, because it's once-in-a-lifetime."