‘They know each other’: Blazers select two California players in U.S. Priority Draft

Clouston told CFJC Sports that Kim is an incredibly skilled forward while Gill is an active defenceman with good hockey sense.

“It was really interesting when we review their questionnaires after the fact. One of the questions was ‘who was the best player you played against this year?’ And Kim said Gill was the best player he played against,” Clouston said. “They’re from the same neck of the woods in California; they know each other.”

While the Blazers have now picked 12 players over the six iterations of the U.S. Priority Draft, they have only signed one player – Eli Tverdovsky – to a WHL contract.

Clouston remains optimistic that the California duo will want to explore the possibility of playing their major junior hockey in the Tournament Capital.

“We expect to see them at development camp here in a couple of weeks and compete for a spot on the Blazers roster in the near future,” Clouston said.

Thursday is the final leg of a lengthy two-day draft process for the Blazers, with rounds two to 15 of the WHL Prospects Draft set to take place.

On Wednesday, the Blazers lost defenceman Kalan Anderlini to the Penticton Vees in the WHL Expansion Draft. They also selected defenceman, Mateo Ferreira, and forward, Teagen Bouchard, with their two picks in the first round of the WHL Prospects Draft.

with files from Marty Hastings/CFJC Today

by Aaron Schulze

‘They know each other’: Blazers select two California players in U.S. Priority Draft

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