McAuley’s, Jake Poole, was a bit taken aback when he was picked first overall by the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in the 2017 Manitoba Junior Hockey League Draft.
“I didn’t really expect to go that high in the draft – let alone first overall,” the son of Robin and Dana Poole wrote in a text interview. “I didn’t know what to think.”
New Wolverines head coach and general manager Arnie Caplan believes that Poole – a 6-foot, 175-pound forward – was the right pick for his organization at the Jun. 4 draft.
“He is a very skilled player. He has some skills that you can’t teach. … He is a super kid with a very, very strong work ethic,” Caplan said.
Poole was one of five Virden Empire-Advance area players either picked in the Jun. 4 draft or selected as an auto protect. Four picks after Poole, the Virden Oil Capitals drafted Manson’s Bray Rookes fifth overall. For more on the selection of the son of Mike and Leanne Rookes, please see the Empire-Advance article on the Oil Caps draft. Elkhorn’s Colby Joseph was the first pick of the second round, 12th overall, by Waywayseecappo. Each MJHL squad can auto protect two players from their community and Virden used their’s, on hometown products Hunter Andrew and Ryan Colon.
Jake Poole
Poole accumulated 36 goals, 41 assists, 77 points, and 28 penalty minutes in 36 games last season for the Yellowhead Chiefs bantam AAA team.
“He is offensively very skilled,” Caplan said. “He can score. He has proven that at the bantam AAA level.”
Poole said he’s excited to help the Wolverine, who haven’thad a lot of success recently. Poole was drafted by the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna (B.C.) Rockets earlier this spring. Being picked by the Wolverines gives Poole the option to either go the major junior route in the WHL or consider trying to land a U.S. college scholarship while playing Junior A with the Wolverines.
Colby Joseph
The son of Gordon and Dawn Joseph was on third base during a baseball game when he found out he was drafted.
“My buddies were telling me about it and, at first, I didn’t believe them,” he wrote in a text interview. “Once I got there, they were all congratulating me and happy for me.”
The Wolverines were pleased to draft the 5-foot-9, 162-pound forward in the second round.
“Colby is a very good skater and he has a lot of potential,” Caplan said.
Joseph had 19 goals, 40 points, and 56 penalty minutes in 35 games for the Yellowhead Chiefs.
“Colby is a strong skater with very good puck sense and has proven he can score,” said Chiefs head coach Chad Facey.
Hunter Andrew
As an auto protect pick, the son of Brock and Andrea Andrew is excited about "a chance to play junior hockey for your hometown team," he stated in an email interview. His older brother, Tanner, was an Oil Caps auto protect pick in 2015.
“He can play forward and defence,” Oil Caps head coach Troy Leslie said. “He has the ability to score. He was pretty impressive in our camp and showed a bit of a scoring touch too.”
Last winter the 5-foot-8, 135-pound Andrew had 10 goals, 24 points, and 32 penalty minutes in 36 games for the Southwest Cougars bantam AAA team.
“He is intelligent and listens very well,” Cougars head coach Mike Robertson stated in an MJHL website Young Guns series feature. “He is just happy to play where ever we ask him to play. Tremendous team player and really happy to have him playing for our team.”
Ryan Colon
The son of Jody and Curtis Colon, turned the head of Oil Caps director of player personnel Chad Leslie with his strong finish to the season this past winter with the Cougars. The forward had 10 goals, 19 points, and 14 penalty minutes.
“He is a playmaker and he has the ability to score,” Troy Leslie said.
Cougars assistant coach, Kirby Braybrook, described Colon’s game earlier in the season as“If he wants to, he can score at will. He can also flatten you in open ice if you're not paying attention. He has a really quick release in the slot that not many goalies can stop.”
Draft Notes
Drafted players usually spend at least a season or two at the midget AAA level before moving up to Junior A hockey. Eight members of the Yellowhead Chiefs Bantam AAA team were drafted. Two more were auto protected by Waywayseecappo. The Wolverines held three of the top 12 picks and used all of them on Chiefs. Southwest had five players drafted plus Virden’s two auto protects.
