Kirk Tomlinson sounded like a proud papa on Saturday.
The head coach and director of operations for the Halifax Titans major midget program had seven of his players selected in Saturday’s Maritime Hockey League’s midget-aged draft in Bridgewater.
Three of those players — forwards Brandon Boutilier, Kyle Campbell and Andrew Graham — were taken in the top five overall. An eighth Titan — forward Adam Stevens — was a territorial pick by the Metro Marauders.
"My first take was ‘what am I going to do next year; half of my players are gone,’" Tomlinson jokingly said. "But when you take a step back and look at it, our organization has done something right to give these young athletes a chance to succeed. We are there to develop these young athletes into better hockey players and better people. We’ve done our job as an association. It’s fantastic."
After forward Rankyn Campbell of the Miramichi Rivermen was taken first overall by the Campbellton Tigers, the Pictou County Crushers acquired the second overall pick from the Dieppe Commandos and selected Boutilier. The Yarmouth Mariners then drafted Campbell at No. 3.
Campbellton had the fourth overall pick and took forward Jordan MacInnis of the Charlottetown Islanders. The Bridgewater Lumberjacks completed the Titan trifecta in the first round and selected Graham at No. 5.
Tomlinson said each player could step in and help their new team right away.
"Brandon was our team captain and is an old school player," Tomlinson said. "He finishes his checks, he drives hard to the net and competes on a regular basis. Kyle is an offensively-gifted centre who’ll light the lamp for you and Andrew is another offensively-gifted forward. They’re all talented players."
Jim Bottomley, the Lumberjacks’ head coach and general manager, said there’s a spot open for Graham on his squad after 11 players from last season’s team graduated from the junior ranks.
"We’re looking for (Graham) to step right in," Bottomley said following the 10-round draft. "He’s a goal-scoring forward who has natural abilities. We have lost a few of them so we’re very pleased to select him."
With the sixth overall pick, the Metro Marauders — the former Halifax Lions — selected blue-liner Kyle Kavanaugh of the Cape Breton Tradesmen.
"He’s a good character kid who was drafted by the Halifax Mooseheads last week (in the QMJHL draft)," Marauders coach and GM Troy Ryan said. "We’re quite pleased with that selection."
The Truro Bearcats nabbed defenceman Ryan Moore of the Cape Breton Tradesmen with the 10th overall pick.
The Amherst Ramblers did not have a first-round selection but grabbed Dartmouth Subways defenceman Cameron McDonald with the fourth pick of the second round.
Bottomley and Ryan each made significant trades on Saturday.
Bridgewater acquired centre Tyler Noseworthy in a three-way trade involving Woodstock and Pictou County. The Lumberjacks sent winger Taite Paul to the Slammers.
The Marauders, with starting goalie Kody Blois considering going elsewhere to pursue an NCAA scholarship, acquired netminder Alex Newman along with defenceman John Hubley and forward Ryan Davis from Yarmouth for young winger Matthew Miller.
"With a little bit of uncertainty with our goaltending, it was a no-brainer to get (Newman), who has a few years of experience," Ryan said.
( gmacdonald@herald.ca)
