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The Medicine Hat Tigers added two forwards to their depth charts from South of the border.
The Tigers selected Colorado product Owen Hayes and Nolan Marto of North Dakota in the WHL’s U.S. Priority Draft on Wednesday morning.
Hayes was selected with the 16th overall pick from Centennial, Col., putting up 16 goals and 36 points in 17 games with the Okanagan Hockey Academy Colorado U14AAA team.
With the 38th overall pick, the Tigers selected Marto from Grand Ford, North Dakota. The 5-foot-7 forward put up 63 goals and 130 points in 58 games with the Grand Forks Bantam AA team.
Tigers director of player personnel Bobby Fox says there’s always work to do when it comes to recruiting players from the United States to the WHL but he says they’re confident in their pitch to both players.
“We have to prove that we’re the best place for their development,” Fox said. “We believe we are and now the recruiting begins. What we can present is going to be very intriguing for them.”
See more on the Tigers U.S. Draft picks in Thursday’s News.
The WHL’s Prospects Draft gets underway Thursday morning at 10 a.m. with the Tigers on the lock with the 16th overall selection.
The WHL will have pre-draft coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. on WHL Live and the league’s Youtube page. The first round is live-streamed with the following rounds playing out on a draft ticker found at WHL.ca
The News will also have a story on the website that will be updated throughout the day with the Tigers’ draft selections.
