UPDATE: Kamloops outscores Kelowna at the NHL draft

The Kamloops Blazers outscored the Kelowna Rockets 3-2 at the NHL draft that finished today, Oct. 7.

Three Kamloops Blazers players were drafted, including centre Connor Zary who was taken in the first round, 24th overall, by the Calgary Flames.

It took until the fourth round before goaltender Dylan Garand was selected 103rd overall by the New York Rangers.

He was followed by defenceman Viktor Persson who was taken 191st in the seventh round by the Vancouver Canucks.

Kelowna Rocket's Pavel Novak was taken in the fifth round, 146th overall by the Minnesota Wild.

In addition to Novak, defenceman Michael Kruitl was drafted in the fourth round, 110th overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks, according to the Kelowna Rockets.

He was listed in the draft report as playing for Sparta in the Czech Republic but the Rockets said in a media release they drafted him 24th overall in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft earlier this year. He has yet to play a game with the Rockets.

The New York Rangers picked Alexis Lafreniere, a left winger with Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, first overall.

In all, 217 players were drafted.

The full draft can be viewed here.

Connor Zary of the Kamloops Blazers has 182 points in 188 career games over the last three seasons. SUBMITTED / Connor Zary

 — This story was updated at 8:37 a.m. Oct. 8, 2020 at 8:37 a.m. to add new information from the Kelowna Rockets.


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Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics