By Peter Watts /

When you’re 14, ‘The Show’ isn’t necessarily the NHL.

It might well be the Western Hockey League.

The WHL Bantam Draft is coming up April 29 in Edmonton and that’s a date a lot of young hockey players have marked on
their calendars.

That’s certainly the case for many of the 160 youngsters who took part in the Saskatchewan First tournament in Regina last weekend.

Elliott Peterson was part of a Saskatoon team that won the tournament, which featured eight select teams from around the province. It’s the latest success for the young forward, whose club team, the Saskatoon Frostbites, won the provincial title and will play in the Western Canada Bantam Championships in Burnaby, B.C. the weekend of April 8.

“It’s been great,” Peterson said. “We played four games in two-and-a-half days and I got a couple of goals in Regina. I’m really interested in playing in the WHL if I’m drafted. I hope to play AAA Midget next season, either with the Saskatoon Contacts or the Saskatoon Blazers.

“But we all went to a presentation by the WHL and I was impressed with how the league treats the players.”

While Elliott’s interest revolves around playing, his parents were interested, as well, in such things as billeting and education.

Todd and Janice Peterson have been through this with their oldest son, Eric, who has spent the past two seasons playing for Bonnyville in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

It’s a four-and-a-half-hour drive to watch him play, so there’s a comfort level in knowing that Eric is well looked after by his billets, Rene and Vickie Van Brabant, in Bonnyville.

“I was especially interested in the education program run by the WHL,” Todd Peterson said. “Elliott’s a good student so continuing his education is important. I learned some stuff about the WHL’s scholarship program that I didn’t know. At this point, it’s about having options so that we can help Elliott make the right decisions about his future.

“Eric wasn’t drafted by a WHL team but he left home at age 16 to play AAA Midget hockey in Prince Albert. So we know a bit about billeting. We’ve been through the ups and downs of having a son who is in and out of the lineup because of coaches’ decisions or because of injury.

“It’s important that billets, who become almost a second family, are able to help with the emotional rollercoaster for a young player. Eric’s been really fortunate in that regard and we’ll hope that Elliott has the same good fortune if and when he’s drafted.”

Both players and parents were treated to a presentation by Hockey Saskatchewan which outlined the various leagues to which bantam players can aspire. But there’s little doubt that Elliott, at least, has his eye on the WHL. Which will be fine with his parents.

“He’s a pretty focused kid,” his dad said. “He knows what he wants and he’ll find a way to make it work.”

All the family has to do now is see what happens April 29 in Edmonton.