RED DEER - Six Albertans were among the 113 female hockey players selected in the 2017 Canadian Women’s Hockey League Draft.
Defender Taryn Baumgardt (Innisfail) was the first Albertan off the board, taken fifth overall by the Calgary Inferno. Goaltender Robyn Chemago (Slave Lake) was selected three picks later, eighth overall by the Boston Blades, while the Inferno used its next pick, 12th overall, on another Albertan, defender Kelly Murray (Calgary).
Cassidy Delainey (Edmonton) was the next Albertan chosen, as the Toronto Furies selected the left-winger 37th overall. The Calgary Inferno continued the trend with its 61st and 87th picks, selecting left-winger Kennedy Brown (Okotoks) and right-winger Krista Wilson (Olds), respectively.
Baumgardt, Chemago, Murray, and Brown have all represented Team Alberta at the U18 level; Baumgardt three times, Chemago and Murray twice, and Brown once. Brown is also the first graduate of the Alberta Female Hockey League to be drafted into the CWHL, having played for the Rocky Mountain Raiders (Midget AAA) during the league’s inaugural season in 2016-17.
Delainey and Wilson have both coached at the Alberta Challenge, and Delainey was the Head Coach, and Wilson the Assistant Coach of the Olds Grizzlys (Bantam Elite) of the AFHL during the 2016-17 season.
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