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Western Hockey League moving next WHL draft to December 2021

CALGARY, AB – The Western Hockey League is pushing back the date for its 2021 Draft.

The event was scheduled for May, however the WHL has decided to move that one year from now to December of 2021.

Commssioner Ron Robison says this decision allows additional time for players in the 2006 age group to be evaluated following a challenging season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We anticipate minor hockey leagues and tournaments will be fully operational in the fall, which will allow players to compete at a high level once again,” said Robison in a news release Monday.

Last week, the WHL announced it was delaying the start date for the current 2020-21 season for a second time.

The puck was supposed to drop on January 8th, however because of current public health restrictions in place that can’t happen and likely won’t next month.

The league has said it would continue to make every effort to get the season started, but its first priority has always been the health and safety of players, and everyone associated with the WHL.

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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