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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Chiefs draft 10, trade Fiddler

The Spokane Chiefs selected 10 players in the Western Hockey League Bantam Draft in Calgary, Alberta, on Thursday, including Spokane native Kailer Yamamoto.

Spokane also traded its top goal scorer from the 2012-13 season, Todd Fiddler, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for a third-round selection in next year’s bantam draft.

The Chiefs acquired Fiddler from the Prince Albert Raiders during the 2011-12 season. He scored a career-high 42 goals for Spokane last season but was scratched from the Chiefs’ final game of the year, Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal against Portland.

The Chiefs needed to make a move because they had four roster players entering their 20-year-old seasons: Fiddler, Mike Aviani, Mitch Holmberg and Eric Williams. WHL teams are limited to three 20-year-olds per season.

Spokane used the 16th overall selection in the draft to take defenseman Jeffrey Faith of Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Faith, who appeared in 33 games with the Notre Dame Hounds, is the fourth defenseman the Chiefs have taken in the first round in the last five years.

“Jeffrey is a big defenseman with shut-down type of characteristics,” Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Moulton said.

The Chiefs took defenseman Dalton Hamaliuk of Leduc, Alberta, in the second round. Their third-round selection was also a defenseman, Jake Toporowski, a native of Bettendorf, Iowa, who is the son of former Chief Kerry Toporowski (1989-91).

Forward Taylor Ross, Faith’s teammate with Notre Dame, was Spokane’s fourth-round selection.

With their two fifth-round picks, the Chiefs took left wing Nicholas Labossiere of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Yamamoto, a center who was a product of the Spokane American Youth Hockey Association.

RdPlayerPos.
1Jeffrey FaithD
2Dalton HamaliukD
3Jake ToporowskiD
4Taylor RossRW
5Nicholas LabossiereLW
5Kailer YamamotoC
6Michael DoneffLW
7Matthew BerlinG
8Chaseton SareC
9Walker CoteD