The trade winds were reduced to a light breeze at the 2008 WHL bantam draft.

"There certainly wasn't a lot," said Pats GM Brent Parker. "There were some moves involving draft picks but that was the extent of it. I wasn't entirely surprised. At the draft often it's more laying the groundwork for future trades, not so much right now."

Parker, who has an excess of 20-year-olds and goaltenders, will be forced to make some moves before the start of next season.

Did he make any progress during the draft?

"I don't know if they were real productive but we had some discussions," he said. "We'll see where they go down the road. I wouldn't say anything too substantial (was accomplished)."

Parker was more focused on trying to fill at least one of the holes created by earlier trades involving his third- and fourth-round picks (to Prince Albert for Ryan DePape and to Kamloops for Ryan Bender). But it takes two to tango and Parker didn't have any luck finding a dance partner.

"I was a little bit disappointed but we weren't going to give up a whole bunch just for the sake of doing it," he said. "There was one (player) going into the third round that was still there and we thought we might be able to get him. We talked to a team (about acquiring their third-round pick). It looked like they were going to do it and then the guy we wanted got picked anyway and then the team came back and changed their mind. That's the way it works. There didn't seem to be as much interest in teams wanting to make those moves so we were fine with that."

In the end, Parker settled for acquiring extra picks in the eighth and ninth rounds from the Seattle Thunderbirds. In exchange, the Pats granted Seattle an open spot on its 50-player protected list.

"It just allowed us to move up a little bit," Parker said of the deal.

"It's frustrating when you have to sit there (for two rounds without a pick) but that's the way it goes," noted director of scouting Todd Ripplinger. "You're the scout, you're greedy, you want picks, but it is what it is. I thought we did really well (in spite of the gap)."

In total, Regina selected 10 players on Thursday: Three defencemen, three centres, three wingers and one goalie. The Pats also continued the trend of staying close to home by choosing five players from Saskatchewan, adding three from Alberta, one from B.C. and one from Manitoba.

"I thought we balanced our draft really well," added Ripplinger, who declared the draft a success while also expressing optimism that his staff unearthed a couple of late-round gems. "We're always excited at this time of year, so we'll see how good they are in a couple years. I was excited about Jordan Eberle when we took him in the seventh round (in 2005) but I didn't know he'd score 42 goals as a 17-year-old. That would have made me really happy."

First-round picks in the WHL bantam draft by the Regina Pats:

2008 (17th overall): D Myles Bell.

2007 (13th): C Dominick Favreau.

2006 (14th): F Brett Miller.

2005 (1st): D Colten Teubert

2004 (5th): LW Brett Leffler

2003 (11th): D Logan Pyett

2002 (16th): D Tanner Stockwell

2001 (15th): D Max Gordichuk

2000 (10th): D Shawn Belle

1999 (4th): F Paul Brown

1998 (17th): C Grant Jacobsen

1997 (13th): LW Garth Murray

1996 (12th): D Barret Jackman

1995 (6th):C Brett Lysak

1994 (7th): D Robert Marshall

1993 (14th): C Josh Holden

1992 (2nd round, 20th overall): F Craig Hamilton

1991 (8th): D Vernon Beardy

1990 (2nd, 22nd): D Dion Zukiwsky

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