DRAFT DAY 2013

London Knights draft room 2013. Lindsay Hofford (standing to the left) is the Knights Director of Scouting

One London Knights scout, Craig Warwick, said he saw 354 midget games this season.
"I know the exact number because I had to write a report on each one," laughed the man they call Candyman.
OHL draft day belongs to the scouts of the 20 Ontario Hockey League teams.  The league's foot soldiers. They travel thousands of miles to get as many viewings as possible of the talent available.
  Lindsay Hofford, the Knights director of scouting figures the team got 'three players we had rated in the first round'.  The Knights selected centre Mitch Marner in round one (19th overall).  Marner was excited to be a Knight and said "even the animals were huddled around the computer. Our dog was getting excited right along with us," said Marner by telephone.  Marner had 86 points in 56 games for the Don Mills Flyers this season.  He has been heavily recruited by U.S. colleges including Michigan.
The Knights then picked a player many feel was one of the best players in the draft in Zach Werenski from Detroit Little Caesars, a 6 foot 2 inch defenseman who has committed the next two years to the U.S. Development program.  Werenski immediately tweeted he is "honored to be able to play for my country and be drafted by the London Knights".   The Knights also took American born Matthew Tkachuk, a winger and defenseman Christian Evers.  Tkachuk is the son of former NHL'er Keith Tkachuk and has made a verbal committment to Notre Dame.  Evers has said yes to the Unversity of North Dakota.
In between the Knights stayed domestic with defenseman Mitchell Kreis, from Halton and Toronto Marlboros assistant captain Joshua Defarias.  Defarias was rated early in the 2nd round on the Knights list.   Listen here to Lindsay Hofford on the Knights draft picks.