EDMONTON - In his role as assistant general manager and director of player personnel for the Edmonton Oil Kings, Randy Hansch answers the difficult questions.

How good will this 14-year-old be in six years? How good will he be in a year? Is he better than everyone else? To date, Hansch, along with Oil Kings general manager Bob Green and scouts like Bob McGill, have done a great job of answering these questions.

There’s one question though, that Hansch can’t begin to answer definitively: How many midget AAA hockey games has he seen this year?

“Enough,” he said as he started to laugh. “How’s that?”

In un-turning stones in the ranks of minor hockey to find the next great Western Hockey League talent, Hansch is an authority on the midget AAA game. With 15-to-18-year-olds across the province gearing up for their playoffs to begin on Wednesday, Hansch said he was looking forward to seeing everyone take their respective games up a notch.

“(The playoffs) give you a chance to see obviously your listed players along with other teams’ listed players, along with free agents play at a different level, a higher level,” he said.

“You’ve gone through the regular season and you’re able to see the kids play at that level and now it’s for keeps and there are different levels and different pressures. You look forward to seeing how they’ll react.”

The Oil Kings organization will have to wait until the second round begins to see more of Riley Simpson. The forward, whom the Oil Kings took in the sixth-round of the WHL draft last year, and the son of Oilers great Craig Simpson, led the Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League in scoring this season (55 points, 26 goals in 34 games). His team, along with the St. Albert Sports Raiders, finished first and second, respectively, in the Dodge (North) Division of the league and earned a bye through to the second round of the post-season.

“Riley Simpson has had a really good year with South Side,” Hansch said. “He ended up winning the scoring title there, which is a credit to him and his teammates.

“Jake Debrusk had a good year (52 points, 25 goals in 34 games), he finished second in scoring and Giorgio Estephan (47 points, 17 goals in 32 games) finished third the top three South Side guys finished there. Those guys as a line and power-play unit performed very well.”

The first puck drop of the midget AAA post-season is Wednesday at 7 p.m., when the Lloydminster Baker Hughes Bobcats host the Leduc Chrysler Oil Kings. Over at Bill Hunter Arena in west Edmonton, the Knights of Columbus Pats will get their best-of-five series with the Sherwood Park J. Ennis Kings going at 7:45 p.m.

Looking at the playoff picture, Hansch said that it’s anyone’s tournament.

“It’s pretty well wide open where things are at,” he said, while pointing to the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs as a contender out of the south.

“Nobody ran away with it this year. In reality, anybody can beat anybody throughout the year. To pick (a winner) it’s pretty tough.”

The undrafted midget players are especially enticing to Hansch. With players still meshing their games and physical growth together at this age, a player’s stock can shoot up in a playoff run. Current Oil Kings Dylan Wruck and Stephane Legault both came to the team after going undrafted as 15-year-olds.

“Dylan Wruck, he’s a classic example,” Hansch said. “He’s an example we use with a lot of kids: Don’t give up and you keep on working hard and be dedicated and things will happen.

“Dylan went through the draft and we were fortunate enough to see him at a summer camp in Saskatchewan and we put him on the list … that was a prime example. He came to camp and kept performing and created an opportunity for himself ahead of players who were drafted. Everybody matures differently.”

Benson powers through season

With 146 points (57 goals, 89 assists) in 33 games, South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lion forward Tyler Benson has had a record-setting year. The 14-year-old has been a lock to be the first-overall pick in this year’s WHL bantam draft since November, when he started his ridiculous scoring pace.

“He obviously had a special year, there’s no question about that,” Hansch said. “Things like this don’t happen too often and I think especially in the north, there are some quality players up here with Tyler. It’s been a special year all around.”

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