Josh Anderson has realized his boyhood dream.
He’s become the property of an NHL team after the Colorado Avalanche selected him Saturday in the third round of the NHL draft, 71st overall.
The 17-year-old Prince George Cougars defenceman was in the building at First Niagara Center in Buffalo with his parents and grandparents from Vancouver Island when the Avs made their choice.
The six-foot-three, 215-pound Anderson missed half the season with a broken back but that obviously did not affect his draft status. He’s now fully recovered from his injury and has resumed skating at his home in Duncan.
Anderson, a bruising defenceman who likes to take the body, scored one goal and had five assists in 39 games, along with 86 penalty minutes, this past season with the Cougars. The Cats picked him third overall in the 2013 WHL bantam draft.
He will join the rest of the Avalanche freshmen at their rookie camp in July.
The Cougars had two of their listed players selected in the first round. Defenceman Dennis Cholowski (Chilliwack Chiefs, BCHL), a native of Langley, went 20th overall to the Detroit Red Wings and forward Riley Tufte (Blaine, Min., high school; Fargo, USHL), a native of Coon Rapids, Minn., was the 25th overall pick of the Dallas Stars.
Also in the third round, centre Rem Pitlick was chosen 76th overall by the Nashville Predators. Pitlick, a native of Plymouth, Minn., was an 11th round choice of the Cougars in the 2012 WHL draft.
