Drayson Bowman

Drayson Bowman (born March 8, 1989) is an American professional ice hockey center who currently plays for the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. He was selected 72nd overall by the Hurricanes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. During his four-year junior career in the Western Hockey League (WHL), he won a Memorial Cup with the Spokane Chiefs in 2008 and was named a WHL West Second Team All-Star in 2009.

Early life
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan Bowman and his family moved to Littleton, Colorado, in the early 1990s. His father, Mark Bowman, owns a financial consulting company in Colorado. Bowman attended Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton. A Colorado Avalanche fan, he has mentioned having looked up to Joe Sakic as a player. In 2003, he and his family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to better his opportunities in hockey. He attended Vancouver Christian School while playing bantam for the North Vancouver Winter Hawks.

Junior
Bowman was drafted eighth overall by the Spokane Chiefs in the 2004 WHL Bantam Draft. He debuted in four games with the Chiefs the following season in 2004–05 while playing Junior B with the Kimberley Dynamiters of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). He recorded 29 goals and 59 points over 47 games with the Dynamiters to be named the Eddie Mountain Division's rookie of the year. Bowman joined the Chiefs full-time in 2005–06 and notched 17 goals and 34 points over 72 games to be named the team's rookie of the year.

Bowman entered the following campaign having been ranked the ninth-best WHL prospect in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau (CSB)'s preliminary rankings. He was invited to play in the CHL Top Prospects Game and was subsequently listed in the CSB's midterm rankings as 44th among North American draft-eligible skaters. Bowman finished the 2006–07 season with an improved 24 goals and 43 points in 61 games. Entering the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, he moved up to 36th among North American skaters. Bowman was selected 72nd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.



Upon being drafted, Bowman returned to the Chiefs and recorded 82 points in 66 games, first in team scoring. His 42 goals tied for fourth in the league. Bowman added a team-leading 20 points in 21 playoff games as the Chiefs captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions. The league title earned the Chiefs a berth in the 2008 Memorial Cup in Kitchener, Ontario. Bowman notched a hat trick in the opening game of the tournament, including the game-tying goal late in the third period of a 5–4 overtime win over the Belleville Bulls. He went on to score in all four games of the tournament, including game-winners against the Kitchener Rangers in the round-robin and final, as the Chiefs went undefeated to capture the Memorial Cup as Canadian major junior champions. With six goals in four games, Bowman was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team.

Following his Memorial Cup performance, the Hurricanes signed him to a three-year, US$2.06 million contract on July 31, 2008. Playing in his third season with the Chiefs in 2008–09, Drayson was named an alternate captain to Justin McCrae along with Seth Compton and Jared Spurgeon. He was named WHL and CHL Player of the Week after recording 12 points in three games for the week ending February 1, 2009. The next month, he earned his second WHL and CHL Player of the Week distinction with an eight-point effort in two games for the week ending March 15, 2009. He finished the season with 47 goals, fourth in the league, and 83 points. He was named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team along with teammate Dustin Tokarski. Bowman and the Chiefs were not, however, able to defend their WHL or CHL titles as they were eliminated in seven games of the second round of the WHL playoffs by the Vancouver Giants.

Professional
Upon the completion of Bowman's third WHL season, he was called up by the Hurricanes to travel and practice with the team during their 2009 playoff run. The following season, he was assigned to the Hurricanes' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany River Rats. He scored his first professional goal in his AHL debut with Albany on October 3, 2009, in a 6–3 loss to the Manchester Monarchs. He was recalled from the AHL midway through the season and made his NHL debut on January 16, 2010, a 5–3 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers. After being sent back down to Albany, he received another call-up on March 24 in light of an injury to forward Tuomo Ruutu. He scored his first and second NHL goals both in the first period of his seventh game with the Hurricanes on April 6 in an 8–5 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bowman made the Hurricanes' roster out of training camp in 2010–11, but was returned to the AHL within a month. With the Hurricanes having changed their minor league affiliate, he joined a new team, the Charlotte Checkers. After recording 30 points (12 goals and 18 assists) over 51 games with the Checkers, he was re-called on March 10, 2011. Spending the remainder of the season with the Hurricanes, he finished 2010–11 with one assist over 23 games, averaging 10 minutes of ice time, in the NHL. Carolina failed to qualify for the playoffs, coming within three points of the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference. With his NHL season over, the Hurricanes returned him to the AHL, where the Checkers had qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs. Bowman contributed 8 points (2 goals and 6 assists) over 15 games as the Checkers were eliminated in the Conference Finals by the Binghamton Senators.

International play
Bowman was named to the United States' under-20 team for the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario. He was joined on the national team by Spokane Chiefs teammates Tyler Johnson and Mitchell Wahl. Playing against Germany in the first game of preliminaries, he scored twice and was named player of the game. Over six games at the tournament, Bowman totalled three goals and one assist, tying for fifth in team point-scoring. After losing to Slovakia 5–3 in the quarterfinal, the United States beat the Czech Republic 3–2 in overtime of their placement game to rank fifth in the tournament.

Personal life
Drayson's younger brother, Collin, is currently playing major junior hockey as a defenceman with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League.