It was a dream come true for Moose Jaw's Kirk Mullen on Thursday as he was selected in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. The day was made even more special because it was his hometown Moose Jaw Warriors that used the 132nd selection in the sixth round to draft Mullen.

"It was a surreal experience and really emotional for me," said Mullen, who was following along with the draft in class and was alerted to the selection by a friend.

"I love the Warriors, every home game I'm there, Morgan Rielly is my favourite player, number four is my favourite number and it feels amazing to be a part of the organization."

This is the first time that the Warriors have selected a Moose Jaw-born player since they took Brennen Wray with the 15th overall pick and Carter Smith at 35th overall in the 2003 bantam draft.

As excited as Mullen is to be a Warrior, the team’s front office is also happy that they were able to selection him when they did.

"You always want to pick some players that are in your backyard and with Kirk Mullen, I'm wishing him all the best because he has a lot of upside," said Warriors assistant general manager Jason Ripplinger.

Mullen is the first player drafted out of the Prairie Hockey Academy in Caronport into the Western Hockey League.  He put together a strong season with PHA’s Elite 15 team, where he posted 14 goals and 38 points in 38 games.

"Playing at PHA was huge, it developed me a lot, it really helped get me drafted," said Mullen.

This was the first year for the academy as they played games against some top bantam prep teams, like OHA Edmonton, and also squared off with teams at the midget AA level.

Mullen said everything that PHA offers, from more ice time and time to train off ice, really allowed him to grow his game heading into the draft.

"I really developed my shooting and skating, I'm a lot quicker now and stronger in the gym," he said. "We only played six bantam teams this year and they were the tougher bantam teams from the CSSHL and then we played a whole lot of Elite 15, which really brought up my game playing against higher level kids and older kids."

With the draft in the rearview mirror, Mullen is looking forward to working towards playing for the Warriors as soon as possible.

"I'm really excited," he said. 

Mullen was one of four straight Saskatchewan players that the Warriors selected on Thursday. Click here for a complete breakdown of the draft.