3 Chiefs selected
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three Spokane Chiefs heard their names called on Saturday’s second day of the NHL Entry Draft.
Forward Drayson Bowman was chosen by the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round – the 72nd overall pick.
The Minnesota Wild grabbed defenseman Justin Falk in the fourth round (110th overall) and center Ondrej Roman was taken by the Dallas Stars in the fifth round (136th overall).
Bowman, a two-year veteran of the Western Hockey League, scored 24 goals last season. He scored 17 goals as a 16-year-old when he was named the Chiefs’ rookie of the year.
“We are just ecstatic to get him in the third round,” said Sheldon Ferguson, the Hurricanes’ director of amateur scouting. “He’s just a real good hockey player. He can skate; he can really shoot the puck.”
Falk, a two-time winner of the Chiefs’ plus-minus award, was watching the draft at a friend’s house.
“I got a call from Minnesota and they told me congratulations and that they would be in touch in a few days,” said Falk. “I had a good talk with them at the combine and thought that we connected real well.”
Roman was the fifth overall selection in the 2006 CHL Import Draft by Spokane and made an immediate impact as a 17-year-old with a team-leading 44 assists.
“We think he is one of the best passers in the Western Hockey League,” said Dallas scout Dennis Holland. “He is a very good playmaker who is very creative and has great vision.”
Bowman was one of three WHL forwards taken by Carolina with their first three picks. The Hurricanes used the 11th overall pick to take Red Deer’s Brandon Sutter and their fourth-round pick to select Saskatoon’s Justin McCrae.
Minnesota had five picks in the draft and four of them played in the WHL.
Rounds 2 through 7 of the 211-player draft rolled by, with most of the picks drawing little more than polite applause from family members. Teams didn’t take the later rounds lightly, however.
“There’s a perception and a reality,” San Jose Sharks executive vice president and general manager Doug Wilson said. “You’ll look back several years from now and say there are some really good hockey players (from this draft) who are playing in this league.”
San Jose was one of the busiest of the 30 NHL teams, trading up and down to grab players.
“We’re pleased, I’ll be honest with you,” Wilson said. “There were certain players that we were aggressively going to move to get.”
Several players climbed and fell from the pre-draft scouting reports. The No. 1 North American goaltender, Jeremy Smith, wasn’t taken until the second round with the 54th overall pick by the Nashville Predators.
The first goalie taken was Joel Gistedt, who went in the second round to Phoenix. He played last year in Sweden.
Several draftees have the NHL in their blood. On Friday, the sons of former players Dave Gagner (son Sam selected by Edmonton, 12th overall), Brent Sutter (Brandon, Carolina, 11th) and Bob MacMillan (Logan, Anaheim, 15th) were taken in the first round.
On Saturday, Brad Malone was picked by Colorado in the fourth round, 27 years after his father, Jim, was a first-round pick of the Rangers. Colby Cohen, a cousin of U.S. Olympic skier and University of Colorado football player Jeremy Bloom, went to Colorado in the second round. Maxime Tanguay, the younger brother of the Calgary Flames’ Alex Tanguay, was taken by Chicago in the third round.
Blake Kessel went to the New York Islanders in the sixth round; his brother Phil was the fifth pick overall last season by the Boston Bruins. Dwight King was taken by Calgary in the fourth round; his brother D.J. played for the St. Louis Blues last season. And John Lee was picked by Florida in the fifth round; his brother Brian went in the first round two years ago to Ottawa.