It was a bit of a gut-wrenching night for rebels F Landon Ferraro, as he watched 30 other players walk to the podium on night one of the NHL entry draft in Montreal.
However, on day two, it didn't take long for Ferraro to be snapped up. After trading down from number 29, the Western Conference Champion Detroit Red Wings took Ferraro at #32 overall this morning.
Here's an interview with Landon moments after;
http://redwings.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?id=44377
Looks good in Red!
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With a number of Rebels watching the draft board closely today, the first one to go was a bit of a shocker. D Justin Weller was selected by Pheonix in the 4th round, 105th overall, while G Darcy Kuemper was taken by Minnesota in the 6th round, 161st.
Rebels draft pick Curtis McKenzie, who opted to go the junior "A" route (Penticton) the last two years, was taken in the 6th round as well by Dallas. Don't forget, the Stars drafted Kelowna Rockets sniper Jamie Benn a couple of years ago, could we see McKenzie defect to the WHL just like Benn did in 07-08?
Rebels D Tommi Kivisto goes very, very late to Carolina in the 7th round. The 'Canes have always watched Red Deer very closely (Ward, Sutter) and again, this will be interesting to see if it at all has bearing on whether or not Kivisto returns to Red Deer next season. Every indication was he was heading back to Finland.
-Hard to believe F Cass Mappin not only slips, but doesn't go at all in the draft today, falling through all seven rounds. A definite surprise considering that at one point early in the season, Mappin was projected as a top few rounds guy. Some of the players who were going in rounds 7 and 8 were fighters, one player from AAA midget in Dallas. Lots of tier II guys, and one tier III player, so the fact that noone took a shot at Mappin, or even Willie Coetzee, is a bit of a surprise to me.
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Another interesting draft note today. After picking up the rights to D Jay Bouwmeester in a trade, the Calgary Flames knew that to have any chance of sighning him, they'd need to shed a bit of salary. They did a bit of that today, sending D Jim Vandermeer to Pheonix for F Brandon Prust.
Vandermeer, a former Rebels captain, was reportedly excited to play for his former Junior coach Brent Sutter. However, his salary (2.3 million this year AND next) was a bit high for a 6th defenseman, and was one that Flames brass felt better moving.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
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5 comments:
Kivisto goes in the 7th round as well. I am not really sure what I think of this--I am not really crazy about the idea of him returning to the Rebels after some of his off-season moves/comments. I hope this doesn't mean that he will be returning.
Nice to see McKenzie go to Dallas, I think this bolsters the chance that we might see him in a Rebel uniform in the upcoming season.
Nice to see that at least one scout saw past what was nearly a full season of injuries to Weller.
Also nice to see Ferraro go to the Red Wings. If he has what it takes to make it in the NHL, that is the team that will get it done. Also they have a lot of long-term contracts and depth on that team, which means we could see the first top player in Red Deer in a while play here beyond his 18th birthday....
McKenzie is going to school. You don't try and fast track a 6th rounder by having him play in the CHL rather than NCAA. This way you have a longer time for him to develop and a you have a longer window to sign him. There's no rush to get a 6th rounder into the line-up. If he is set on going to school, Dallas isn't going to try and change his mind (especially with Nieuwendyk being a NCAA'er himself). If he was a 1st or 2nd rounder it might be a different story. Go Stars!!
Thats one theory, but it was only a few years ago that Jamie Benn was on his way to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, when he was selected 129th overall by the Dallas stars (thats in the 5th round) and subsequently reported to the rebuilding Kelowna Rockets.
Some teams just feel that a couple seasons of 80 games better prepares players for pro hockey than 4 years of 25 games.
I hope you are right. To me the NCAA doesn't even seem like hockey compared to the CHL.
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