June 26, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - A total of 24 current and incoming and future Western Collegiate Hockey Association players and recruits, including the No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, No. 7 and No. 20 picks in the first round, were selected in the 2006 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft held this past Saturday (June 24) in Vancouver, BC. The five first round selections were University of Minnesota recruit and defenseman Erik Johnson (No. 1, St. Louis Blues), current University of North Dakota forward Jonathan Toews (No. 3, Chicago Blackhawks), current Minnesota forward Phil Kessel (No. 5, Boston Bruins), Minnesota recruit and forward Kyle Okposo (No. 7, New York Islanders), and Minnesota recruit and defenseman David Fischer (No. 20, Montreal Canadiens).

Five more players with WCHA ties also went in Round 2 of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in St. Cloud State University recruit and forward Andreas Nodl (No. 39, Philadelphia Flyers), University of Wisconsin recruit and defenseman Nigel Williams (No. 51, Colorado Avalanche), Denver recruit and defenseman Keith Seabrook (No. 52, Washington Capitals), Wisconsin recruit and forward Blake Geoffrion (No. 56, Nashville Predators), and Wisconsin recruit and defenseman Jamie McBain (No. 63, Carolina Hurricanes).

In Round 3, North Dakota recruit and forward Michael Forney went to the Atlanta Thrashers at No. 80, and Minnesota recruit and forward Michael Carman went to the Colorado Avalanche at No. 81.

Four WCHA recruits were selected in Round 4 in Denver recruit and forward Rhett Rakhshani (No. 100, New York Islanders), St. Cloud State recruit and goaltender Jase Weslosky (No. 108, New York Islanders), North Dakota recruit and defenseman Derrick LaPoint (No. 116, Florida Panthers), and Colorado College recruit and goaltender Richard Bachman (No. 120, Dallas Stars).

In Round 5, Minnesota recruit and goaltender Alex Kangas was drafted No. 135 by the Atlanta Thrashers.

In Round 6, Denver recruit and forward Tyler Ruegsegger went at No. 166 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota recruit and forward Ryan Flynn went at No. 176 to the Nashville Predators, and University of Minnesota Duluth recruit and forward Jordan Fulton went at No. 179 to the Calgary Flames.

And in Round 7, four more players with WCHA ties were selected, with St. Cloud State recruit and forward Nick Oslund going at No. 191 to the Detroit Red Wings, Denver recruit and goaltender Marc Cheverie going at No. 193 to the Florida Panthers, Denver recruit and forward Jesse Martin going at No. 195 to the Atlanta Thrashers and Minnesota recruit and forward Jay Barriball going at No. 203 to the San Jose Sharks.

By Division 1 men's college hockey league, the WCHA had the most players drafted overall with 24, while by Division 1 men's college team, Minnesota had the most players chosen with eight, followed by Denver with five, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan and Boston University with four each, and North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Colgate, Harvard, and Ohio State with three each.

Since it's founding in 1951, nearly 700 WCHA players and recruits have been drafted by National Hockey League-member teams, including 37 first rounders. A year ago, in 2005, the WCHA had 23 players selected, including five in Round 1.

WCHA Selections • 2006 NHL Entry Draft

Round 1
Pick	Name, Pos	NHL Club	Ht	Wt	Birthdate	Hometown/Amateur Team	WCHA
1	Erik Johnson, D*	St. Louis	6-4	222	3/21/88	Bloomington, MN/US Nat'l U-18	UM
3	Jonathan Toews, F	Chicago	6-1	195	4/29/88	Winnipeg, MB	UND
5	Phil Kessel, F	Boston	6-0	189	10/2/87	Madison, WI	UM
7	Kyle Okposo, F*	NY Islanders	6-0	195	4/16/88	St. Paul, MN/Des Moines-USHL	UM
20	David Fisher, D*	Montreal	6-3	185	2/19/88	Minneapolis, MN/Apple Valley HS	UM
Round 2
39	Andreas Nodl, F*	Philadelphia	6-1	196	2/28/87	Vienna, Austria/Sioux Falls-USHL	SCSU
51	Nigel Williams, D*	Colorado	6-4	226	4/18/88	Aurora, IL/US Nat'l U-18	UW
52	Keith Seabrook, D*	Washington	6-0	198	8/2/88	Delta, BC/Burnaby-BCHL	Denver
56	Blake Geoffrion, F*	Nashville	6-1	190	2/3/88	Plantation, FL/US Nat'l U-18	UW
63	Jamie McBain, D*	Carolina	6-2	190	2/25/88	Edina, MN/US Nat'l U-18	UW
Round 3
80	Michael Forney, F*	Atlanta	6-2	185	5/14/88	Thief River Falls, MN/Thief River Falls HS	UND
81	Michael Carman, F*	Colorado	6-0	180	4/14/88	Augusta, GA/US Nat'l U-18	UM
Round 4
100	Rhett Rakhshani, F*	NY Islanders	5-10	170	3/6/88	Orange, CA/US Nat'l U-18	Denver
108	Jase Weslosky, G*	NY Islanders	6-2	170	8/14/88	St. Albert, AB/Sherwood Park-AJHL	SCSU
116	Derrick LaPoint, D*	Florida	6-2	175	5/13/88	Eau Claire, WI/Eau Claire North HS	UND
120	Richard Bachman, G*	Dallas	5-11	160	7/25/87	Salt Lake City, UT/Cushing Academy	CC
Round 5
135	Alex Kangas, G*	Atlanta	6-1	175	5/28/87	Rochester, NY/Sioux Falls-USHL	UM
Round 6
166	Tyler Ruegsegger, F*	Toronto	5-11	170	1/19/88	Denver, CO/Shattuck St. Mary's	Denver
176	Ryan Flynn, F*	Nashville	6-2	212	3/22/88	St. Paul, MN/US Nat'l U-18	UM
179	Jordan Fulton, F*	Calgary	6-1	191	9/12/87	St. Louis Park, MN/Breck HS	UMD
Round 7
191	Nick Oslund, F*	Detroit	6-3	195	11/15/87	Burnsville, MN/Burnsville HS	SCSU
193	Marc Cheverie, G*	Florida	6-3	183	2/22/87	Cole Harbour, NS/Nanaimo-BCHL	Denver
195	Jesse Martin, F*	Atlanta	5-11	170	9/7/88	Edmonton, AB/Spruce Grove-AJHL	Denver
203	Jay Barriball, F*	San Jose	5-9	155	5/27/87	Prior Lake, MN/Sioux Falls-USHL	UM
* recruit

The WCHA's NHL First Round Draft Selections, Since 1964

1964 - Brian Watts, Michigan (Detroit). 1968 - John Marks, UND (No. 9, Chicago). 1976 - David Shand, Michigan (No. 8, Atlanta). 1979 - Mike Ramsey, UM (No. 11, Buffalo). 1980 - Mike Blaisdell, UW (No. 11, Detroit). 1981 - James Patrick, UND (No. 9, NY Rangers). 1982 - Patrick Flatley, UW (No. 21, NY Islanders). 1983 - David Jensen, UM (No. 20, Hartford). 1984 - Craig Redmond, Denver (No. 6, Los Angeles). 1985 - Tom Chorske, UM (No. 16, Montreal). 1986 - George Pelawa, UND (No. 16, Calgary). 1989 - Doug Zmolek, UM (No. 7, Minnesota/Dallas), Jason Herter, UND (No. 8, Vancouver). 1993 - Landon Wilson, UND (No. 19, Toronto). 1996 - Erik Rasmussen, UM (No. 7, Buffalo). 1999 - David Tanabe, UW (No. 16, Carolina). 2000 - Dany Heatley, UW (No. 2, Atlanta), David Hale, UND (No. 22, New Jersey), Jeff Taffe, UM (No. 30, St. Louis). 2002 - Keith Ballard, UM (No. 11, Buffalo). 2003 - Thomas Vanek, UM (No. 5, Buffalo), Ryan Suter, UW (No. 7, Nashville); Zach Parise, UND (No. 17, New Jersey), Mark Stuart, Colorado College (No. 21, Boston). 2004 - Drew Stafford, UND (No. 13, Buffalo), Travis Zajac, UND (No. 20, New Jersey), Kris Chucko, UM (No. 24, Calgary). 2005 - Jack Skille, UW* (No. 7, Chicago), Brian Lee, UND* (No. 9, Ottawa), T.J. Oshie, UND* (No. 24, St. Louis), Joe Finley, UND* (No. 27, Washington), Matt Niskanen, UMD* (No. 28, Dallas). 2006 - Erik Johnson, UM* (No. 1, St. Louis); Jonathan Toews, UND (No. 3, Chicago); Phil Kessel, UM (No. 5, Boston); Kyle Okposo, UM* (No. 7, NY Islanders); David Fischer, Denver* (No. 20, Montreal). *Recruit.

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