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| PrairieThunderWednesday, June 27, 2007 8:38 PM CDT |
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Parsons taken No. 1
BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington PrairieThunder added the rights to a wealth of talent, experience and goals scored during the International Hockey League player dispersal draft Wednesday. Coach Derek Booth said the Thunder’s first four picks were players whom he and general manager Jerry McBurney had targeted while preparing for the draft. The question now becomes: Their rights have been acquired, but can their services be, too? “We thought if we could get two or three guys in here, it would be a successful draft,” Booth said. The Thunder acquired the rights to 15 players during the selection process, including Don Parsons, the all-time leading goal scorer among American-born minor-league hockey players. In total, the six teams that will make up the International Hockey League next season gained the rights to 86 players who are looking for new hockey homes after the teams they played for either folded or changed leagues since the United Hockey League season ended. The UHL changed its name last week to the International Hockey League. The Thunder drafted five from Elmira, four each from Quad City and Rockford and two from Chicago. Parsons is a 38-year-old forward with 623 career goals. He played 70 games and scored 38 goals last season with the Quad City Mallards. He was a teammate of goaltender Jason Tapp, whom the Thunder drafted with its second selection. Both Parsons and Tapp own homes in the Quad Cities and were selected because of that community’s proximity to Bloomington, Booth said. “With them both living to close to Bloomington, we wanted guys who we had a good opportunity to sign,” he said. McBurney said team officials were not permitted to talk to players before the draft. But McBurney and Booth had discussions with Tim Taylor, who was the Mallards’ team president during that franchise’s final few years in the UHL and now oversees that organization’s American Hockey League affiliate to the Calgary Flames. “After talking to Tim, we felt real comfortable that we’d have a good chance to sign them,” McBurney said. Tim Wedderburn, a 26-year-old defenseman with 293 games of experience at the American Hockey League level, was a surprise to still be available to start the third round. Again, the ability to be signed to a contract becomes the issue. “Even though we have the rights to these players,” Booth said, “the E(CHL), Central and American leagues are all negotiating with them at the same time. With our first two picks, we thought we have a great advantage to sign them.” Booth and McBurney were in the process Wednesday of contacting each of the 15 draftees by phone and making qualifying offers. If those offers are accepted, the two parties then begin negotiating a contract. Jason Ralph, a 28-year-old forward who played with Rockford the past two seasons, was the Thunder’s fourth-round pick. The forward had 10 goals and 21 assists last season. The other 10 picks, in order, are B.J. Radovich (center, Chicago), Jake Moreland (goalie, Rockford), Matt Radoslovich (forward, Quad City), Mike Oliveira (center, Elmira), Andrei Lupandin (defenseman, Elmira), Chad Loikets (defenseman, Rockford), Josh Elzinga (defenseman, Chicago), Patrick Nadeau (right wing, Quad City), Mike Doyle (left wing, Rockford), Noah Katz (center, Elmira) and Eric Lind (defenseman, Elmira). 2007 IHL dispersal draftRound 1 Bloomington -- Don Parsons (F), Quad City Port Huron -- Marty Magers (G), Chicago Flint -- Steve MacIntyre (D), Quad City Kalamazoo -- Chris Busby (D), Chicago Muskegon -- Todd Grant (LW), Chicago Fort Wayne -- Sergei Durdin (D), Quad City Round 2 Bloomington -- Jason Tapp (G), Quad City Port Huron -- Chris Gehrke (D), Chicago Flint -- Frederic Cloutier (G), Rockford Kalamazoo -- Chris Mann (D), Quad City Muskegon -- Mark Nebus (F), Chicago Fort Wayne -- Justin Chwedoruk (F), Quad City Round 3 Bloomington -- Tim Wedderburn (D), Elmira Port Huron -- Mike Letizia (D), Rockford Flint -- Brent Currie (D), Quad City Kalamazoo -- Joel Rechlicz (RW), Chicago Muskegon -- Matt Johnson (F), Chicago Fort Wayne -- Brett Pilkington (F), Quad City Round 4 Bloomington -- Jason Ralph (F), Rockford Port Huron -- Robert Chappell (D), Elmira Flint -- Nathan Lutz (D), Rockford Kalamazoo -- Jordan Hart (D), Chicago Muskegon -- Matt Amado (C), Chicago Fort Wayne -- Jesse Bennefield (RW), Rockford Round 5 Bloomington -- B.J. Radovich (C), Chicago Port Huron -- David Morelli (F), Elmira Flint -- Paul Brown (RW), Rockford Kalamazoo -- Tim Plett (F), Chicago Muskegon -- Sean Starke (F), Quad City Fort Wayne -- Anthony Pototschnik (F), Quad City Round 6 Bloomington -- Jake Moreland (G), Rockford Port Huron -- Bryce Cockburn (RW), Rockford Flint -- Luke Stauffacher (F), Quad City Kalamazoo -- Maris Ziedins (C), Chicago Muskegon -- Bruce Watson (LW), Rockford Fort Wayne -- Mike Sgroi (LW), Elmira Round 7 Bloomington -- Matt Radoslovich (F), Quad City Port Huron -- Drew Otten (F), Chicago Flint -- Dan Veenema (D), Elmira Kalamazoo -- Matt Gens (D), Rockford Muskegon -- Corey Hessler (D), Rockford Fort Wayne -- Travis Granbois (F), Quad City Round 8 Bloomington -- Mike Oliveira (C), Elmira Port Huron -- Dan Boeser (D), Rockford Flint -- Luke Fritshaw (D), Rockford Kalamazoo -- Preston Mizzi (C), Rockford Muskegon -- Benoit Doucet (LW), Rockford Fort Wayne -- Erik Anderson (C), Elmira Round 9 Bloomington -- Andrei Lupandin (D), Elmira Port Huron -- Darryl McArthur (D), Chicago Flint -- Jason Notermann (LW), Rockford Kalamazoo -- Brad Smith (G), Quad City Muskegon -- Jami Yoder (D), Quad City Fort Wayne -- Mike Kautz (D), Chicago Round 10 Bloomington -- Chad Loikets (D), Rockford Port Huron -- Mike Brolsma (C), Quad City Flint -- Curtis Tidball (RW), Elmira Kalamazoo -- Rod Aldoff (D), Chicago Muskegon -- Kelly Miller (C), Chicago Fort Wayne -- Will McMahon (F), Quad City Round 11 Bloomington -- Josh Elzinga (D), Chicago Port Huron -- Scott Seney (C), Chicago Flint -- Zach Sikich (G), Elmira Kalamazoo -- Nicolas Corbeil (C), Rockford Muskegon -- Thomas Zabkowicz (D), Chicago Fort Wayne -- Shawn Degagne (G), Elmira Round 12 Bloomington -- Patrick Nadeau (RW), Quad City Port Huron -- Dave Lemanowicz (G), Chicago Flint -- T.J. Reynolds (D), Elmira Kalamazoo -- Andrew Leach (F), Elmira Muskegon -- Kaleb Betts (F), Rockford Fort Wayne -- Bobby Kukulka (RW), Elmira Round 13 Bloomington -- Mike Doyle (LW), Rockford Port Huron -- Kevin Ulanski (F), Rockford Flint -- Pass Kalamazoo -- Dale Lupul (D), Quad City Muskegon -- Derek Miller (D), Quad City Fort Wayne -- Frank Littlejohn (RW), Elmira Round 14 Bloomington -- Noah Katz (C), Elmira Port Huron -- Chad Woollard (F), Quad City Flint -- Pass Kalamazoo -- Blake Stewart (LW), Quad City Muskegon -- Scott Drevitch (D), Elmira Fort Wayne -- Chaz Johnson (RW), Rockford Round 15 Bloomington -- Eric Lind (D), Elmira Port Huron -- Marc Lefebvre (LW), Elmira End of draft E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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