Bobcats Take Seven Forwards in 2013 Entry Draft
June 4, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Bismarck Bobcats News Release
FRISCO, TX - Having lost five of their top six scorers from their 2012-13 division championship campaign, the Bismarck Bobcats went on the offensive in the 2013 NAHL Entry Draft: spending seven of their nine draft picks on forwards Tuesday.
With the departure of Adam Knochenmus, Patrick Moore, Joe Giordano, Bob Kinne and Shane Omdahl, among others, the Bobcats saw 289 of the 508 points registered last season walk out the door when the season wrapped up.
"Scoring was our primary focus for us this year," explained Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, who oversaw his fourth Entry Draft Tuesday. "We have some big-time pieces to build around like Aaron Nelson, Stanislav Dzakhov and Nate Repensky so we wanted to find the right kind of players to complement the strong core we've got returning."
The final step for teams to build their 2013 protected list to 30 players (plus one NA3HL tender signee), the NAHL Entry Draft was open to all hockey players born in 1993 and later. The Bobcats made nine selections to round out their protected list.
In addition to the seven forwards, the Cats also picked up one goalie and one defenseman.
RD PICK NAME POS YEAR PREVIOUS TEAM
1 19 Connor Kelly F 1993 Chicago Fury 18U (MWEHL)
3 68 Alex Toscano F 1995 Duluth East (MN HS)
4 93 Tyler Rehm F 1993 Fargo Force (USHL)
5 115 Garrett Brossart F 1994 Lincoln Stars (USHL)
6 135 Jared Dedenbach F 1994 Fargo Force (USHL)
7 151 Danny Fetzer F 1993 Chicago Steel (USHL)
8 164 Tucker Windels G 1995 Fargo Davies (ND HS)
9 176 Colton Poolman D 1995 East Grand Forks (MN HS)
10 185 Evan Janssen F 1993 Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
With the picks of Windels and Brossart- who also hails from Fargo- the Bobcats now have seven North Dakotans on their protected list, including returners Nelson, Seth Blair, Ryan Callahan and Dan Kovar, along with tender signee Alec Rauhauser.
Unlike the 2012 Draft, in which the Bobcats only selected one 20 year-old (Giordano), the Cats picked up four players in their last year of eligibility with Kelly, Rehm, Fetzer and Janssen. Of the 31 players on the final protected list, 14 are 1993 birth years.
"We've got a little bit older of a roster than we usually have," noted Sedevie, whose 2012 protected list had just eight 20 year-olds, "but these guys are all impact players and we're confident that not only are these the right guys to take us back to the Robertson Cup, but guys we will develop into NCAA players."
Now that the 2013 NAHL Entry Draft is in the rear-view mirror, the Bobcats will continue the 2013 offseason when they hold their main tryout camp at the VFW Sports Center July 26-28, where they will select their training camp roster.
Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are now on sale- and going fast! Fans can sign up by visiting the Bobcat Hockey office or by texting their name and the word "TICKETS" to 390-7422 (standard text messaging rates apply).
Bobcat Hockey would like to thank all of its fans, staff and sponsors for another great season of Championship Entertainment in 2012-13- you are a part of the team!
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North American Hockey League Stories from June 4, 2013
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