Defenseman Donovan Heads RoughRider Draft Class
May 15, 2007 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release
Cedar Rapids, Iowa- The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders selected 17-year old defenseman Matt Donovan with their first round choice in today's United States Hockey League entry draft. The Riders tabbed Donovan with the tenth overall selection.
After using their first pick on a defenseman, the Riders then selected forwards with their next four choices. In all, the Riders took ten forwards, six defensemen and one goaltender.
Donovan, a native of Edmond, Oklahoma, played midget hockey for the Dallas Junior Stars last season.
The Riders, who did not have a second round choice, selected forward Jesse Brown of the Eastern Junior (B) Hockey League's Syracuse Stars in the third round. Brown, a 16-year old Cortland, New York, native, scored 20 goals and totaled 37 points in 42 EJHL games last season.
The Riders used their two fourth round picks on forwards Vince Mihalek and Justin Bruckel. The Riders tapped Mihalek with the forty-third overall choice, a pick acquired last October in a trade with the Sioux Falls Stampede, and took Bruckel with the forty-sixth selection.
Mihalek, a native of Willowick, Ohio, played prep school hockey for Gilmour Academy in Gates Hills, Ohio, last season.
Bruckel, 16, was a Syracuse Stars teammate of Brown last year. The Geneseo, New York, product scored nine goals and notched 18 points in 44 games with the Stars.
The Riders dipped into the Canadian junior ranks in round five to take forward Kyle Flanagan of the Central Junior Hockey League's Cornwall (Ontario) Colts. Flanagan, an 18-year old from Canton, New York, scored 18 goals and collected 42 points in 44 games last season.
The string of forwards ended in round six with the selection of defenseman Paul Phillips. Phillips, a 15-year old native of Darien, Illinois, skated for the Chicago Chill midget program last season.
The Riders returned to the task of replenishing their forward corps with the seventh round selection of the New England Junior Falcons' Jeff Vellecca. Velleca, 20, finished tied for the sixth in the EJHL in both points (58) and assists (33) and tied for ninth in goals (25). The Waterbury, Connecticut, native spent the last two seasons with the Falcons. He scored 12 goals and totaled 26 points in 2005-06.
The Riders went for midget defenseman Bryce Aneloski in round eight. Aneloski, a 17-year old Pekin, Illinois, native, suited up for Team Illinois last season.
The Riders took a third Syracuse Star- 16-year old blue liner Dan Ford- in the ninth round. Ford, a native of Skaneateles, New York, scored four times and picked up four assists in 38 games last season.
Swedish forward Gustav Bengtson went to the Riders in the tenth round. Bengston, 17, played midget hockey in Utah for the Team Northwest Regulators last season.
With the first pick of the eleventh round- a choice acquired in a November trade with the Chicago Steel- the Riders took Bobby Gutsch, an 18-year old forward from Duluth Marshall High School.
Derek Arnold, the Riders' second selection in the eleventh round, last season finished second in the Empire Junior (B) Hockey League in points (77), third in goals (38) and seventh in assists (39) while playing for the Boston Junior Bruins. The 17-year old Foxboro, Massachusetts, native also helped the Junior Bruins to the Empire League title.
In the twelfth round the Riders looked west to take Anaheim Jr. Ducks midget forward Justin Castagna, a 16-year old from Los Alamitos, California.
The Riders turned to the junior A North American Hockey League for their thirteenth round choice, 19-year old defenseman Robert Harrison. Harrison, a product of Oxford, Michigan, scored three goals and recorded 12 points in 51 games with the NAHL's Mahoning Valley Phantoms last season.
The Riders used their fourteenth round pick on defenseman Sean Coughlin of Winthrop, Massachusetts. Coughlin, 19, is a product of Cushing Academy, the prep school that also produced Aaron Bogosian and Richard Bachman, both of whom skated for the Riders last season.
The Riders went for 18-year old goaltender Michael Johnson in the fifteenth round. Johnson, a native of Verona, Wisconsin, played midget hockey for the Madison Capitols last year.
The Riders rounded out the draft by selecting New York Bobcats forward Matt Mangene in round sixteen. Mangene, 18, scored 13 goals and registered 32 points in 40 Atlantic Junior (B) Hockey League games last season.
The RoughRiders' draft picks will take to the ice for the first time in Cedar Rapids at the team's try-out camp May 31 to June 3 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.
United States Hockey League Stories from May 15, 2007
- Defenseman Donovan Heads RoughRider Draft Class - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Stampede Complete Successful Draft - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Storm select 15 in USHL draft - Tri-City Storm
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