IHL 2 Kalamazoo Wings

K-Wings Select Six in Amateur Draft

Published on March 24, 2004 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Wings of the United Hockey League announce their selections in the 2004 UHL North American Amateur Draft.

Kalamazoo's first pick of the draft wasn't until the second round. The K-Wings relinquished their first round pick to the Muskegon Fury as part of a blockbuster deal in the off-season that brought forward Andrew Luciuk to Kalamazoo.

The K-Wings first selection came with the 8th selection of the second round, when they selected gritty defenseman Eric Larochelle. Larochelle has played the past five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, including this season with the Sudbury Wolves. At 6-0 and 200 pounds, Larochelle gives the K-Wings some added size at the blue line.

In the third round, the K-Wings made two selections. The K-Wings received their first pick of the round as part of the compensation that sent former K-Wing Corey Lucas to Adirondack. With their selection from Adirondack the K-Wings selected left-winger Faron Duthie from St. Norbert College (NCHA). Duthie was the Assistant Captain of the Green Knights this season and helped guide the Knights to a record of 27-3-2.

With their second pick in the third round, Kalamazoo chose forward Tanner Shultz from the Saskatoon Blades (OHL). Shultz proved to be a physical forward in his two seasons in Saskatoon. In 124 games with the Blades, Shultz amassed 464, with 331 of those minutes occurring this season.

In the fourth round, the K-Wings may have found the gem of the draft in forward Rob Hennigar. Hennigar has played the past four seasons in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires. This season, the 5-11 forward tallied 79 points (32 goals, 47 assists) in 68 games.

In the fifth round, the K-Wings selected goaltender Chancy Colquhoun of St. Norbert University. In his four-year career, Colquhoun went 43-11-6 between the pipes for the Green Knights.

With their final round of the UHL North American Amateur Draft the K-Wings selected forward Sean Robertson from the University of Ottawa. Robertson was a point a night player last season, as he registered 27 points (11 goals and 16 assists) in just 26 games in college.

The UHL North American Amateur Draft is for players that are 19 years of age or older who played in North America during the 2003-04 season. The draft consisted of six rounds with each UHL team selecting in reverse order of their current winning percentage. Each UHL team is permitted to protect up to four of their six drafted players and place them on their final roster. In addition, each UHL team is allowed to protect two players for their team's playoff roster. These two selected players are exempt from the six games played requirement for players on the postseason roster.

For more information about the K-Wings draft picks or the 2004 UHL North American Amateur Draft, contact Director of Public Relations and Broadcaster Mike Modugno at (269) 349-9772, extension 220.

Check out the Kalamazoo Wings Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 24, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central