Riders Draft Defenseman Zajac in First Round
May 13, 2009 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders News Release
Cedar Rapids, Iowa- A busy United States Hockey League draft day saw the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders today select 14 players- including defenseman Nolan Zajac in the first round- and also trade forward Nick Oddo to the Omaha Lancers for a pair of draft picks and deal defenseman Nate Jensen to the Tri-City Storm for forward Derek Deblois.
Zajac, 16, last month earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors after helping the Winnipeg Thrashers to a fourth place finish in the Telus Cup, the Canadian national midget championship. Nolan Zajac comes from strong hockey blood lines- his oldest brother Travis plays for the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils, while his other two brothers both play collegiately- Darcy for North Dakota and Kelly for Union.
Zajac, a Winnipeg native, was the first of six defensemen drafted by the RoughRiders, who also selected eight forwards.
In exchange for Oddo the Riders received the Lancers' first two picks in the second phase of today's draft. Oddo, an Omaha native, collected 24 goals and 41 points in 107 games over two seasons in Cedar Rapids. The 19-year old notched ten goals and 18 points in 50 games last year. Last November Oddo won a gold medal skating for the United States at the World Junior A Challenge in Camrose, Alberta. He will play college hockey at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Deblois, 18, spent last season on the Storm's affiliate list while playing for the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. The Narragansett, Rhode Island, native has already committed to the University of Michigan and was ranked seventy-seventh among North American skaters in the National Hockey League Central Scouting Service's final ranking of players eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Jensen, a 19-year old from Shorewood, Minnesota, heads to Kearney, Nebraska, for his second USHL season after skating in 35 games for the RoughRiders last year.
The Riders had five picks in just the first three rounds of the draft. Cedar Rapids chose forward Garrett Ross, a 17-year old from Dearborn, Michigan, in the second round with the seventeenth overall choice- a pick acquired in a trade made last fall with the Chicago Steel. Last season, while playing midget hockey for Victory Honda, Ross finished second in the Tier I Elite Hockey League in goals (28), finished sixth in points (56) and was tied for tenth in assists (28).
With their second second round pick- number 25 overall- the Riders took forward Justin Kovacs. Kovacs, a 17-year old from Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, was named to the 2008-09 All-Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League First Team after a enjoying a standout season at
Grosse Pointe North High School.
The Riders also made a pair of picks in the third round. They used the thirty-sixth choice- a selection acquired last season in a trade with the Lincoln Stars- on Pittsburgh Hornets midget defenseman Kevin Liss and two picks later went for blue liner Zachary Carriveau of the Central (Ontario) Junior Hockey League's Nepean Raiders. Liss, a 16-year old native of Upper St. Claire, Pennsylvania, scored five goals and notched 14 points in 41 Tier I Elite League games last season. Carriveau, an 18-year old product of Portland, Maine, finished sixth among CJHL defensemen in assists (32) and tied for sixth in points (37) last year.
In round five the Riders took forward Chad Hudson with the fifty-first overall pick. Hudson, 19, spent the bulk of last season with the North American Hockey League's Wichita Falls Wildcats after coming over from the NAHL's St. Louis Bandits early in the campaign. He totaled 16 goals and 47 points in 51 games and finished the year as the Wildcats' leading point producer.
The Riders looked east to tab forward Danny Linell in the fifth round with the sixty-fourth overall choice. Linell, 16, played both prep school- at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut- and midget hockey- for the Long Island Gulls- last season. The Great Neck, New York, native helped the Gulls march all the way to the semi-finals of the USA Hockey 16-and-Under national tournament.
After scooping up Linell the Riders did not choose again until selecting forward Matthew Zay in round 12 with the first of the two choices they acquired in the Oddo trade. The Riders' first seven selections brought the number of players on the Cedar Rapids protected list to 23 (the USHL regular season roster limit). Per USHL draft rules, teams that fill the first 23 spots on their protected lists are required to wait until all other clubs have reached 23 players, at which point all teams resume drafting until they have filled out their protected lists with 30 players.
The Riders used the one hundred fifty-first overall pick on Zay, 18. The Glendale, New York, native spent last season with the Atlantic Junior Hockey League's New York Bobcats, for whom he scored 14 goals and totaled 36 points in 41 games.
With their second pick in round twelve, the Riders chose Thayer Academy defenseman Tom Mahoney, an 18-year old from Braintree, Massachusetts.
In the thirteenth round the Riders used the second of the two picks they received from Omaha on 17-year old forward Steven Collins. Collins, a native of Pittsford, New York, recorded 14 goals and 29 points last season in 44 games with the Green Mountain Glades of the Eastern
Junior Hockey League.
Four picks later, with the one hundred sixty-eighth overall choice, the Riders chose forward Peter Sakaris. Sakaris, a Clarkson recruit, played midget hockey in his native Quebec for the College Charles-Lemoyne Riverains last season. The prolific 16-year old finished third in the Quebec Midget AAA League in assists (36), finished second in points (59) and was tied for eighth in goals (23).
Round 14 saw the Riders turn to forward Sam Warning, 16, with the one hundred eighty-first pick. Warning, a Chesterfield, Missouri, native, not only played midget hockey for the St. Louis Selects last season but also helped Christian Brothers College High School to the Missouri state title. .
In the fifteenth round the Riders' used their second to last pick- number 194 overall- on defenseman Nate Wilson. Wilson, a 17-year old native of Mesa, Arizona, played for the Phoenix-area P.F. Chang's midget program last year.
The Riders wrapped up draft day by taking defenseman Robbie Hall in the sixteenth round with the two hundred seventh choice. Hall, 17, played midget hockey for the Chicago Young Americans last season. The Schaumburg, Illinois, native registered four goals and 14 points in 43 Tier I Elite League games.
The RoughRiders' draft picks will take to the ice for the first time in Cedar Rapids at the team's try-out camp May 28-31 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.
RoughRiders' 2009 Draft Choices
Rd Overall Name Pos. Team
1 12 Nolan Zajac D Winnpeg Thrashers midget
2 17* Garrett Ross F Victory Honda midget
2 25 Justin Kovacs F Grosse Pointe North HS
3 36** Kevin Liss D Pittsburgh Hornets midget
3 38 Zachary Carriveau D Nepean Raiders (CJHL)
4 51 Chad Hudson F Wichita Falls Wildcats (NAHL)
5 64 Danny Linell F Choate Rosemary Hall
12 151*** Matthew Zay F New York Bobcats (AJHL)
12 155 Tom Mahoney D Thayer Academy
13 164*** Steven Collins F Green Mountain Glades (EJHL)
13 168 Peter Sakaris F College Charles-Lemoyne Riverains midget
14 181 Sam Warning F St. Louis Selects midget
15 194 Nate Wilson D P.F. Chang's midget
16 208 Robbie Hall D Chicago Young Americans midget
*- pick acquired from Chicago
**- pick acquired from Lincoln
***- pick acquired from Omaha
United States Hockey League Stories from May 13, 2009
- USHL completes entry draft - USHL
- USHL Grants Indiana Ice Special Draft Pick - USHL
- Riders Draft Defenseman Zajac in First Round - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Talent, Toughness Exhibited By Early Ice Draft Picks - Indiana Ice
- Waterloo Adds Prospects for 2009-2010 - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Stampede add scoring touch and veteran presence through USHL Draft - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Storm Makes "Big" Pick with Number-One Selection - USHL
- Fishers player Derek Zike selected by Ice - Indiana Ice
- Black Hawks Named Business of the Year - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Lancers Aquire Omaha Native Nick Oddo - Omaha Lancers
- Musketeers Update - Sioux City Musketeers
- USHL Entry Draft Provides Players Additional Opportunities - USHL
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.
