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USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Saints Build for Continued Success Through Futures Draft

April 19, 2011 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


DUBUQUE, Iowa - With the start of the playoffs just one day away, the focus of the Fighting Saints' organization briefly shifted to next season on Tuesday. The USHL Futures Draft gave the league's teams an opportunity to stockpile their rosters and affiliate lists with talent for the coming campaigns. Some players taken in the Futures Draft can have an immediate impact - Riley Barber, who contributed 14 goals and 14 assists to the Saints this year, was the first overall selection in the draft in 2010.

As the selections got underway, the Waterloo Black Hawks made forward Taylor Cammarata the first overall pick in the draft. Two slots later, the Fighting Saints took Mike Downing, a 6'2" 173 pound defenseman from Canton, Michigan. Downing brings a USHL pedigree to the table as his brother Jake played defense with the Omaha Lancers this season.

Downing was thrilled to be able to say he was moving up to the USHL, and that he would be doing so with the Fighting Saints. "When I found out, I was just ecstatic," he said. "I'd only heard good things about Dubuque, heard that Coach Jim (Montgomery) was a good coach, and heard that the fanbase is great too."

Montgomery's coaching staff was quick to praise Downing, who tallied four goals and ten assists in fourteen league games this year. Fighting Saints Assistant Coach and Director of Scouting Bobby Kinsella said that he believes that Downing has an opportunity to fit in on the Saints' blue line next year. "He's a big left shot defenseman out of Detroit Catholic High School," remarked Kinsella. "I've been up there to see him play a few times and I'm very impressed with him. I think he has a lot of pro ability, and a lot of skill. I think he has a lot of powerplay ability too, and I'm very excited to get Mike."

Kinsella noted that he believes that all of the Fighting Saints selections could hold their own in the USHL next season, but he stressed that the development interests of each individual prospect would determine at what point Dubuque fans would see each player in a Fighting Saints uniform.

The Fighting Saints next two selections, Anthony Duclair and Jonathan Drouin, when combined with Downing, made up what the Saints' coaching staff believed to be the three best players in the entire draft pool - period.

"I believe, and Coach Montgomery believes too, that Duclair and Drouin were the two best forwards available," Kinsella said. "The sky is the limit with these two - they are dynamic."

Both Duclair, who stands 5'10" and weighs 155 pounds, and Drouin, who checks in at 5'8.5" and 153 pounds, played with the Lac St.-Louis Lions in Quebec - the same team that features Fighting Saints affiliate list player Mike Matheson. All three players are currently competing with the Lions for the Telus Cup, awarded to Canada's national midget hockey champions.

Duclair played in 34 league games this season, scoring 25 goals and posting 32 assists. For his part, Drouin scored 22 goals and 36 assists in 38 league contests.

With their fourth selection, the Fighting Saints took Karson Kuhlman, who played this season for Cloquet-Esko-Carlton near Duluth, Minnesota, where the 5'9" 145 pound center tallied 50 points including 16 goals in just 25 games.

"I was very impressed with Karson. I recently had a chance to go see him play at the Minnesota 54s. I walked in there at eight in the morning, and there he was - putting up points and scoring goals," remembered Kinsella. "I was very excited when he was still available - I didn't think he'd be there."

Garret Cecere, the Saints fifth pick, is another player with a USHL pedigree - his brother Nick played in Lincoln this season. A 5'9" 155 pound defenseman, Cecere had 27 points and 50 penalty minutes in 44 games for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota.

"We were very impressed with Garret," said Kinsella. "He's a local kid from Des Moines, but he played at Shattuck, and they lost in the national championship this year."

Zach Diamantoni was the Fighting Saints sixth and final pick in the Futures Draft. A center from the Detroit area, the 5'9" 155 pound Diamantoni scored 24 points in 36 games for a team that has already produced a successful Fighting Saint, noted Kinsella.

"Zach comes to us from the Detroit Compuware program - where we got Riley Barber from. I watched Zach play - he competes extremely hard, and he's a good two-way player, and that is tough to find."

While the impact of these selections will be felt in the coming months and years, the Fighting Saints hope that a strong draft class will ensure that they have many more playoff runs in the future just like that which is set to start this week.

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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.

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