Saints Finish Phase II Draft with 19 Picks
May 7, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL) - Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
After a successful Phase I of the draft, Dubuque coupled it with a solid Phase II selection process. Once again, the draft room was headed by Director of Scouting Colby Drost and General Manager Kalle Larsson. Unlike Phase I, which is a quick process in most regards, Phase II is labeled as a marathon. The draft started at 10 am CT and finished around 3pm for the Fighting Saints. Here is the full list of picks from Phase II of the draft. If you missed Phase I, you can check out those picks in the previous article.
Round 1: Erik Portillo (5th Overall, G)
Round 3: Mark Cheremeta (35th Overall, F)
Round 4: Matthew Kopperud (49th Overall, F)
Round 5: Jordon Halverson (65th Overall, D)
Round 5: Robert Cronin (68th Overall, F)
Round 5: Reggie Millette (70th Overall, F)
Round 6: Ben Schultheis (81st Overall, D)
Round 6: Gabe Temple (86th Overall, F)
Round 6: Antonio Venuto (90th Overall, F)
Round 7: Aidan McCarthy (99th Overall, G)
Round 8: Tyler Love (112th Overall, D)
Round 8: Adam Kolcon (113th Overall, D)
Round 9: Thomas Middleton (128th Overall, F)
Round 10: Shane Ott (144th Overall, F)
Round 11: Kyle Bettens (159th Overall, F)
Round 12: Peter Kramer (174th Overall, F)
Round 13: Zachary Aughe (189th Overall, F)
Round 14: Jack Cronin (204th Overall, F)
Round 15: John Fusco (219th Overall, D)
The Saints draft breaks down fairly well when it comes to positional balance. The Saints selected two goalies, 12 forwards and five defensemen. Dubuque took just two 1999 birth-years (the oldest eligible in this upcoming USHL season. After that they took 12 2000 birth-year's, four 2001's and one 2002. In total, Dubuque selected 19 players in 15 rounds to round out their Phase I and Phase II draft classes.
"I think we addressed our needs very well in this Phase of the draft as well," said Drost. "We took a lot of experienced players from a bunch of different leagues. I think we also added good depth that will make for very good competition when Main Camp rolls around."
"I thought we came in very prepared," said Larsson. "That is a huge credit to our scouting staff, we came in with a plan and we executed it very well. We grabbed most of the guys we keyed in on before the draft and feel like we got some really good building blocks for the team this fall."
Next up for the Saints is Main Camp which will be held in June. The Saints will get to see a few familiar faces along with many of the drafted players from this year's draft. Check out the Saints twitter and website for full recaps of both the Phase I and Phase II drafts.
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United States Hockey League Stories from May 7, 2019
- 2019 USHL Draft Recap - Sioux City Musketeers
- Capitols Draft 19 Players in Phase II Draft - Madison Capitols
- Chicago Drafts 20 Players in 2019 Phase II Draft - Chicago Steel
- 2019 USHL Draft - Phase II Selections - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Tri-City Completes Phase II of 2019 USHL Draft - Tri-City Storm
- Draft Day- Phase II - Green Bay Gamblers
- Muskegon Completes 45-Man Roster with 21 Phase II Draft Selections - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Phase Two of the Plan - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Fargo Force Selections in 2019 USHL Phase II Draft - Fargo Force
- Saints Finish Phase II Draft with 19 Picks - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Capitols Select 10 in USHL Futures Draft - Madison Capitols
- Gamblers Select 10 Players in Phase I - Green Bay Gamblers
- Chicago Steel to Present "Our Gift to Hockey" During Clark Cup Final - Chicago Steel
- Steel Select Nine Players in 2019 USHL Phase I Draft - Chicago Steel
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