USHL Tri-City Storm

Storm Prepare for USHL Drafts

Published on May 17, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


KEARNEY, Neb. - Defense will be the major emphasis for Tri-City Storm Head Coach/General Manager Drew Schoneck in this Wednesday's USHL Entry Draft. Schoneck, from the beginning of his tenure, has wanted the defense to be big, strong and physical.

"You look at the teams that win championships and they all have good defensive cores," said Schoneck, who enters his second draft season working for the Storm. "Certainly, you need good scorers, but defense is a big key to winning in this league."

With the results of the USHL Expansion Draft being announced on Tuesday morning, the Storm, like every USHL team, will lose only one player.

"It's the nature of expansion, you'll lose somebody you don't necessarily want to lose," Schoneck said about the expansion draft. "We wish whoever we lose in the expansion draft the best with their new team."

In addition to the results of the expansion draft on Tuesday, the USHL Futures Draft will be later that morning.

Hockey players born in the 1994 birth year will be selected by 15 teams in a six-round futures draft (Team USA does not select in either draft). Most of these prospects will likely be players coming to teams in two seasons, although some may make the jump to the USHL as soon as this season.

That was the case for Storm defenseman Branden Fisher, who was selected in the fourth round in last year's futures draft. Fisher came to the Storm at the midpoint last season and played in a majority of the games for the Storm after playing in the North American Hockey League at the beginning of the season.

"The futures draft is where teams start looking for their club needs two seasons from now and start creating a young solid core to their team," said Schoneck. "It requires you to scout young players well and monitor their development throughout the next season."

One thing is for sure, it should be an exciting couple of days for the Storm.

"We are trying to build a championship organization, which we hope fans will be proud of next season," Schoneck added.

The Storm are part of the United States Hockey League, which has 16 teams across nine states in the Midwest. Get your season tickets now for the 2010-11 season by calling the Storm office at 308-338-8809.

Check out the Tri-City Storm Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from May 17, 2010


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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