Sports stats



Wings Acquire Goaltender Rob Blasdell In Dispersal Draft

November 5, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Philadelphia Wings News Release


The Philadelphia Wings acquired goaltender Rob Blasdell from the Arizona Sting in the first round (3rd overall) of the National Lacrosse League Dispersal Draft. The three-round draft included players from the Arizona Sting and Boston Blazers franchises, both who have chosen to remain inactive for the 2008 season due to unique business issues arising out of the cancellation of the original 2008 season schedule.

Blasdell, a ten-year NLL veteran and former Goaltender Of The Year, had a 76% save percentage in 16 games for the Sting last season. He led his team to the championship game and made 48 saves in Arizona's 13-11 loss to the Rochester Knighthawks. Blasdell finished the regular season second overall in goaltenders with a 10.94 goals against average.

In the second round (22nd overall) the Wings selected second-year forward Jamie Rooney from the Sting. Rooney was originally drafted by Buffalo in the third round (21st overall) of the 2004 Entry Draft, before signing a free agent contract with Calgary in 2006. He has never played in an NLL game.

The Wings third-round selection was Brendan Thenhaus (27th overall) from Boston. The second-year forward played in four games for the Buffalo Bandits during his rookie year with the Buffalo Bandits.

Both Arizona and Boston were provided the option to re-enter the 2009 season by participating in the expansion draft or to have their rostered players from 2008 returned to them. Arizona has chosen to re-claim their dispersed players for the 2009 season, while Boston has chosen not to re-claim their players following this season, and will build their 2009 roster as an expansion team.

The Philadelphia Wings open the 2008 season on Saturday, January 12 against the Chicago Shamrox at the Wachovia Center. Season tickets start as low as $80 and are available by calling the Wings sales office at (215) 389-WING or log on to wingslax.com.

• Discuss this story on the National Lacrosse League message board...

National Lacrosse League Stories from November 5, 2007


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