The 2013 NHL Entry Draft begins today at 2:00 CDT and several UND commitments are expected to hear their names called through the seven round selection process. Here are the draft profiles of the UND players with the best chance of being selected today, as well as some draft day nuggets regarding the Fighting Sioux presence at the NHL Draft:
Gage Ausmus
Luke Johnson
Tucker Poolman
Adam Tambellini
Keaton Thompson
- A pair of incoming UND freshmen forwards are hoping to carry on the family tradition at today's draft. Grand Forks native Luke Johnson's father Steve was a supplemental pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 1987 while his uncle Chad was a 6th round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1988. Meanwhile, Adam Tambellini's father Steve was a 1st round pick of the New York Islanders in 1978 while brother Jeff was a 1st round selection of the Los Angeles Kings in 2003.
- Four current NHL franchises have never selected a UND player at the draft: Anaheim, Columbus, Minnesota, and Nashville. I have heard that Anaheim is high on incoming freshman defenseman Keaton Thompson, so perhaps he will become UND's first ever Duck draftee.
- The Fighting Sioux have had 154 players taken during the draft. The first player ever selected was Roger Bamburak, who was picked by the Boston Bruins in the 3rd round of the 1963 draft, which was the NHL's first ever Amateur Draft.
- UND has had 16 players taken during the draft's first round. The first was current Fargo Force head coach John Marks, who was taken 9th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1968. The most recent, of course, was current Sioux defenseman Jordan Schmaltz, who went 25th overall to St. Louis last year. Jonathan Toews is UND's highest-ever pick, going 3rd overall to Chicago in 2006.
- Ten of UND's 16 first round picks have come over the course of the past 10 drafts. UND had 6 first rounders in the first 39 years of the draft's history.
- UND has had at least one player selected in the draft in each of the past 14 years. The last time a UND player was not drafted was 1998.
- Chicago and Montreal have been the most active NHL franchises in terms of selecting UND players. They've each done so 13 times.
- The Vancouver Canucks have selected seven UND players at the draft, and all seven were picked over a three year span from 1987 through 1989.
- Calgary has selected five UND players, but none since 1986 when they chose Bemidji's George Pelawa 16th overall. Pelawa, who was Minnesota's Mr. Hockey in 1986, was killed in a car crash in late August of his freshman season at North Dakota. The NHL Network produced this video a couple of years ago, looking back at the Pelawa story:
UND's newest Stanley Cup winner Matt Greene says touching the hallowed trophy was an "indescribable feeling." Greene also receives a lot of grief from his teammates over his taste in music, but he's not afraid to fire back at the fist pumping crowd.
*****
North Dakota had two players selected in the NHL Entry Draft over the weekend. Incoming freshman Jordan Schmaltz became UND's 16th first round draft choice after being chosen 25th overall by St. Louis while Paul LaDue was taken by the Los Angeles Kings in the 6th round. LaDue will arrive on campus in the fall of 2013 after playing one more season in Lincoln (USHL). Here are a few numbers and links concerning UND's newest draftees:
- By being a first round pick attending UND, Schmaltz seems like a lock to make the NHL. After Joe Finley appeared in five games with the Buffalo Sabres last season, UND's first round success rate topped out at 100%. Of course, this number does not include 1986 first rounder George Pelawa, who passed away in a car accident during the fall of his freshman year at North Dakota, or 2010 first rounders Derek Forbort and Brock Nelson, whose draft class is still much too recent to include in such analyses.
- Schmaltz was part of a record-setting first round for USHL products as six out of the 30 first rounders came from the United States' premier junior league.
- St. Louis followed the trend of a defense-heavy first-round by selecting Schmaltz, a player they feel will become a household name.
- Schmaltz and LaDue both contributed to what was a successful draft weekend for American-born players and NCAA products.
- Through the 2007 draft, UND has had eleven players chosen in the 6th round, with six (54.5%) of those making it to the NHL. That is an outstanding success rate considering how far into the draft many of those players were taken. Making it even more impressive is that four of those former Sioux were more than just cup of coffee guys. Garry Valk (777), Dave Hudson (409), Marc Chorney (210), and Mark Taylor (209) all surpassed 200 career NHL games played.
- LaDue was a 16th round selection in the 2010 USHL Entry Draft, and just two short years later he went in the 6th round of the NHL Draft. That is an impressive ascension.
- In closing, Chicago's official site had an interesting piece leading into the draft. Find out what Blackhawk scouts had to say about Jonathan Toews in the years leading up to his selection as the 3rd overall pick in 2006.
