Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Michigan schools aplenty at UHL Draft

The United Hockey League held their annual North American Amateur Draft yesterday and several Michigan college players were selected by the 14 UHL member teams.

Western Michigan defenseman Jim McNamara went in the first round to the Kalamazoo Wings to lead the pack.

Ferris State forward Jeff Legue was taken in the third round by the Port Huron Beacons while Michigan State's Jim Slater (Flint Generals) and Mike Lalonde (Kalamazoo) and Michigan's Eric Werner (Fort Wayne Komets) also were chosen in round three.

Eastern Michigan club goalie Jake Pruss also went in the third round to Flint.

Port Huron selected Michigan Tech captain Colin Murphy in the fourth round along with Flint taking MSU goalie Matt Migliaccio.

Ferris State captain Matt York (Motor City Mechanics), Michigan State's Adam Nightingale (Flint), Michigan Tech forward John Hartman (Kalamazoo) and Michigan forward Jason Ryznar (Fort Wayne) all were taken in the fifth round.

WMU forward Trevor Cooke (Kalamazoo) and Michigan senior David Moss (Fort Wayne) rounded out the Michigan picks as they both went in the sixth round.

Players that are 19 years of age or older who played in North America during the 2004-05 season are eligible for the draft.

The draft consisted of six rounds with each UHL team selecting in reverse order of their current winning percentage. Each UHL team is permitted to protect up to four of their six drafted players and place them on their final roster. In addition, each UHL team is allowed to protect two players for their team's playoff roster. These two selected players are exempt from the six games played requirement for players on the postseason roster.

Players aren't required to report to their teams once drafted and several are still playing i.e. Michigan.

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