To no one's surprise the draft got underway with the Pittsburgh Penguins selecting two-time CHL Player of the Year Sidney Crosby. Crosby has starred for the Rimouski Oceanic the past two seasons. This past season Crosby lead the club all the way to the MasterCard Memorial Cup before they eventually fell to the London Knights in the finals.
The draft then had a strong OHL flavour with nine players going in the first round. The first of which was Bobby Ryan of the Owen Sound Attack who was chosen second overall by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Ryan has just completed his second season in the CHL after being selected seventh overall in the 2003 OHL Priority Selection. Ryan had nothing but great things to say about his time in the OHL, "Owen Sound is a great organization. Mike Stothers and Michael Futa helped me grow as a player and they were great to play for."
Ryan was followed by fellow OHL star Benoit Pouliot of the Sudbury Wolves. Pouliot went fourth to the Minnesota Wild. Pouliot, who came out of nowhere this season to be a first round NHL selection was truly proud of what he has accomplished over the past year. "Mike Foligno taught me a lot this past season in Sudbury. He helped me improve so much and it was such a great experience to play for him."
Following Pouliot was his Sudbury teammate Marc Staal. The New York Rangers grabbed Staal 12th overall. Marc will have to be ready in the future to battle with his brother Eric in Eastern Conference battles. Eric who played for the Peterborough Petes was chosen second overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
Ryan O'Marra of the Erie Otters and Ryan Parent of the Guelph Storm went 14th and 18th respectively to the New York Islanders and Nashville Predators.
Kitchener joined Sudbury with a pair of players going in the first round. Heading off to a couple of Original 6 franchises are Jakub Kindl who went 19th to Detroit and Matt Lashoff who was chosen 22nd overall by Boston.
Despite injury troubles this season, the Calgary Flames proved that they liked what they saw in Matt Pelech when they grabbed him 26th overall and Bobby Clarke showed his strong ties to the OHL when he selected Steve Downie of the Windsor Spitfires 29th overall. Downie will look to join Jeff Carter & Mike Richards among others in Philadelphia in the future.
The Sudbury Wolves, Kitchener Rangers & Brampton Battalion all had four players selected on the day to lead all OHL teams. Joining Pouliot and Staal for Sudbury were Adam McQuaid and Kevin Beech. Mark Fraser and Patrick Davis were also selected on the day from Kitchener. Phil Oreskovic was selected 82nd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs while Daren Machesney, Luch Aquino and John Seymour were each also selected from Brampton.
Complete Results
First Round
2. Anaheim Bobby Ryan Owen Sound Attack
4. Minnesota Benoit Pouliot Sudbury Wolves
12. NY Rangers Marc Staal Sudbury Wolves
15. NY Islanders Ryan O'Marra Erie Otters
18. Nashville Ryan Parent Guelph Storm
19. Detroit Jakub Kindl Kitchener Rangers
22. Boston Matt Lashoff Kitchener Rangers
26. Calgary Matt Pelech Sarnia Sting
29. Philadelphia Steve Downie Windsor Spitfires
Second Round
33. Dallas James Neal Plymouth Whalers
43. Chicago Michael Blunden Erie Otters
55. Columbus Adam McQuaid Sudbury Wolves
Third Round
68. Chicago Evan Brophey Belleville Bulls
71. Dallas Richard Clune Sarnia Sting
73. Tampa Bay Radek Smolenak Kingston Frontenacs
74. Calgary Dan Ryder Peterborough Petes
81. Edmonton Danny Syvret London Knights
82. Toronto Phil Oreskovic Brampton Battalion
84. New Jersey Mark Fraser Kitchener Rangers
89. Tampa Bay Chris Lawrence SSM Greyhounds
90. Florida Dan Collins Plymouth Whalers
Fourth Round
95. Ottawa Cody Bass Mississauga IceDogs
99. New Jersey Patrick Davis Kitchener Rangers
107. NY Rangers Tom Pyatt Saginaw Spirit
118. Washington Patrick McNeill Saginaw Spirit
Fifth Round
127. Anaheim Bobby Bolt Kingston Frontenacs
128. Calgary Kevin Lalande Belleville Bulls
143. Washington Daren Machesney Brampton Battalion
147. NY Rangers Trevor Koverko Owen Sound Attack
149. San Jose Derek Joslin Ottawa 67's
150. Nashville Cal O'Reilly Windsor Spitfires
152. Philadelphia Josh Beaulieu London Knights
Sixth Round
163. Tampa Bay Marek Kvapil Saginaw Spirit
165. Tampa Bay Kevin Beech Sudbury Wolves
182. Buffalo Adam Dennis London Knights
183. San Jose Will Colbert Ottawa 67's
184. Los Angeles Ryan McGinnis Plymouth Whalers
190. Montreal Matt D'Agostini Guelph Storm
Seventh Round
196. NY Islanders Nicholas Tuzzolino Sarnia Sting
201. Columbus Trevor Hendrikx Peterborough Petes
210. NY Islanders Luch Aquino Brampton Battalion
213. Nashville Scott Todd Windsor Spitfires
226. Los Angeles John Seymour Brampton Battalion
