The WHA Draft

Buffaloed · Jul 16, 2004

Media Release provided by the WHA Official Website:
http://www.worldhockeyassociation.net/news/media_releases/media_071404.htm

July 14, 2004

Free agent draft order announced

The World Hockey Association today announced the draft order for the first day of its two day draft weekend.

Teams will select NHL and AHL Free Agents on Saturday, July 17 at the new Fallsview Casino Niagara.

The following is the order of the draft.

Quebec

Halifax

Detroit

Hamilton

Toronto

Dallas

Teams will draft 30 players on Saturday. Each franchise has already identified a player with exempt status in the draft.

On Sunday, July 18, teams will draft 30 Entry Level Players. Players undrafted in the past 3 years or drafted but unsigned will be eligible. Sixteen year old players who will be 17 prior to the start of the WHA season will also be eligible.

The draft order for the Entry Level Draft will be announced on Saturday, July 17.

The draft begins at 10 a.m. each day and is open to the public.

The WHA Founders also announced they have ceased negotiations to purchase or establish a franchise in Orlando, Florida.

zecke26 · Jul 16, 2004

Buffaloed said:
Sixteen year old players who will be 17 prior to the start of the WHA season will also be eligible.

:lol

so crosby will probably quit the CHL just to play WHA, eh?

TVanek26* · Jul 16, 2004

Heh,I may go to the draft,Casino Niagara's like 15 minutes away.

leafaholix* · Jul 16, 2004

DanielBriere48 said:
Heh,I may go to the draft,Casino Niagara's like 15 minutes away.

I highly doubt you'll see any players there.

Nobody wants to play in the WHA.

Duff88 · Jul 16, 2004

Leafaholix said:
I highly doubt you'll see any players there.

Nobody wants to play in the WHA.

Alot of good players have stated that they'll keep a close eye on the WHA in case of a lockout : Mike Ribeiro, Brett Hull, Jeremy Roenick..

GKJ · Jul 16, 2004

Send in your mock drafts now! :p:

leafaholix* · Jul 16, 2004

Duff88 said:
Alot of good players have stated that they'll keep a close eye on the WHA in case of a lockout : Mike Ribeiro, Brett Hull, Jeremy Roenick..

I'm sure we'll be seeing guys like Dave Scatchard going in round 2.

Duff88 · Jul 16, 2004

Leafaholix said:
I'm sure we'll be seeing guys like Dave Scatchard going in round 2.

The thing I wonder is : Will the teams go for homerun picks who are unlikely to play or for picks that will likely play for them?

TVanek26* · Jul 16, 2004

Leafaholix said:
I highly doubt you'll see any players there.

Nobody wants to play in the WHA.

You're forgetting they have Bobby Hull,and the fact that they'll have a Pacific Trading Card Booth set up there with WHA memoribilia and cards...

Preds · Jul 17, 2004

Quebec Nordiks will select with the first pick overall Simon GagnÃ© :handclap:

shady_records · Jul 17, 2004

Could the WHA take over the AHL and become the NHL's farm league? Especially since there might be a salary cap, then players would get used to it in the minors.

Leaf Lander · Jul 17, 2004

it would be great if the wha in halifax was able to lure some big names in during a lockout

Hobey Baker · Jul 17, 2004

shady_records said:
Could the WHA take over the AHL and become the NHL's farm league? Especially since there might be a salary cap, then players would get used to it in the minors.

This is quite the longshot. The WHA is operating under the same premise that it was in the 1970's- as competition against the NHL. Much like the USFL to the NFL, the NHL would like to see it fold before ever considering taking it in as one of their own. The AHL relationship is still pretty strong, so why look elsewhere?

AEKaki · Jul 17, 2004

Toronto with Thornton and Kovalchuk already...

First Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club

1.
Quιbec Simon Gagnι

LW
Philadelphia (NHL)

2.
Halifax Travis Green C Boston (NHL)

3.
Detroit Dany Heatley RW Atlanta (NHL)

4.
Hamilton Michael Ryder RW Montrιal (NHL)

5.
Toronto Joe Thornton C Boston (NHL)

6.
Founders' franchise Todd Bertuzzi RW Vancouver (NHL)

7.
Dallas Eric Lindros C N.Y. Rangers (NHL)

8.
Florida Brad Richards C Tampa Bay (NHL)

Second Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club

9.
Florida Steve Shields G Florida (NHL)

10.
Dallas Scott Gomez C New Jersey (NHL)

11.
Founders' franchise Corey Schwab G New Jersey (NHL)

12.
Toronto Ilya Kovalchuk LW Atlanta (NHL)

13.
Hamilton Felix Potvin G Boston (NHL)

14.
Detroit Drake Berehowsky D Toronto (NHL)

15.
Halifax Craig MacDonald C Boston (NHL)

16.
Quιbec Yannick Perreault C Montrιal (NHL)

AEKaki · Jul 17, 2004

I dont understand the deal with some of these picks like Travis Green 2nd overall while Kovalchuk and Thornton are still there...

Duff88 · Jul 17, 2004

Dr. kÃ˜UkLÃ˜s said:
I dont understand the deal with some of these picks like Travis Green 2nd overall while Kovalchuk and Thornton are still there...

They probably picked him because they already know he'll play for them.

Why are Florida picking and what is the Founders' Franchise?

eddy · Jul 17, 2004

Ya Halifax must have had a good idea that Green and Macdonald would play for them for sure, they went with safe choices, other teams went for superstars where it's a big risk. Macdonald I know will play, he's only a fourth liner in the NHL, in the WHA he could probly be a much better player and he's from Nova Scotia so he'd probly be happy to play for the Icebreakers.

Lard_Lad · Jul 17, 2004

Duff88 said:
Why are Florida picking and what is the Founders' Franchise?

Yeah, their previous press release only listed six teams taking part in the draft. What the hell?

Duff88 · Jul 17, 2004

First Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club
1.
QuÃ©bec Simon GagnÃ© LW
Philadelphia (NHL)
2.
Halifax Travis Green C Boston (NHL)
3.
Detroit Dany Heatley RW Atlanta (NHL)
4.
Hamilton Michael Ryder RW MontrÃ©al (NHL)
5.
Toronto Joe Thornton C Boston (NHL)
6.
Founders' franchise Todd Bertuzzi RW Vancouver (NHL)
7.
Dallas Eric Lindros C N.Y. Rangers (NHL)
8.
Florida Brad Richards C Tampa Bay (NHL)

Second Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club
9.
Florida Steve Shields G Florida (NHL)
10.
Dallas Scott Gomez C New Jersey (NHL)
11.
Founders' franchise Corey Schwab G New Jersey (NHL)
12.
Toronto Ilya Kovalchuk LW Atlanta (NHL)
13.
Hamilton Felix Potvin G Boston (NHL)
14.
Detroit Drake Berehowsky D Toronto (NHL)
15.
Halifax Craig MacDonald C Boston (NHL)
16.
QuÃ©bec Yannick Perreault C MontrÃ©al (NHL)

Third Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club
17.
QuÃ©bec Maxime Ouellet G
Washington (NHL)
18.
Halifax Chris Tamer D Atlanta (NHL)
19.
Detroit Michael Zigomanis C Carolina (NHL)
20.
Hamilton Theoren Fleury RW Did Not Play
21.
Toronto Aaron Gavey C St. John's (AHL)
22.
Founders' franchise Lyle Odelein D Florida (NHL)
23.
Dallas Kip Miller C Washington (NHL)
24.
Florida Zac Bierk G Phoenix (NHL)

Fourth Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club
25.
Florida Jamie Rivers D Detroit (NHL)
26.
Dallas Steve Kelly LW Los Angeles (NHL)
27.
Founders' franchise Tommy Albelin D New Jersey (NHL)
28.
Toronto Josh Holden C Toronto (NHL)
29.
Hamilton Trent Hunter RW N.Y. Islanders (NHL)
30.
Detroit Chris Nielsen C Manitoba (AHL)
31.
Halifax Jeff Finley D Saint Louis (NHL)
32.
QuÃ©bec StÃ©phane Veilleux LW Minnesota (NHL)

Fifth Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club
33.
QuÃ©bec Eric Messier D
Florida (NHL)
34.
Halifax Steve Passmore G Chicago (NHL)
35.
Detroit Steve Kariya LW Albany (AHL)
36.
Hamilton Bryan Marchment D Toronto (NHL)
37.
Toronto Jonathan Cheechoo RW San Jose (NHL)
38.
Founders' franchise Shaun Van Allen C Ottawa (NHL)
39.
Dallas Blake Sloan RW Dallas (NHL)
40.
Florida Ben Clymer RW Tampa Bay (NHL)

Sixth Round Selection Pos. 2003-04 Club
41.
Florida Sean Avery C Los Angeles (NHL)
42.
Dallas Pavel Rosa RW Los Angeles (NHL)
43.
Founders' franchise Jiri Slegr D Boston (NHL)
44.
Toronto Brad May LW Vancouver (NHL)
45.
Hamilton Rob Zamuner LW Boston (NHL)
46.
Detroit Patrick Desrochers G Lowell (AHL)
47.
Halifax Glen Metropolit C Jokerit (Finland)
48.
QuÃ©bec Joel Bouchard D N.Y. Rangers (NHL)

Vic Rattlehead* · Jul 17, 2004

I don't see Thornton, Kovalchuk, Bertuzzi, Heatly, Gomez, Richards, Gomez, Gagne, playing for the WHA unless there is a lockout.

eddy · Jul 17, 2004

Looks like halifax went with another safe pick there with Tamer.
Anyone know how many rounds there are?

Vic Rattlehead* · Jul 17, 2004

Lard_Lad said:
Yeah, their previous press release only listed six teams taking part in the draft. What the hell?

I'm confused now. There were 6 teams, but now 8? The WHA is screwed up.

TVanek26* · Jul 17, 2004

Dr. kÃ˜UkLÃ˜s said:
I dont understand the deal with some of these picks like Travis Green 2nd overall while Kovalchuk and Thornton are still there...

Uh they have limited picks and realistically Green would play there,while Thornton obviously wouldn't.

Vic Rattlehead* · Jul 17, 2004

The Florida team will be Miami I believe. http://www.worldhockeyassociation.net/teams.htm

Duff88 · Jul 17, 2004

eddy said:
Looks like halifax went with another safe pick there with Tamer.
Anyone know how many rounds there are?

Teams pick 30 players

The WHA Draft

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