2004 NHL ENTRY DRAFT

Three current Wolverines and two incoming freshmen are expected to be taken
at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft later this month.

Heading the list is U-M netminder Al Montoya. He was ranked #1 among North
American goaltenders, and it's a toss up between him and Marek Schwarz as
to who will be the first goalie selected.

Montoya is projected to go anywhere from Top 5 to mid-first round. As
always, it depends on a team's need and who is available.

In a recent interview on MGoBlue.com, Montoya lists Phoenix, the NY
Rangers, and Florida as the three teams he'd most like to get drafted by.
Those three teams hold picks 6, 7, and 8 respectively.

As for the rest of the available Wolverines, it's really a crapshoot. In
fact, most insiders believe that after the first two picks of the draft,
it's a toss up. Your guess is as good as mine.

For instance, Kevin Porter is ranked #172 among North American skaters by
the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, however some fans believe he is vastly
underrated and should go in as high as the third or fourth round.

The 2004 NHL Entry Draft starts June 26 at noon Eastern Time. ESPN or ESPN2
typically broadcasts the first round of the draft. Should be very
interesting to watch, and MHNet will have full coverage of all Wolverine
selections.

You can find links to several recent articles involving Montoya at
http://michiganhockey.net/news/draft2004.html

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USA EVALUATION CAMP

Several current and future Michigan Wolverines were among a list of 42
players invited to the 2004 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp.

Returning in net is Wolverine goalie Al Montoya. There shouldn't be any
doubt about him making the final cut for the team as he led the U.S. to a
perfect 6-0-0 record en route to their first ever gold medal at the 2004
World Junior Championships.

Up front, forwards T.J. Hensick and Mike Brown were given invitations, as
well as defenseman Matt Hunwick.

Given the year he's coming off of, Hensick should make the team come
December. Brown I'm less certain of. Hunwick was a late addition to last
year's gold medal team and one of seven returning players. His experience
should give him an inside edge.

Three future Wolverines have also received invitations to play at the
Evaluation Camp. Forward Kevin Porter, who arrives this fall, and 2005
recruits forward Bryan Lerg and defenseman Jack Johnson will all get a shot
at the team.

The players will compete among two U.S. teams, plus Under-20 select teams
from Sweden and Finland.

The camp will be held Aug. 9-14 at the Ralph Engelstad Arenas in Thief
River Falls, Minn., and Grand Forks, N.D., which will host the 2005 IIHF
World Junior Championship later this year.

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2004-05 SCHEDULE

I have a temporary 2004-05 schedule posted on MHNet. It's not a full
official schedule, its been compiled by other team's schedule releases as
well as info from U.S. College Hockey Online.

Most notably this year, and something I don't really like, is that there
are a lot of home-and-home weekend series. Looking at the schedule, there
are five of these plus a home-and-neutral game (Joe Louis Arena) against
Michigan State. There are currently only two weekend home series. I know
with the cluster scheduling they probably like to give fans on both sides a
chance to see each team play, but I would prefer it if they did the series
at one place one year and the other place the next year. I think fans look
more forward to the weekend when they get a pair of games rather than just
one every week.

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NHL AWARDS

The NHL Awards were held a few days ago. Former Wolverines Marty Turco and
John Madden were up for the Vezina (best goalie) and Frank Selke (best
defensive forward) Awards respectively, and both came away empty handed.

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PEACH CAPTURES KELLY CUP

Former Michigan captain Sean Peach has captured the ECHL's Kelly Cup with
the Idaho Steelheads. They knocked off the Florida Everblades in the
finals, taking the series 4-1.

Peach played in 12 playoff games recording one assist, a plus-5 rating, and
14 penalty minutes.

Another pair of former CCHA stars squared off as former Nebraska-Omaha
goalie Dan Ellis backstopped the champions, while former Ohio State
netminder Jeff Maund took the loss for Florida.

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That's all for now...

Go Blue!

Jason
Michigan Hockey Net
http://MichiganHockey.net/