Aug. 1, 2005

MADISON, Wisc. - A total of 23 current and incoming Western Collegiate Hockey Association players and recruits, including five who were chosen in the first round, were selected in the 2005 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft held over the July 30-31 weekend in Ottawa, Ontario. The five first round selections were University of Wisconsin recruit and forward Jack Skille (No. 7, Chicago), University of North Dakota recruit and defenseman Brian Lee (No. 9, Ottawa), North Dakota recruit and forward T.J. Oshie (No. 24, St. Louis), North Dakota recruit and defenseman Joe Finley (No. 27, Washington), and University of Minnesota Duluth recruit and defenseman Matt Niskanen (No. 28, Dallas).

Nine players with WCHA ties went in the second round, including returning standouts Paul Stastny of back-to-back NCAA champion University of Denver, a forward who went to Colorado with the No. 44 pick, and Nate Hagemo, a defenseman at the University of Minnesota who went at No. 58 to Carolina. Seven second round draftees are incoming WCHA recruits, in Minnesota forward Ryan Stoa (No. 34, Colorado), North Dakota defenseman Taylor Chorney (No. 36, Edmonton), Minnesota goaltender Jeff Frazee (No. 38, New Jersey), Minnesota Duluth forward Mason Raymond (No. 51, Vancouver), North Dakota forward Andrew Kozek (No. 53, Atlanta), Denver defenseman T.J. Fast (No. 60, Los Angeles), and Minnesota Duluth forward Michael Gergen (No. 61, Pittsburgh).

In the fourth round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Denver recruit and defenseman Chris Butler went to Buffalo at No. 96, North Dakota recruit and goaltender Chris Vande Velde went to Edmonton at No. 97, returning Denver defenseman Andrew Thomas went to Washington at No. 109, and Minnesota Duluth recruit and goaltender Alex Stalock went to San Jose at No. 112. Both Vande Velde and Stalock are listed as recruits for the 2006-07 season.

In round five, Colorado College returning defenseman Brian Salcido was selected by Anaheim with selection No. 141, while North Dakota recruit and forward Matt Watkins went to Dallas at No. 160.

In round six, Colorado College recruit and goaltender Chad Rau went to Toronto at No. 228.

And in round seven, Minnesota Duluth recruit and defenseman Josh Meyers was selected by Los Angeles at No. 206 while Wisconsin recruit and forward Zach Bearson went to Florida at No. 224.

By Div. 1 college hockey league, the WCHA had the most players drafted overall with 23, while by Div. 1 college team, University of North Dakota had the most players taken with seven. WCHA members Denver and Minnesota Duluth had five selections each to rank tied for third (Boston College had six).

Since it's founding in 1951, more than 670 WCHA players and recruits have been drafted by National Hockey League-member teams, including 32 first rounders. In 2005, a total of 65 college players and incoming recruits were among the total of 230 players chosen in the NHL Entry Draft.

WCHA Selections • 2005 NHL Entry Draft

Round 1
Pick	Name, Pos	NHL Club	Ht	Wt	Birthdate	Hometown/Amateur Team	WCHA
7	Jack Skille, F*	Chicago	6-1	198	5/19/87	Madison, WI/U.S. Under-18s	UW
9	Brian Lee, D*	Ottawa	6-2	202	3/26/87	Fargo, ND/Moorhead H.S.	UND
24	T.J. Oshie, F*	St. Louis	5-10	170	12/23/86	Mt. Vernon, WA/Warroad H.S.	UND
27	Joe Finley, D*	Washington	6-7	229	6/29/87	Edina, MN/Sioux Falls-USHL	UND
28	Matt Niskanen, D*	Dallas	6-0	194	12/6/86	Virginia, MN/Virginia H.S.	UMD
Round 2
34	Ryan Stoa, F*	Colorado	6-3	200	4/13/87	Bloomington, MN/U.S. Under-18s	UM
36	Taylor Chorney, D*	Edmonton	5-11	182	4/27/87	Thunder Bay, ON/Shattuck St. Mary's	UND
38	Jeff Frazee, G*	New Jersey	6-0	184	5/13/87	Edina, MN/U.S. Under-18s	UM
44	Paul Stastny, F	Colorado	6-0	201	12/27/85	Quebec City, PQ	Denver
51	Mason Raymond, F*	Vancouver	6-0	165	9/17/85	Calgary, AB/Camrose-AJHL	UMD
53	Andrew Kozek, F*	Atlanta	5-10	175	5/26/86	Revelstoke, BC/S. Surrey/BCHL	UND
58	Nate Hagemo, D	Carolina	5-11	192	10/8/86	Minneapolis, MN	UM
60	T.J. Fast, D*	Los Angeles	6-1	190	9/2/87	Calgary, AB/Camrose-AJHL	Denver
61	Michael Gergen, F*	Pittsburgh	5-10	185	2/17/87	Hastings, MN/Shattuck St. Mary's	UMD
Round 4
96	Chris Butler, D*	Buffalo	6-1	178	10/27/86	St. Louis, MO/Sioux City-USHL	Denver
97	Chris Vande Velde, G*	Edmonton	6-1	190	3/15/87	Moorhead, MN/Moorhead H.S.	UND
109	Andrew Thomas, D	Washington	6-2	196	11/14/85	West Bend, WI	Denver
112	Alex Stalock, G*	San Jose	5-11	170	7/28/87	St. Paul, MN/Cedar Rapids-USHL	UMD
Round 5
141	Brian Salcido, D	Anaheim	6-2	188	4/14/85	Los Angeles, CA	CC
160	Matt Watkins, F*	Dallas	5-10	180	11/22/86	Regina, SK/Vernon-BCHL	UND
Round 7
206	Josh Meyers, D*	Los Angeles	6-2	180	12/7/85	Alexandria, MN/Sioux City-USHL	UMD
224	Zach Bearson, F	Florida	6-1	180	6/13/87	Houston, TX/Waterloo-USHL	UW
228	Chad Rau, F*	Toronto	5-11	175	1/18/87	Eden Prairie, MN/Des Moines-USHL	CC

* incoming recruit

The WCHA's NHL First Round Draft Selections, Since 1964

1964 - Brian Watts, Michigan (Detroit); 1968 - John Marks, UND (No. 9, Chicago); 1976 - David Shand, Michigan (No. 8, Atlanta); 1979 - Mike Ramsey, UM (No. 11, Buffalo); 1980 - Mike Blaisdell, UW (No. 11, Detroit); 1981 - James Patrick, UND (No. 9, NY Rangers); 1982 - Patrick Flatley, UW (No. 21, NY Islanders); 1983 - David Jensen, UM (No. 20, Hartford); 1984 - Craig Redmond, Denver (No. 6, Los Angeles); 1985 - Tom Chorske, UM (No. 16, Montreal); 1986 - George Pelawa, UND (No. 16, Calgary); 1989 - Doug Zmolek, UM (No. 7, Minnesota/Dallas), Jason Herter, UND (No. 8, Vancouver); 1993 - Landon Wilson, UND (No. 19, Toronto); 1996 - Erik Rasmussen, UM (No. 7, Buffalo); 1999 - David Tanabe, UW (No. 16, Carolina); 2000 - Dany Heatley, UW (No. 2, Atlanta), David Hale, UND (No. 22, New Jersey), Jeff Taffe, UM (No. 30, St. Louis); 2002 - Keith Ballard, UM (No. 11, Buffalo); 2003 - Thomas Vanek, UM (No. 5, Buffalo), Ryan Suter, UW (No. 7, Nashville); Zach Parise, UND (No. 17, New Jersey), Mark Stuart, Colorado College (No. 21, Boston); 2004 - Drew Stafford, UND (No. 13, Buffalo), Travis Zajac, UND (No. 20, New Jersey), Kris Chucko, UM (No. 24, Calgary); 2005 - Jack Skille, UW (No. 7, Chicago), Brian Lee, UND (No. 9, Ottawa), T.J. Oshie, UND (No. 24, St. Louis), Joe Finley, UND (No. 27, Washington), Matt Niskanen, UMD (No. 28, Dallas).