NEWYORK/TORONTO - The world's top 115 players eligible for selection inthe 2007 BRHL Entry Draft have been invited to the League's annual Draft Combine, May 30 to June 3, 2007 at the Park Plaza Toronto Airport Hotel.
The Draft Combine will give BRHL clubs a chance to evaluate hockey's futurestars just three weeks before the 2007 BRHL Entry Draft in Vancouver,June 24. Each BRHL club will be represented at the Combine by scouts,management and athletic training staff. The players will conduct nterviews with the clubs and undergo medical examinations and fitness testing.
The invitees represent the BRHL Central Scouting department's top-rated 70 skaters and nine goaltenders from NorthA merican leagues and the projected top 36 European skaters and goaltenders.
The BRHL will release its final rankings of Draft-eligibleplayers on Thursday, April 20. Highlighting the list of invitees is a record 10 players from the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based United States National Under-18 team, led by defenseman Erik Johnson, the top-rated North American player in Central Scouting's mid-season rankings and Jordan Staal of the Ontario Hockey League.
People in BRHL2 circles suggest that the Blackhawks have tentatively penciled in as number one.
"They love the kid." said a source. "They feel like they can turn it around quicker and with Johnson, the blueliner, being a big guy, he may take a season or two to develop. And Staal...what can you say about the kid...he is every coaches dream. Top end skill and responsible at both ends."
Nothing is written in stone, but as of right now, the rumour mill definitely isn't Staaled.
