Canes Draft Finnish Goaltender V
Hurricanes draft Kolppanen in 2009 CHL Import Draft
rLethbridge, AB – The CHL Import Draft kicked off this morning with the first overall selection by the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Sea Dogs used the first overall pick to select Russian forward Stanislav Galiev, a top prospect for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft who played with the Indiana Ice in the USHL this past season.
r
rThe Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League used the second overall pick on forward Nino Niederreiter, who played with HC Davos in Switerzerland and the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League traded up to the third overall selection to acquire Swedish forward Gabriel Landeskog, who played this past season with Djurgarden.
rEach team in the CHL is permitted to carry two European Import players each season. These players are selected annually at the Import Draft, with the order of selection rotating through each of the three leagues in the CHL using an inverse order of their final regular season standings from the 2008-09 season.
r
rThis morning, Canes newly appointed GM and Head Coach Rich Preston announced that Lethbridge selected Finnish goaltender Ville Kolppanen with their first round pick (32nd overall) in the 2009 CHL Import Draft. The 6’1” 195 pound Finn is a 92-born goaltender who hails from Tampere, Finland; the same city as Hurricanes “Finnish Phenom” Juha Metsola. Kolppanen hails from the same junior club – Ilves Jr. which produced Metsola as well as Finnish standouts Tuuka Rask, Riku Helenius.
r
r“Ville comes highly recommended from several sources and he has the size, skill and potential to be a very good goaltender in this league” said Preston “All of the scouting reports we have on him say he plays more of a North American style, so he should be able to adapt very quickly to the WHL game. We see him adding depth at the position for us and being a part of our program for several years.”
r
rIn 2008 the Canes moved their first round pick to the Kootenay Ice in exchange for Kootenay’s 7th round pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft. Lethbridge used their 2007 CHL Import Draft picks to select the Finnish born Metsola and Swiss born defenseman Luca Sbisa.
