Battalion ranks No. 1 in NHL draftees

BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Brampton Battalion leads the Ontario Hockey League in National Hockey League draft selections over the last seven years.rrSince the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, the first in which Battalion players were eligible, the club has generated 24 picks, including four players chosen July 30 at Ottawa.rrThe Troops’ total includes two selections of defenceman Paul Flache, originally chosen by the Edmonton Oilers in 2000 before reentering the draft and being tabbed by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2002.rrThe Plymouth Whalers are second with 23 picks, while the London Knights are third with 22.rrBy comparison, the Mississauga IceDogs, who entered the OHL with the Battalion for the 1998-99 season, have had eight players picked, with six of those selections coming in the last three years.rrThe Battalion has produced four first-round picks, tied with the Windsor Spitfires for third spot among OHL teams. In the last seven drafts the Erie Otters lead with six first-round picks, while the Kitchener Rangers have five. rrBattalion first-rounders comprise defenceman Rostislav Klesla and left winger Raffi Torres, who went fourth and fifth overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders respectively in 2000, right winger Brent Burns, taken 20th overall by the Minnesota Wild in 2003, and left winger Wojtek Wolski, who went to the Colorado Avalanche with the 21st selection in 2004.rrOnly three teams, Mississauga, the North Bay Centennials-Saginaw Spirit franchise and the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, have failed to produce a first-round pick in the last seven years.rrThe Battalion has had 10 players chosen in the first three rounds of the draft, tied with London for second among OHL clubs. Plymouth leads with 11.rrThe Battalion total includes three second-round picks. Centre Jay McClement went to the St. Louis Blues with the 57th overall pick in 2001, and left winger Adam Henrich was chosen 60th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2002. Centre Kamil Kreps was tabbed by the Florida Panthers with the 38th pick in 2003.rrAfter the Battalion at 24, Plymouth at 23 and London at 22, other totals by team in the last seven years are Peterborough Petes 20, Ottawa 67’s 18, Toronto 16, Guelph Storm, North Bay-Saginaw, Oshawa Generals and Windsor 15, Sarnia Sting 14, Barrie Colts, Belleville Bulls, Erie, Kitchener and Sudbury Wolves 13, Kingston Frontenacs and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 10, Mississauga eight and Owen Sound Platers-Attack six.rrThat gives the OHL a total of 296 NHL draftees in the last seven years, an average of 42.3 per year. The high total in the period was 52 in 1999. There were 43 OHLers drafted this year.rrThe Battalion’s 2005 draftees comprise defenceman Phil Oreskovic, goaltender Daren Machesney, right winger Luch Aquino and centre John Seymour. Oreskovic was the highest selection, going in the third round to the Toronto Maple Leafs.rrThe first player drafted from the Battalion by an NHL club was centre Jeff Bateman, a fourth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 1999. The Troops had two players selected off their inaugural season, with defenceman Brad Woods taken in the sixth round by Florida.rrThe Battalion’s best NHL Entry Draft showing came in 2000, when six players were taken. After Klesla and Torres in the first round, defenceman Tyler Hanchuck went in the third to the Montreal Canadiens, right winger Aaron Van Leusen in the fourth to the Detroit Red Wings, Flache in the fifth to Edmonton and defenceman Jason Maleyko in the sixth to the Ottawa Senators.r