TORONTO – The Toronto Rock announced their list of protected players today, in advance of the July 12 NLL Expansion Draft in which new teams from Chicago and New York will build their rosters.
The 2006 Expansion Draft is scheduled for Wednesday July 12 at 4 p.m. EST. The two new franchises bring the league’s total number of teams to 13. Chicago and New York will each select eleven players from the rosters of the existing NLL franchises.
Protected List
F Colin Doyle
D Patrick Merrill
F Aaron Wilson
D Rob Marshall
F Blaine Manning
D Phil Sanderson
F Josh Sanderson
D Derek Suddons
D Brad MacDonald
F Jim Veltman
D Scott Campbell
F Tim O’Brien
D Chris Driscoll
G Bob Watson
“Appreciating that we can only protect a limited number of players, we believe that we have made the correct decisions for both the present and future of our franchise,” said Rock director of lacrosse operations, Mike Kloepfer.
Each of the 11 returning National Lacrosse League clubs can protect 14 players. Clubs may either protect one goaltender and 13 of its runners (forwards/defenseman/transition players) or two goaltenders and 10 runners.
During the Expansion Draft, once a player is selected from an existing club, the club is then allowed to protect one of its remaining unprotected players. No team may lose more than two of its players in the Expansion Draft. Once two players from a club have been selected, the club’s remaining unprotected players are no longer available in the Expansion Draft.
In 2005, the Rock lost F Sandy Chapman (picked by Edmonton, later traded to Rochester for Andy Turner) and D Luke Forget (picked by Portland).
A coin toss between the expansion clubs was held earlier this month at the league’s Board of Governors Meetings at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. New York won the coin toss and was given the option of either selecting first in the Expansion Draft or the 2006 Entry Draft. New York chose to select first in the Entry Draft. As a result, the Chicago Shamrox have the first selection in the Expansion Draft. Details surrounding the 2006 Entry Draft will be announced at a later date.
The 2005 Expansion Draft, in which the expansion Edmonton Rush and Portland Lumberjax drafted players, produced talented players that included the leading goal scorers for each club last season. Mike Hominuck (28 goals for the LumberJax) was selected first overall by Portland from the Buffalo Bandits. Kevin Howard (21 goals for the Rush) was selected fourth overall by Edmonton from the Calgary Roughnecks. Ryan Sharp, selected by Portland, made the 2006 West All-Star team as a defenseman. Pat Campbell, a goaltender selected by Edmonton, started fourteen games in net for the Rush. Other players selected included goaltender Rob Blasdell, who became the starting goaltender in Arizona (via trade from Edmonton) and forward Cory Bomberry, who became a key contributor for Buffalo (via trade from Edmonton) in their run to the 2006 Championship Game.
The Expansion Draft will take place on Wednesday, July 12th at 4PM Eastern via conference call. Results will be posted live at the league’s official website, nll.com. The selection order for the draft is as follows:
2006 NLL Expansion Draft Order
1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Chicago
4. New York
5. Chicago
6. New York
7. Chicago
8. New York
9. Chicago
10. New York
11. Chicago
12. New York
13. Chicago
14. New York
15. Chicago
16. New York
17. Chicago
18. New York
19. Chicago
20. New York
21. Chicago
22. New York
