Nashville Predators Draft Nine Players in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft 06-24-2001
Sunrise, Florida (June 24, 2001) - The Nashville Predators selected four players in the final six (four through nine) rounds of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft today at the National Car Rental Center, bringing their number of drafted players to nine. The Predators opened the second day by trading their fourth (110), fifth (146) and seventh-round selections (208) to the Philadelphia Flyers for Philadelphia's fourth-round selection (98).
With this first pick in the fourth round, Nashville selected right wing Jordin Tootoo (JOHR-dihn TOO-too) of the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). Tootoo, 18 (2/2/83), registered 20 goals, 28 assists and 172 penalty minutes in 60 games for Brandon in 2000-01. The 5-8, 185-pounder was born in Churchill, Manitoba and raised in Rankin Inlet of Canada's Northwest Territories, approximately 1000 miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Tootoo won the hardest shot event (96.1 mph) at this year's Top Prospects Skills Evaluation, and he captained Canada's under-18 team to a gold medal at the 2000 Four Nations tournament in Slovakia.
The Predators selected defenseman Anton Lavrentiev (ANN-than LUH-vrehn-tee-ehv) of Ak Bars Kazan with their sixth-round selection (178th overall). Lavrentiev, a 17-year-old (8/25/83) native of Kazan, Russia is listed at 6-4 and 183-pounds. In the eighth round, Nashville chose center Gustaf Grasberg (GUHS- tuhf GRAHS-buhrg) from Mora of Sweden's first division (Allsvenskan). The 18-year-old (4/6/83) native of Mora, Sweden is 5-11 and weighs 176 pounds. In the ninth round, the Predators drafted 22-year-old (6/21/79) defenseman Mikko Lehtonen (MEE-ko Leh-TOH- nehn). This past season, the 6-1, 194-pound Finland native registered six goals and nine assists in 54 games for Karpat of the Finnish Elite League.
Among the Predators 2001 draft class are five forwards, four defensemen and zero goaltenders. Three selections hail from Russia, there are two each from Canada and Finland, and one each from Slovakia and Sweden. The Predators drafted two 17-year-olds, five 18-year-olds, one 19-year-old and one 22-year-old.
The complete list of Nashville's 2001 draft selections follows: Round (Overall #): Name, Position - Team
1 (12): Dan Hamhuis, D - Prince George (WHL)
2 (33): Timofei Shishkanov, LW - Spartak (Russia - 1)
2 (42): Tomas Slovak, D - Kosice (Slovakia)
3 (75): Denis Platonov, RW - Saratov (Russia - 2) 3 (76): Oliver Setzinger, C - Ilves (Finland)
4 (98 - from PHI): Jordin Tootoo, RW - Brandon (WHL)
4 (110): Traded to Philadelphia
5 (146): Traded to Philadelphia
6 (178): Anton Lavrentiev, D - Kazan 2 (Russia - 2)
7 (208): Traded to Philadelphia
8 (240): Gustaf Grasberg, C - Mora (Sweden - Allsvenskan)
9 (271): Mikko Lehtonen, D - Karpat (Finland)
How many events did Brandon Wheat Kings forward Jordin Tootoo, No. 22, win in yesterday's Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects skills competition?
Why, two of course.
The 5-ft. 9-in, 185-lb. fire hydrant from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, showed both speed and power yesterday at Father David Bauer Arena to win two of the five events in the Team Orr portion of the competition -- scorching the 150-ft. course in a time of 5.668 seconds and topping the radar gun at 96.1 mph to earn the title of hardest shot.
Other winners for Orr's squad included Erie's Carlo Colaiacovo (puck control), Red Deer's Joel Stepp (who was a Stepp ahead of everyone in the 60-ft. dash) and Spokane's Jeff Lucky (full lap).
On the Team Cherry side of things, Kitchener's Derek Roy was king in the puck control despite having to navigate the course twice because of a clock malfunction on his first attempt.
Brampton defenceman Jay Harrison's shot was clocked at 95.4 mph. Other winners were Toronto's Mark Popovic (60-ft. dash), Sherbrooke's Nicolas Corbeil (150-ft. dash) and Regina's Garth Murray (full lap).
Goaltenders had to compete in all the speed and shooting events but the forwards and defencemen did not take part in puck-stopping drills. Then again, neither did the goalies.
"I was talking about that with (fellow Team Cherry goalie) Dan Blackburn," said Daniel Boisclair. "To do breakaways and two-on-ones, the goalies aren't facing the same shots. It's not the same breakaways and it's not the same players shooting, so maybe it's better like this."
Just think. If he were ever to play in the minors in, say, a certain city in the state of Tennessee, he could be ... the Chattanooga Tootoo.
Get Vancouver to draft him, you could pair him with Jarkko Ruutu, and have Ruutu and Tootoo.
"Tootoo to Ruutu, back to Tootoo, over to Ruutu ..." Let's see Jim Hughson get his tongue around that.
He and another famous No. 22 - Dave Williams, could tour together -- doing lord knows what -- as, what, Tiger and the Tank? If Mordecai Richler ever wants to write another sequel to Jacob Two-Two Meets Hooded Fang, well, you can figure out the rest.
Yes, you can almost hear Bob Cole already: "They're not yelling boooo, they're yelling Tooooo."
The kid even brings his own fan club. Well, he did last night anyway.
Who else could those three Nunavut territorial flags that were waving all night have been for?
"It was wonderful," beamed Hunter Tootoo, squeezed against a fence in a crush of people afterwards. "And I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
He definitely came what seemed like halfway around the world to be there, all the way from Iqaluit on Baffin Island, about 2,500 miles "as the crow flies" from Calgary, to see his cousin, Brandon Wheat Kings forward Jordin Tootoo, strut his stuff for the victorious Team Orr.
Hunter, MLA for Iqaluit Centre in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, was one 17-to-20 relatives and friends there to root for the stocky kid from Rankin Inlet, whose playing style resembles one of those old spinning tops as much as anything. Hunter had his family there. Jordin's parents, Barney and Rose, came in from Rankin Inlet.
The expense must've been considerable. Yet who had more fun, they or he is something that will undoubtedly be a lively topic of debate next time they all get together. Whenever that may be.
"This will be the last time I'll see some of them until the summertime," Jordin noted.
"I'll remember this night for the rest of my life. And I think they probably will, too. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was great to have them here and have their support. And it's good for them to get out and see other other parts of the world."
It was also, he pointed out, "the first time some of them have ever seen me play. I hope they enjoyed it. I think my parents probably did the most. I know I tried to give 110 percent. And I think I had a pretty good game, and I'm happy about that."
Tootoo's selection was a big deal all over Nunavut, where a total of 27,000 people are scattered across 26 communities. "People who don't know him have been telling us how proud they are," reported Hunter. "He's a real role model, and it shows that you can do something if you want to."
Tootoo was held pointless, but that was irrelevant. He played his usual kamikaze game, and that's what he wanted to do. "I can't change my style," he smiled. "I try and add a little intensity and enthusiasm to the game."
He also, he reckoned, held up well under the pressure.
"I wasn't nervous at all," he insisted.
Best part, aside from all the kinfolk? That was easy.
"Having Bobby Orr as my coach," he beamed. "He's the greatest, and to turn around and see him back there was unbelievable."
Tootoo's tale testimony of talent
Wheat King journeys to junior hockey pinnacle from a distant world
A New York Rangers logo, complete with the image of the Statue of Liberty, adorns Jordin Tootoo's T-shirt.
If he actually sees the real thing in New York, it will be the end of a fascinating journey to the NHL.
He's a fireplug right-winger with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League who turns 18 next week and has been selected to play in the 2001 Prospects Game on Feb. 7 at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Only players who have impressed National Hockey League scouts receive invitations to play in the showcase. But there's regular business to attend to first. Tootoo will be in the Wheat Kings lineup for tonight's tilt against the Calgary Hitmen at the 'Dome. He was out with a knee injury and missed the Wheat Kings' first visit to Calgary on Dec. 5, when they shaded the Hitmen 3-2 in overtime.
Born and raised in Rankin Inlet, a community of 2,300 in Nunavut, Canada's newest territory, Tootoo says "my father was born on the land."
The town sits on the shores of Hudson Bay, more than "800 miles as the crow flies," north of Churchill, Man.
"My father taught my family how to feed itself and live off the land," he said Tuesday.
These days, Rankin Inlet has the modern conveniences of a prairie town, but Tootoo never has forgotten his roots.
"I guess I have two different worlds," he said. "The kids up north think it's the only thing. They don't see big city life. They think the north is where they're going to live for the rest of their lives."
During the summer months, his days were filled with caribou hunting on land, beluga whale and seal hunting on the bay. But the winters were long, made tolerable by the natural-ice, indoor hockey rink at Rankin Inlet.
The weather was a matter of adjustment. Tootoo said it might be harsh, but the residents learn to cope.
"We'd wear caribou boots and caribou pants and seal-skin mitts," he said. "It all was hand-made."
It was at the rink where Tootoo excelled. Brandon coach Bob Lowes says a late start in organized hockey -- this marks Tootoo's fourth year -- hasn't hurt the player one iota.
"If anything, it's refreshing," said Lowes. "Sometimes, kids push through organized hockey, but he played shinny and that can make you a better player."
Tootoo was picked up for a native bantam tournament in Edmonton, and that led to an opportunity play bantam at Spruce Grove in the 1997-98 season.
"My mom wasn't too keen on letting me go, but my father saw it as a place my career was going to start. When I got to Edmonton, I was too scared to go outside. I just stayed in the house. There were so many vehicles and people around."
Tootoo conquered that fear. He was recruited as a 15-year-old by the OCN Blizzard at The Pas, Man., to play in the Manitoba junior league ('98-99). The Wheat Kings chose him in the third round of the 1998 bantam draft and he's in his second WHL season.
This season, Tootoo has scored 13 goals and 20 assists for the Wheaties, who are clinging to the eighth and final playoff position in the East-Central Division. The five-foot-nine, 182-pounder's 119 penalty minutes speak volumes of his grit.
"He's a talented player and is very hard-nosed," said Wheat Kings general manager Kelly McCrimmon. "He's not that tall, it's one of the obstacles he will have to overcome. But you only have to watch him play for an extended period and you realize there are so many strengths to his game that he'll overcome the height problem."
A CBC documentary featuring Tootoo and older brother Terrence, who plays in The Pas, is scheduled to air on Feb. 24.
Tootoo never tires of talking about life in Nunavut.
"City life, you always have to make time, you have to plan ahead," said Tootoo. "At home, you go with the flow and have time to kill. That's what I miss."
A short summer is a fact of life for elite hockey players. While lesser players may kick back and relax, the best players often find their summers just as busy as their winters. That drawback doesn't really bother brothers Terence and Jordin Tootoo, though. Given a choice, neither would have missed playing hockey this past summer.
Rather than take time off to prepare for their coming junior hockey seasons in Manitoba, the two Rankin Inlet forwards competed in international tournaments in Europe. Terence helped Team Indigenous, coached by former Buffalo Sabres' coach Ted Nolan, finish fifth in a 12-team tourney in Finland. Jordin, meanwhile, was part of the gold-medal winning Canadian National Under-18 squad at the Four Nations Cup. Not only was he part of the team he was named team captain. The Hockey Hall of Fame, which collects artifacts from national and international tournaments that Canada plays in, has since inducted Jordin's National Under-18 jersey, along with his 1999/2000 Canada Winter Games jersey the first time the new territory of Nunavut played in that competition. The National Under-18 team felt pressure to win its tournament, since Canada was the defending champion. "We knew Canada had won it four years in a row, and we didn't want to be the ones that broke that streak," says 17-year-old Jordin. "The guys weren't talking much in the dressing room (before the final game's third period), but we just went out and played our game." They overcame a 1-0 third-period deficit to win 3-1 and capture gold for a fifth straight year. Jordin, in his second season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL), says playing in that tournament was a real high point of his hockey career. Twenty-year-old Terence, who is in his final year of play with the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), echoed that sentiment. "It was a great experience," he says. "I've never been overseas, and just getting that chance was great." While he was expecting some surprises, the biggest surprise came from an autograph seeker. "Someone came up to me who had my OCN hockey card from last year I don't know how he got it, he didn't speak English and he asked me to sign it. I couldn't believe it." Both brothers like to play a physical in-your-face style of hockey, so playing on a wider ice-surface with no red line required some adjustments. It took only a few practices for them to work out the bugs, though. Coming from the small community of Rankin Inlet, neither brother ever envisioned going as far as they have in hockey. Making it to an elite level under those circumstances, they often find themselves the focus of media attention, some of it at the national level. They don't mind being in the spotlight, though, because that makes it easier for their family to follow their progress. Terence also found himself the focus of last year's OCN silent auction team fund-raiser. His jersey was sold for a record $10,000 because the eventual buyers wanted to own a matching set. "They bought my brother's jersey the year before, so they really wanted to have both jerseys. They're now hanging side-by-side in the Swampy Creek Tribal Council office." While the sweaters are together, the brothers are not. Two years ago, they helped OCN win the MJHL championship. Last year Jordin decided to play in the WHL, as he is eligible for the NHL draft at the end of the 2000-2001 season. They miss each other sometimes, but they talk on the telephone regularly. Each realizes he has to follow his own path. "We knew there was going to be a time when we had to split," says Jordin. "Terence wants to try for a college scholarship, but I wanted to get some WHL experience before my draft year. "Hopefully, someday we might play together again." This past summer's international experience may pay dividends to Terence in his quest for a scholarship. The University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks are recruiting him to play Division I hockey. American college hockey is more wide-open, and like the European game, there is no red line. Terence is cautiously excited about the prospect of earning a scholarship. "It's a full-ride scholarship for four years, everything is paid for," he said. "But I have to pass my SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) first." Both brothers stress the importance of education. "It's very important for young kids to get their schooling," Jordin says, " because you're not going to be hockey players all your life. "You have to have something to fall back on," agrees Terence.
CANADA'S NATIONAL UNDER 18 TEAM LOSES FIRST EXHIBITION GAME 6-4 AGAINST THE CZECH REPUBLIC; JORDIN TOOTOO, OF RANKIN INLET, NUNAVUT, NAMED CAPTAIN CALGARY, AB - Canada's National Under 18 Team lost its first exhibition game overseas 6-4 to the Czech Republic Under 18 Team, in Havlichuv Brod on Sunday, August 13th, less than 48 hours after arriving in Europe.
The score was even 2-2 after the first, but the Czech Republic scored three straight power play goals to take a lead they would never relinguish. Stephen Weiss, Jay McClement, Duncan Milroy and Trevor Daley scored for Canada. Daniel Blackburn and Drew McIntyre shared goaltending duties.
Prior to the game, the coaching staff announced that Jordin Tootoo would be the team's captain. The native of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, is the first player from the newly formed territory to be play with Canada's National Under 18 Team. Tootoo plays with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings.
The coaching staff also named the Ottawa 67's Brendan Bell, of Nepean, ON, and the Seattle Thunderbirds' Matthew Spiller, of Daysland, AB as assistant captains.
Canada's National Under 18 Team plays the Czech Republic Under 18 Team in two more exhibition games, before taking part in the 4 Nations Under 18 Tournament in Kezmarok, Slovakia from August 18-20. Canada's next game will be on Monday, August 14th in Trebic, Czech Republic.
IQALUIT Junior hockey star Jordin Tootoo may be small, but all over Nunavut people are looking up to him.
That's because he plays so big.
"I definitely play above my size and I think that's because I have a big heart," Tootoo said. "My work ethic really helps me out."
Originally from Rankin Inlet, the fiery 5-foot-9 right-winger is poised to become the first Inuk and, the first person from Nunavut to play in the National Hockey League.
Tootoo's hockey career can only be described as meteoric.
Just four short years ago, as a young teenager, he was playing in scrappy pick-up games at Rankin's Inlet ramshackle rink.
Now, as a second-year standout with the junior league Brandon, Man., Wheat Kings, he's skyrocketed from the Hudson Bay coast to the brink of the big leagues.
Tootoo turned 18 this month, making him eligible for this summer's NHL draft. As of mid-January professional scouts were ranking him the 96th best junior player in North America. That positions him to be picked early in the fourth round.
But after a take-no-prisoners performance as the CHL Top Prospects Game at the Calgary Saddledome two weeks ago, he could be snapped up even earlier.
The Feb. 8 event brought together 40 of Canada's best young hopefuls to show off their talent under the watchful eyes of recruiters from the NHL's 30 franchises.
Tootoo's team, coached by Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr, won 5-3.
But it was in the skills contest before the game where Tootoo really shone. Of the 40 prospects, Tootoo had the 10th fastest lap around the rink, the second quickest 150-foot dash, and the hardest shot a blazing slapshot that sent the puck rocketing at 96.1 miles-per-hour.
Tootoo said he was shocked that he could shoot a puck so hard.
"That was the first time ever to record my shot," he said. "I knew I had a pretty hard shot but I thought I'd be in the average among the top prospects there.
"Hopefully I caught the eyes of a lot of scouts out there... I'm pretty sure it helped me out in the rankings."
Tootoo said he doesn't care which NHL team picks him as long as he gets chosen.
"Whoever takes me I'd just go and I'd be pretty pumped up about it," he said. "I'm not to keen on being greedy with who I want to go to."
Tootoo plays a brand of in-your-face hockey that belies his small size. He's been described as a 180-pound fireplug: short, powerful and impossible to knock down.
He handles the puck with finesse but eagerly doles out crunching body checks.
His rough-and-tumble style comes from taking on his big brother and other older players in Rankin Inlet, Tootoo said.
"I always played with older guys. They were tough on me all the time and it just made me a stronger person."
Tootoo's brother, Terence, has also become something of a hockey star. As a 20-year-old he's in his fourth year with the MJHL's Opaskwayan Cree Nation Blizzard in The Pas, Man.
Terence has been trying to get his test scores up so he can go to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where the highly-rated Nanooks squad wants him to play Division I college hockey. Jordin opted for a different route. He left home at 14 to play bantam AAA hockey in Spruce Grove, Alta., near Edmonton. Then he joined Terence for a season with the Blizzard, where together they won the MJHL league championship.
In 1999, Jordin moved to Brandon to lace up his skates with the Western Hockey League's Wheat Kings, who drafted him in the third round.
In his rookie season with the Wheat Kings, Tootoo tallied six goals and 10 assists, but piled up a massive 214 penalty minutes and saw long stretches of bench time due to several injuries, including a concussion.
He's doing far better this year: his 15 goals and 25 assists make him one of the leading point-getters on the team. Many say he's Brandon's top all-around player.
Tootoo has made a name for himself in international competition as well. Last August, as the captain of Canada's under-18 team, he led his teammates to the gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Slovakia.
In doing so he became the first Nunavut player to represent Canada overseas. After the game, his jersey number 22 was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Tootoo's proud to serve as a role model for other young Northern and aboriginal hockey hopefuls. But he warns them that it's a tough path to tread. He's had to sacrifice himself, he said, leaving his parents, relatives and friends behind in order to pursue a career on the ice.
His mother, Rose, seems to feel the sacrifice was worth it. Rinkside at the Top Prospects Game in Calgary, she cried when her son's name was announced.
"I was ecstatic," she said. "I just couldn't believe it. I watched and said, Here's my son.' Tears just started trickling down."
True to his Nunavut roots Jordin Tootoo isn't your average junior hockey player.
When Tootoo gets a mid-season care package from his mom, it consists of a cooler full of raw caribou, arctic char and beluga whale.
In the summer, you're more likely to find him hunting and trapping with his dad and older brother up north than lacing up the blades at a power-skating school in the city.
GROWS UP
But in one respect, Tootoo is just like every other teenager who grows up with a hockey stick in his hands and dreams in his head: he wants to play in the NHL.
"I'm not trying to think about that too much -- the playoffs are here right now, and I'm just focusing on the first round," the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-foot-9 wrecking ball said before last night's game against the Swift Current Broncos at the Arena. "It is one of my biggest goals. Little things lead to big things."
This little guy is already a very big thing -- a role model for the aboriginal community and the most popular player in Brandon.
Born in Churchill and raised in the isolated community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Tootoo is trying to become the first person of Inuit descent to play in the NHL. Despite the fact he's only played organized hockey for five years, he'll likely be drafted this summer.
Scouts like his skills -- he's fast and has a great shot -- and his fearless attitude: a recent poll of GMs, coaches and players pegged him the most dominant body-checker in the WHL's Eastern Conference.
Collisions with Tootoo often leave bigger, heavier players looking like they went 10 rounds with a half-starved polar bear.
"You always have to be prepared," said Duncan Milroy of the Broncos. "He's coming at you 100 m.p.h., like a train."
With 20 goals this season and two years of junior to go, Tootoo, 18, appears poised to become a dominant force in the WHL.
But as helter-skelter as his on-ice style is, he remains well-grounded off it, thanks to his parents.
Take his father, Barney, a fire hydrant of a man who's hunted and trapped in and around Rankin Inlet most of his life.
"Ever since we were younger, my dad always brought us out on the land," Tootoo said. "We try and keep our traditions strong."
A couple years back, dad took sons Jordin and Terence to the place where he was born -- along a trap line outside Rankin Inlet.
The group bagged a nine-foot beluga whale and, while dad chopped it up, the boys stood guard with rifles, on the lookout for hungry polar bears. Earlier that summer, a woman had been killed in that same spot by a bear out to get an easy meal.
Kind of makes a 6-foot-plus opponent look like easy pickings, doesn't it?
There was the time Tootoo suffered a large gash on his hand harpooning a seal. A few weeks later, he was ready to drop the gloves and take on all comers at his first Wheat Kings training camp.
It's been this way ever since Tootoo's parents realized he was too good to play with kids his own age.
"When I was younger, I always played with older guys," Tootoo said. "And they were always hard on me. So I always had to play tougher. I always had to play above my size."
IDOL WAS CLARK
Growing up, his idol was Leafs forward Wendel Clark. Now, Tootoo is the one being idolized.
The autograph lineups are long when Tootoo makes an appearance at a Brandon-area school or on a nearby reserve. The right-winger won't leave until he's signed every one, like his mom and dad taught him.
Up at Rankin Inlet, more and more kids are playing hockey.
"I try to be a role model for them," he said. "Hopefully, they'll have someone to look up to and set goals for themselves.
"I'm a small guy. I've got to overcome some adversity. It all comes from the heart -- how bad you want it."
The odds are against Tootoo making the NHL, although his coach, Bobby Lowes, says he wouldn't count him out.
If he does make it, he'll be the only one bringing beluga meat to the team windup, as he once did with the Wheat Kings.
"I don't think he'll change," Barney Tootoo said. "He's been all over the place already... and he's still the same Jordin."
Preds snap up Tootoo
It was a day of firsts for Jordin Tootoo.
The spunky Brandon Wheat Kings winger became the first player from Nunavet to be chosen in the NHL entry draft. He was picked first in the fourth round.
And he may have been speechless for the first time when his his agent, Don Meehan, called first thing yesterday morning and let him listen to his name being announced as a pick of the Nashville Predators.
"I just went blank. I was pretty excited about it," said Tootoo, who hails from Rankin Inlet. "Hopefully it will open some doors for Inuit people and show them if they set goals they can achieve them."
The 5-foot-8 spark-plug went into the draft ranked 62nd among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Throw in all the eligible Europeans, the goaltenders and his small stature and the betting was Tootoo, who had 48 points (20-28) this past season, would be a fourth rounder at best.
But a lot of times all a player needs is someone to go to the mat for him on draft day. For Tootoo, that was former Wheat King goalie Rick Knickle, now a Predators scout.
"He seemed pretty interested. We've become pretty good buddies," said Tootoo, who will go to Nashville for a conditioning camp July 5-13.
"It's ironic to be picked by the Predators. I look at myself as a predator on the ice. It's going to be a great ride."
Tootoo's teammate Jiri Jakes, a 6-foot-4 winger from the Czech Republic, was taken in the fifth round, 147th overall, by Boston.
Winnipeg's Scott Kelman knows how Tootoo feels. He was a first round pick, 15th overall, of the Phoenix Coyotes two years ago. But it's a different state of mind for him this morning. He didn't sign with Phoenix so he re-entered the draft. His name, though, wasn't called in any of the nine rounds.
"(Yesterday) morning was a little disappointing, but it's not the end of the world. By no means is my hockey career over," said Kelman, who had 44 points for the Moose Jaw Warriors last season. "I just have to prove them wrong, it's a fresh start for me.
"There will be a lot less pressure on me, maybe I can relax and just start playing my game."
Kelman said a serious shoulder injury could've affected his stock. He's hoping to get a free-agent tryout with an NHL team. Failing that, he might return to junior as an overage player. He points out six overagers got free-agent deals this year, including St-Lazare's Christian Chartier, a Prince George Cougars defenceman, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"He got $750,000, so (not getting drafted) doesn't mean anything. I have a good season and everything changes," said Kelman.
Winnipeg's Matt Suderman, a 6-foot-2, 224-pound Saskatoon Blades defenceman who wasn't on Central Scouting's list, was picked in the seventh round, 199th overall, by the Atlanta Thrashers. Selkirk Steeler forward Andrew Murray, 20, was taken in the eighth (242nd) by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the ninth and final round, Regina Pats centre Grant Jacobsen of Neepawa was selected by St. Louis (270th).
Manitobans eligible but not drafted included goaltenders Lanny Ramage (Portland) of Baldur and Robert McVicar (Brandon) and forwards Luke Molotowsky (Portland) from Selkirk and Chris Falloon (Prince George) of Souris.
While in Canada between Christmas and New Year's, this reporter found a newspaper article that began with a cooking tip from the Tootoo brothers: When boiling a caribou head, cut it in half with a wood saw first.
Well, I've got the saw, but ...
The Tootoos are brothers and linemates for the Opaskwayak Cree Nation Blizzard. Most people -- around the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, that is -- refers to the team by its diminutive: the OCN Blizzard. The two brothers, Terence Tootoo, 18, and Jordin Tootoo, 15, are Inuits from Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories, on the shore of Hudson Bay.
The Caribou head comes south a couple of times a year, from their mom. Usually, it's topped with slabs of seal meat and beluga whale blubber. It's best to boil a caribou head outdoors, as the odor is strong.
"Gotta have the raw stuff once in a while," Jordin told the reporter.
Jordin is the 15 year old, and he'll likely be playing for the WHL Brandon Wheat Kings next season. Blizzard coach Gardiner MacDougall, who first saw the Tootoos at a midget AAA training camp in Thompson, Manitoba, calls Jordin the toughest player pound-for-pound that he has ever coached.
Both Tootoos run about 5'8", 160 lbs.and are known for their bone-crunching hits -- their line is called the Crash-Bang-Boom line. Here we quote from the paper: "When Terence and Jordin hop the boards, they are immediately recognizable as the fastest-streaking skaters in the fray. They are like pinballs racking up high scores. They are clean hitters who rarely pass a shift without showing a bigger, taller opponent a head-on-the-ice view of the arena lights."
Since this reporter doesn't have it in the budget to make it up to the Cree Nation's home rink in The Pas, Manitoba (that's a seven-hour drive north of Winnipeg), we asked a WHL scout of our acquantaince about the Tootoos. "They are both fearless," he said, "like kamikaze pilots, and they are both good scrappers." He added that Jordin appears set on taking the major junior route, but that older brother Terence is hoping for a scholarship from a U.S. college. Briefly, here's the report on Terence: "Small, but very aggressive. A good skater, but not a gifted scorer. His strength is his tenacity and competitiveness. What will hurt his chances at Div. I play is his size and lack of organized hockey experience."
Well, there are plenty of teams top-heavy with jaded suburban kids. Having a Terence Tootoo somewhere in the lineup might come in handy.