First of all, a tip of the lid is in order to MAINEiacs forward Stefan Chaput taken by the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes with the last pick of the fifth round. ‘Canes GM Jim Rutherford stays true to form by drafting speed and skill and as we all know in MAINEiacs Nation, Chaput supplies both.

Everyone is scratching their heads of why Stefano Giliati wasn’t selected in the draft, and justifiably so. The only thing that makes any sort of sense in this is that scouts may have seen much of Giliati’s success attributed to his playing with Chaput and not based on natural talent alone. Why the Central Scouting Service was fooled into thinking otherwise, only they know. This will be story that I will follow during the upcoming season, and I will talk to scouts from various clubs and get their thoughts on Giliati and will report my findings to you.

With the MAINEiacs poised to make a run for the league championship this season, I don’t view this draft as being all that disappointing. Players like Giliati, Eric Castonguay, Jakub Bundil and Stephan Piche will arrive fired up for the season and will want to prove a point to those that snubbed them, and that can only lead to a good motivation tool to get these players to perform at a high level, and for that, the players, the team and the fans will all win.

Speaking with MAINEiacs GM & Head Coach Clem Jodoin on the snub of Giliati in the draft, “It’s so hard to tell. There were a large number of Americans and Europeans taken in the draft, that may have had something to do with it.” Discussing it further, “When a scout likes a particular player, they take them when the time comes. Giliati in their eyes still has something to prove. If Giliati has a good year (coming up) then he will likely get selected (in the 2007 draft).”

Looking at the rest of the Quebec League, the selections were as follows:

2nd Round:

#35 - WSH - Francois Bouchard, RW - Baie-Comeau
#38 - ANA - Bryce Swan, RW - Halifax
#48 - LA - Joey Ryan, D - Quebec
#53 - MTL - Mathieu Carle, D - Acadie Bathurst

3rd Round:

#71 - BOS - Brad Marchand, C - Moncton
#84 - NYR - Ryan Hillier, LW - Halifax

4th Round:

#117 - BUF - Felix Schutz, C - Saint John
#118 - CGY - Hugo Carpentier, C - Rouyn Noranda
#121- OTT - Pierre-Luc Lessard, D - Gatineau

5th Round:

#127 - WSH - Maxime Lacroix, RW - Quebec
#128 - BOS - Andrew Bodnarchuk, D - Halifax
#142 - CLB - Maxime Frechette, D - Drummondville
#148 - NJD - Olivier Magnan, D - Rouyn-Noranda
#153 - CAR - Stephan Chaput, C - Lewiston

6th Round:

#160 - NYI - Andrew Macdonald, D - Moncton
#175 - PHI - Michael Dupont, G - Baie-Comeau
#177 - WSH - Mathieu Perrault, C - Acadie-Bathurst

7th Round:

#194 - CLB - Matt Marquardt, LW - Moncton
#207 - BUF - Benjamin Breault, C - Baie-Comeau
#208 - NJD - Kyle Henegan, D - Shawinigan

Surprises as far the remainder of the picks go, Euro forward Felix Schutz comes out of nowhere to get selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the 4th round, as he was not listed on the CSS, the same could be said for Maxime Lacroix of Quebec taken by the Washington Capitals early in the fifth round. With Brad Marchand’s selection by the Bruins in the third round, one can easily connect the dots that his stock dramatically increased with his performance in the post-season and Memorial Cup. The selections of Lacroix and Matt Marquardt of Moncton are also likely to have received post season performance consideration as well.

NOTE: The CHL European Entry Draft will be Wednesday, June 28th. The MAINEiacs appear to be making a selection in the first round, #33 overall, and may make a second round selection as well. Follow the action on the MAINEiacs Fan Forum as the link to the draft will be posted there.