2011 ENTRY DRAFT IN FULL SWING



Ty Rattie picked up with 27th overall pick

 Thunder Bay, Ont.- For what has been an otherwise quiet offseason for the Timberwolves, that all ended in round two of the 2011 CCHL Entry Draft.
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Due to not being able to officially trade draft picks for upcoming years, the 27th overall pick belonged to the Winnipeg Ferrets for the purposes of formality. For the purposes of reality, when Ty Rattie of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks' name was called then, he was drafted by the Thunder Bay Timberwolves.
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"We've been high on Ty Rattie all year," said general manager Blake Wendt. "He stands out on an overall loaded team in Portland. Nice hands in tight, good tape-to-tape passes, a nose for scoring big-time goals and alot more cerebral than he's given credit for. We're very happy to be bring him to our hockey club."
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Two picks after Rattie, Thunder Bay picked up defenseman Stuart Percy from the OHL's Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The second year OHLer helped guide the Majors to the a second place finish at the Memorial Cup.
>>>"Percy was a guy that just kept steadily climbing up our list," said Wendt. "He's does nothing flashy, but he's definately gets noticed when you know what you're looking for. He's such a smart player. Doesn't try to do too much, plays a clean, smooth non-dramatic game."
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Two picks later and the Timberwolves dealt centre Jarret Stoll to River Cities for centre Derek MacKenzie and Denver's 2nd round pick held by the Renegades. With that pick, Thunder Bay drafted centre Zack Phillips from the Memorial Cup champion, Saint John Sea Dogs of the OMJHL.
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"Phillips finished second behind Huberdeau (4th overall pick) with 95 points. Obviously Saint John will have alot of players drafted here. We feel we got the best one."
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With the 36th overall pick, he Timberwolves went south other border and took defenseman Scott Mayfield from the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms. Mayfield is slotted to go to Denver University this fall.
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"Mayfield brings with him an edge to his game that made him one of the smarted, physical guys in the USHL," said Wendt. "That being he plays a hard game, but clean and not often caught out of position. When he gets his body on you, he makes it count. But he won't do it if it means he gets burned. We expect him to stayed a couple years or longer at Denver where we're completely comfortable his development will only continue to go north. We're in no hurry or in any rush for any of our prospects."
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After the Mayfield pick-up, Blake Wendt and the Timberwolves moved out some prospects and a roster player to improve the roster with the big club. Sending Ales Hemsky, Michael Latta and Martin Jones to the Hamilton Tigers for Niklas Kronwall, Mike Knuble and $3 million dollars.
>>>"With our projected roster for next season, Knuble is a better fit on the third line than that of Hemsky. Hemmer's a top-6 guy and would just be buried here behind Rick Nash and Marian Gaborik. Kronwall solidifies our D corps and we're now completely comfortable with the group we have going forward into next season.
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So many new faces, and the Timberwolves still have five more rounds and eight more picks in the 2011 Draft.