Buccaneers Drafted By The NHL

With last week’s NHL Entry Draft, 3 members of the 2001-02 Des Moines Buccaneers squad, along with 2 former Buccaneers, saw childhood dreams become a reality. Jeff Genovy ('01-'02, Columbus, 96th overall), Brett Skinner ('01-'02, Vancouver, 68th overall), Jesse Lane ('99-'00, Carolina, 91st overall) and Mike Erickson ('00-'01, Minnesota, 72nd overall) were all selected in the 3rd round of the draft, and Michael Hutchins ('01-'02, San Jose, 288th overall) was chosen in the 9th round.

Two of the three '01-'02 teammates headed to Toronto for the big day: Skinner and Hutchins. Hutchins says that his family turned the event into a vacation. "When my brother Tony was drafted (1996, St. Louis), our family didn't go up, so we thought it would be neat to be there for the experience. I headed up with my mom, dad and 2 grandmas." Genovy stayed home in Kalamazoo, Michigan and kept an eye on the draft selections with his family via the internet. He says, "we had been watching all day...my dad had all kinds of papers and draft info spread all over the place...and as they got to the end of the third round, I got anxious, and figured I was going to go in the next day's picks, so I gave up and went to the golf course. I ended up being the last pick in the 3rd round, so my parents had to phone me at the golf course when the Blue Jackets called our house. Everybody at the course knew what my parents told me when they saw the smile on my face!"

Skinner, drafted by Vancouver, says that the draft was quite an event, involving a trip to the Canuck's table for a jersey, hat and multiple photo ops. "It was exciting...Vancouver has definitely been someplace I've wanted to go, and it's been a fun week here in Brandon (Manitoba), my home town. Hockey is huge here, so I've been getting congratulations everywhere I go, which is really nice."

All 3 of the drafted Buccaneers head to college in August: Skinner to the U. of Denver, Genovy to Clarkson, and Hutchins to the U. of New Hampshire.

Former Buccaneer Hired As Assistant In Tri-City

The Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League have announced the hiring of former Buccaneer Reggie Simon as Assistant Coach for the 2002-03 season. Simon, a native of Elk River, Minnesota, recently graduated from the University of Alaska-Anchorage and spent 5 seasons playing minor league professional hockey with the Mississippi SeaWolves. Simon’s 2 seasons in the USHL as player were spent under Coach Bob Ferguson in Des Moines; he was a member of the 1994-95 Triple Crown team.

This brings the total number of USHL coaches that have played under Ferguson (either in DSM or Sioux City), to 7, including: Mark Carlson and Eric Rud (Head Coach & Assistant, Cedar Rapids), Tim Ferguson and Bryce Macken (Assistants in Des Moines), Reggie Simon (current Assistant in Tri-City), and Nick Krueger and Craig Hagkull (former Assistants in Des Moines).

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