Halifax Floor Hockey League
Keane Fire
Keane Fire captain Harvey Snelgrove had the honours of getting the 2002B draft started. Overall, Snelgrove did not select any rookies, after admitting that his scouting staff spent more time in the bar than at the gym in the pre-season. Speaking of spending time in the bar, Snelgrove managed to acquire the services of pals Trevor Murphy, Barrie Harvey, and Steve Chiasson. Returning to the Fire this season are Bruce Greer, Gian Scalet, and Kevin Haddad -- who will be playing in his eighth consecutive season with the Fire. Also back with the Fire is the only brother-sister combination in league history: Ian and Amy Scott. But Snelgrove is hoping that the cornerstone of his team will be highly touted defenseman Jehad Chedrawy, who will be returning to the league after a one-season absence. Also new to the Fire will be Steve Sney, who debuted for the ADC Lynx last season.
Sunnydale Slayers
Coming off another mediocre season, Paul Chui was hoping to inject some new life into a team that had never finished a season with more than three wins. Hampering Chui's task, was the retirement of skilled Slayers Dion Dooley, Shawn Currie and Rob Romaine. Despite those losses, Chui was able to retain the rights to Chris Griffin, Kenzie Royal, Jake Haddad and Rene Aucoin. This will be the sixth consecutive season that Royal will don the Slayers jersey. Chui hopes that the team's grit will be provided by Jason Powell, John Matheson, and Glen MacCullough. The Slayers will have only one rookie on their team in 2002B, as Chui selected Joe Abi Daoud. But Chui will be looking to first-time Slayers Rob Tyrrell and Phil Pellerin to provide the spark in a Slayers offense that has historically underperformed. Tyrrell still has the record for most goals in a season other than 2000B (in which a smaller gym and larger net was used).
Keane Chill
The biggest change in the Keane Chill's organization came before the first selection was made in the 2002B draft. Earlier in the day, Chill captain and league commissioner Michael Griffiths announced that he would be stepping down as the captain of the Chill and handing the reigns over to forward Greg Foran. As part of the agreement with the league, Foran would be able to protect his goaltender friend Jeff McCarthy, who has never played a game in the league. When the draft was all said and done, Griffiths was still a member of the Chill, along with Tony Joyce and Mark Smith. Foran was the riskiest drafter, acquiring five rookies in total. Foran will likely be looking for leadership from veterans Rob Sasco and Jason Royal, who will both be joining the Chill for the first time.
ADC Lynx
Historically, loyalty has run rampant on draft day in the ADC FHL. Last Friday was no exception -- especially for the ADC Lynx. Eight of the eleven players on the 2002B version of the Lynx have played for the team before. And who can blame captain Richard Wannamaker for keeping so many Lynx, since his team has been a threat to capture the title in each season that they've been in existance. Ex-Lynx players returning to their team are Wannamaker, Pete Bezanson, Jason Fitzgerald, Craig Mercer, Mike Hashem, Blaise MacPhee, Tony Warnell and goaltender Tony McCarthy. Seven of those eight players played their first FHL game for the Lynx with the sole exception being Hashem. Additionally, Wannamaker picked up rookies Shawn Bigg and Chris Davison. Likely slotting into the backup goalie role will be utility-man Peter Rankin, who will now have played for every team in the league except for the Keane Fire.
LAN Hackers
Even though John Dulong's Hackers have won five of the seven championships in the league's history, the 2002B draft was incredibly the first time that he did not pick last overall. Picking fifth out of six teams must have made the draft seem like a walk in the park for the crafty Dulong. Dulong relied on the highest paid scouting staff in the league, researching players from leagues across the city. Those scouting reports may have paid off, as Dulong snagged highly regarded rookies Donnie Bailey and Eddie Dwyer in hopes of replacing one of the greatest defenseman the FHL has ever seen, Matt Monk, who retired after three seasons and one championship. Dulong was also able to retain several 2002A Hackers: Scott Ferguson, Chris Rafuse, Terry Davison, Virag Pandya and of course John Price. Other players signed by Dulong include potential back-up goalie Jason Chan, tough defenseman Darren Derocher and Jamie Houghton from the Lite-Sabres 2002A championship team.
Lite-Sabres
After his team won the championship for the second time in three seasons, Sabre captian Chris McMaster had a few things on his mind going into Friday's draft. "In the draft following our first championship, I lost nearly everybody from our winning team," said McMaster prior to the draft, "I'm not going to make that mistake again." McMaster followed through with that promise, retaining five of the seven available Sabres from the previous season. Only Jamie Houghton and Jason Fitzgerald were lost to other teams. Playoff hero Kathleen MacDonald retired at the pinacle of her career, as did Peter Rowe, who accepted an offer from a Newfoundland team after never losing a game in his remarkable two-season FHL career. Also retiring from the Sabres was underrated defenseman Neil Melanson, who left after only one season in the league. Melanson, a high school friend of McMaster's, officially left due to scheduling conflicts -- but insiders suggest that it was more likely a salary issue. McMaster will look to fill those voids with league veterans David Watson, Spiro Bokolas and Damian Ho. Returning to defend the Sabres' crown will be Dennis Drapeau, Dan Culligan, Dave MacKenzie, Mike Sullivan, and Chad Griffin. The Sabres will have two rookies in the lineup in 2002B: Owen Barnhill and Adam Pettigrew. McMaster revealed that Pettigrew will be starting the season in goal for the Sabres, while McMaster nurses a broken collarbone and separated shoulder as a result of an off-season touch football incident.