Eckford Article

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7248~2239930,00.html

anooks' Eckford tapped in NHL draft

By DANNY MARTIN, Staff Writer

Tyler Eckford, a recruit for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, was selected Sunday in the National Hockey League Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils, who have somewhat of a Nanooks pipeliine.

The Devils chose the 6-foot-3, 215-pound defenseman in the seventh round and as the 217th overall pick among 291 players selected in the two-day, nine-round draft that was conducted in Raleigh, N.C.

Before the draft, the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau ranked Eckford as a seventh-round pick and the 199th selection overall. But the 18-year-old said he was still surprised by the call he received at 7:30 Sunday morning from Devils officials........

The boy isn't 6`1......apparently he grew to 6`3 215..... We drafted 3 huge defensmen this year. 6`4 207, 6`3 203, 6`3 215.

http://www.uafhockey.com/0304/nm/040504.html

He will play another year of BCHL.....here are some quotes about his game.

"Tyler is a very strong defender with good speed and great hands"

"Tyler is a smooth-skating defender who sees the ice well," said UAF assistant coach Jason Lammers. "He's very physical and strong on his skates. I think Tyler will bring a little bit of an attitude to our defense and should be a factor in our power play."

If he really did grow to 6`3 215 like he said Eckford is my fast bet to be the steal of the draft for the Devils.

http://bchl.bc.ca/rosters_profile.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&teamID=27855&playerID=67565

Tyler has been a part of the Eagles affilate team for the past two seasons. This season is his first full season with the club and he has not let anyone down. Tyler is a strong very gofted Defenseman that will help the Eagles power play.

In his last 11 games of the regular season Tyler had 14 points then registered 10 points in 13 playoff games. It was clear the guy improved leaps and bounds throughout the season.

I hope the BCHL-UAF-Jersey connection leads to them signing Kyle Greentree in a year or two.

Kyle Greentree Left Wing
Born Nov 15 1983
Height 6.03 -- Weight 200 -- Shoots L


Regular Season Playoffs
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003-04 Victoria Salsa BCHL 59 62 53 115 170 5 4 5 9 29

The league's leading scorer (goals and points) is going to UAF in the fall... he's a big body who has a good shot and can play it rough.

Great job, J-Mac. Research is really your strength. I could see you working for a NHL team doing research in some capacity. Maybe you should send a resume to Lou. Just make sure it is one page and everything is spelled correctly! ;)

Kyle Greentree sounds great. But there must be a flaw in his game somewhere. It must be his skating or he would have been drafted by now. Am I right about this sveiglar? Either he is slow or has no balance, or both. But if he is as big as a redwood, he can plant himself in front of the net and deflect the puck with his twig. :D

Kyle Greentree sounds great. But there must be a flaw in his game somewhere. It must be his skating or he would have been drafted by now. Am I right about this sveiglar? Either he is slow or has no balance, or both. But if he is as big as a redwood, he can plant himself in front of the net and deflect the puck with his twig. :D

Yeah, his skating isn't world-class, but it is no worse than Voros's was before college. I was surprised that nobody took a ninth-round flyer on him last year when he was eligible (I'm guessing he wasn't eligible this year). If his offense carries over into college, I bet he gets signed somewhere and will at least be a decent AHLer if not more.