(Green Bay, WI) – The Green Bay Gamblers selected Team USA defenseman Ethan Straky with their first pick (11th overall) in the 2021 USHL Entry Draft. Straky appeared in 50 games tallying 16 points (2g & 14a). The Notre Dame commit also played for Team USA at the 2021 U18 World Championships this past April/May.
The Gamblers traded the #21 overall pick to Sioux Falls for future considerations.
With the #26th overall pick the Gamblers selected centerman Tim Delay. The Boston College commit averaged over a point a game at St. Sebastian’s.
Other draft picks include forwards Stepan Kuznetsov (New Jersey Rockets), Oliver Stumpel (Reprezentacia SR), Nick Sajevic (Gentry Academy), Jack Plandowski (Bishop Kearney Selects), Riley Fitzgerald (Boston Hockey Academy), Cooper Conway (Andover High School), defensemen Tyler Pfister (Kenai River NAHL), Ross Roloson (Minot NAHL), David Hejduk (Colorado Thunderbirds), Alexandre Perreault (Detroit Little Caesars), Erick Comstock (Warroad H.S.) and goaltenders Austin McNicholas (Salisbury), Max Beckford (Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs) and Klayton Knapp (Tri-City Spartans).
Stumpel, Roloson and Hejduk all have fathers who played in the NHL. Hejduk’s father, Milan won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2000-01. Plandowski’s dad, Daryll, who tallied the game-winning overtime goal for Northern Michigan in the 1991 National Championship game, is the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Arizona Coyotes.
Draft picks, returners and free agents will be in Green Bay, June 19-24 for the team’s tryout camp. Camp takes place at the Resch Center and is open to the public. Camp times will be posted on the Gamblers website www.gamblershockey.com
