(Updated 2:30 p.m., July 31)
Local pair selected in NHL entry draft
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Michael Blunden from Chapel Hill tries on a Chicago Blackhawks cap and jersey for size after being drafted by the NHL team in the second round of Saturday's entry draft. Fred Sherwin/Photo

A pair of former Gloucester minor hockey products will get a shot at playing in the National Hockey League after getting selected in Saturday's NHL entry draft.

Former Gloucester Ranger Minor Hockey Association product and current Erie Otter Michael Blunden was drafted midway through the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks, and Mark Fraser, ex of the Gloucester Rangers and now with the Kitchener Rangers, was selected in the third round by the New Jersey Devils.

Blunden played with the Rangers' organization from atom through until bantam before getting drafted by the Erie Otters in 2002.

In his rookie season with the Otters, the big right winger scored 10 goals and added seven assists in 63 games. That same winter he was a member of Team Ontario at the Canada Winter Games.

In August 2003, Blunden played on the under-18 Junior World Cup Team in Belarus with Sydney Crosby that ended up finishing fourth. In his second season with the Otters, he scored 22 goals and added 17 assists in 52 games despite playing with severe back pain.

He eventually had back surgery in April 2004 and spent the summer getting back into game shape. When he returned to the Otters' line-up, he scored 22 goals and 19 assists in 62 games and was invited to the CHL Top prospects game.

At 6-foot-4 and 210 lbs, Blunden was projected to go high in the draft. Some prognosticators had him going as high as the latter part of the first round. As it turned out, the Blackhawks selected him with the 13th pick in the second round.

While the draft was going on at the Westin Hotel in downtown Ottawa, Blunden and 20 other top prospects were sitting in another room watching the proceedings on closed circuit television. When his name was finally called, he reacted as any young hockey player whose dream is to one day play in the NHL might react -- "I was excited and a little relieved because I didn't know who I was going to and Chicago is a great organization. I know all of their draft picks."

The 18-year-old has a busy few weeks ahead of him. He's been invited to the National Junior Team development camp in Whistler, B.C. from Aug 10 to Aug. 17 and then he's off to the to the Blackhawks rookie camp.

Blunden says his goal heading to his first professional training camp will be simple, have fun and work hard.

"My plan is to just do my best and let whatever happens, happen," says the former Gloucester High School student.

Realistically, Blunden will likely end up back in the OHL for another year where he may end up playing against his younger brother Stephen who was drafted by the Belleville Bulls in August.

Mark Fraser started this past season with the Gloucester Rangers in the CJHL, before making the jump to the OHL in October. A prototypical stay-at-home defenceman, Fraser raised a few eyebrows among NHL scouts in his rookie season, playing on a team that was stacked on the blueline.

A former teammate of Blunden's during his days playing bantam, Fraser kept track of the draft on his home computer with his mother and his older brother Curtis.

"We were listening to the radio and refreshing nhl.com every five seconds," said Fraser when contacted at his mother's Blackburn Hamlet home on Sunday morning. "When New Jersey announced my name, my brother jumped up and gave me a big hug. I knew it was coming, but it was still a big shock."

A former track star at Gloucester High School, Fraser decided to concentrate more on hockey in his major bantam year. At the time he wasn't sure whether to pursue a U.S. hockey scholarship or take the OHL route. He's happy he chose the latter.

"Oh yea, it's worked out great," says Fraser, who attends classes part time at the University of Waterloo.

While Fraser and Blunden are the best of friends off the ice, on the ice they're fierce competitors. Last season, they played each other eight times and during the latter few games, Fraser was usually on the ice the same time as Blunden.

"We played against each other a lot. It was fun," says Blunden with a wry chuckle.

Both players say they've been blessed over the years with great coaches, supportive families and a network of friends and parents who were always there whenever their parents couldn't make it.

"When they announced my name I thought about all the people who helped bring me to this day. There are a lot of them," says Fraser.

Blunden and Fraser both point to their first coach as having the biggest impact on their minor hockey careers. For Blunden it was his Novice Rep B and Minor Atom coach Mark Campbell.

"He helped me a lot. He really got me going on the right path," says Blunden, who also credits his summer hockey coach in bantam, Dave McFadden, for teaching him what it takes to make it to the OHL.

Aside from his former coaches, Fraser remembers his friend's father Roger Smiley playing a big role during his early years in the sport.

"He was just a parent, but he did a lot for us. He would drive us to practice and all the tournaments. He was great. Growing up in the Hamlet we did a lot of car pooling," says Fraser.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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