After today, the Blast might be looking for a few good men. That?s because they could be losing a few.
The Major Indoor Soccer League will conduct its expansion draft today, when new franchises in Newark (N.J.), Monterrey, Mexico and Orlando start building their respective teams.
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Each of the six standing teams in the MISL will lose five players, as the 10-round draft will pluck 30 players from their current rosters.
“We were really very happy with our roster last year. We had a lot of injuries that cost us a shot at a championship run,” Blast President/General Manager Kevin Healey said. “Losing players is never good. ? Its not the part of the sports business that you enjoy.”
Each team will be allowed to protect eight players. The Blast, which has prided itself in recent years on being able to keep together a veteran core while developing youthful depth, faced several difficult choices.
“It?s a tough decision that you go through, particularly when you can only protect eight players,” Healey said. “When it?s less players, it becomes a tougher decision.”
The list of eight has been turned in, but the decision-making isn?t done.
Once a Blast player is chosen by one of the three expansion teams, the Blast can pull back two players. Players selected in the collegiate draft are automatically protected in the expansion draft.
The Blast has 21 players on its roster, including Jonathan Steele, who was suspended on March 27 and didn?t finish the season. Thirteen of those 21 players will be available when the draft begins at 4 p.m. The yet-to-be-named Monterrey club will open each round, followed by the New Jersey Ironmen and Orlando Sharks. Due to a bevy of pre-draft trades, the Philadelphia KiXX will select first overall, having acquired the pick from Monterrey.
Blasted draft
If leftunprotected, these Blast players are most likely to be selected:
» Matt Watson, 22, is considered the fastest player on the team. The UMBC product could go early.
» Mike Lookingland, another UMBC product, was an All-Rookie selection last year as a defender. It?s unlikely the Blast will let both he and Watson leave.
» Brian Rowland is among the top back-up goalkeepers in the league, and could be the first keeper off the board. Each team is allowed to protect just one keeper on the initial list.
» Jonathan Steele was suspended after an altercation with the coaching staff. However, his talent cannot be overlooked.
» Gordon Chin, Cristian Neagu and Patrick Ouckama could all be leaving. A least one will go. Neagu battled injuries throughout last season, while Chin and Ouckama spent some time on the inactive list.
