Detroit Gladiators Announce WHA Draft Picks Dany Heatley, Kariya Brothers Among Detroit Top Picks PONTIAC, Mich., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Detroit Gladiators, the Detroit franchise of the World Hockey Association, selected left wing Dany Heatley as its first pick in the WHA Free Agent Draft on July 17. Detroit had the third pick overall, behind Quebec and Halifax. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040630/DEW024LOGO ) Heatley spent the last three seasons playing for the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL. Prior to that, he played for the University of Wisconsin. "We are thrilled we were able to get a player the caliber of Dany Heatley," said Gladiator Head Coach Moe Mantha. "We really wanted him because of his agility, speed and ability to play on the wide open ice. One of the things that will make the WHA exciting for fans is the absence of the red line, which will open up the action." Heatley's younger brother, Mark, was selected by the Gladiators in the 16th round of the WHA Entry Draft. Detroit also picked Steve Kariya and Martin Kariya in Rounds 5 and 13 of the Free Agent Draft, respectively. They are the younger brothers of NHL star Paul Kariya. The complete list of free agent picks for Detroit are as follows, including round, overall pick number and 2003-04 team. Complete stats for each player can be found at http://www.detroitgladiators.com/ : Round 1, #3 - Dany Heatley, Left Wing, Atlanta Thrashers (NHL) Round 2, #14 - Drake Berehowsky, Defense, Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) Round 3, #19 - Mike Zigomanis, Center, Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) Round 4, #30 - Chris Nielsen, Center, Manitoba Moose (AHL) Round 5, #35 - Steve Kariya, Wing, Albany River Rats (AHL) Round 6, #46 - Patrick DesRochers, Goalie, Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) Round 7, #51 - Alexander Perezhogin, Right Wing, Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) Round 8, #62 - Michael Henrich, Right Wing, Toronto Roadrunners (AHL) Round 9, #67 - Todd Elik, Center, Davos (Swiss) Round 10, #78 - Dmitri Yushkevich, Defense, Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (Russia) Round 11, #83 - Brad Tiley, Defense, Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) Round 12, #94 - Jason Jaspers, Center, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL) Round 13, #99 - Martin Kariya, Forward, Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) Round 14, #110 - Darren Van Oene, Left Wing, Providence Bruins (AHL) Round 15, #115 - Chris Hajt, Defense, Washington Capitals (NHL) Round 16, #126 - Beat Forster, Defense, Davos (Swiss) Round 17, #131 - Chad Wiseman, Right Wing, New York Rangers (NHL) Round 18, #142 - Seamus Kotyk, Goalie, Cleveland Barons (AHL) Round 19, #147 - Greg Jacina, Center, San Antonio Rampage (AHL) Round 20, #158 - Jeremy Stevenson, Left Wing, Nashville Predators (NHL) Round 21, #163 - Michael Schutte, Defense, Houston Aeros (AHL) Round 22, #174 - Craig Anderson, Goalie, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) Round 23, #179 - Ryan Ready, Left Wing, Worcester IceCats (AHL) Round 24, #190 - Chris Hartsburg, Center, Albany River Rats (AHL) Round 25, #195 - Ted Drury, Center, Kassel Huskies (DEL) Round 26, #206 - Andrew "Bubba" Berenzweig, Defense, Utah Grizzlies (AHL) Round 27, #211 - Craig Mills, Right Wing, St. John's Maple Leafs (AHL) Round 28, #222 - Patrick Traverse, Defense, Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) Round 29, #227 - Serge Payer, Center, Ottawa Senators (NHL) Round 30, #238 - Mike Brown, Wing, Binghamton Senators (AHL) The first overall pick in the Free Agent Draft was Simon Gagne, center for the Philadelphia Flyers last season, who was chosen by Quebec. With the first pick in the Entry Level Draft on July 18, Toronto selected Sidney Crosby, the 17-year-old who has been called the next Wayne Gretzky. For its first pick in the WHA Entry Draft, Detroit selected Andre Benoit, a 20-year-old defenseman who has spent the past four seasons with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). A complete list of Detroit picks for the Entry Draft is available at http://www.detroitgladiators.com/ . The Detroit Gladiators will take the ice this October in a newly-installed ice arena at the Pontiac Silverdome, where it will play its 38 home games in this inaugural season of the World Hockey Association. The Detroit Gladiators are owned by Senticore, Inc. (OTC:SNIO) (BULLETIN BOARD: SNIO) , a diversified public holding company based in Hollywood, Fla. For complete draft information, visit the team's web site at http://www.detroitgladiators.com/ or the league web site at http://www.worldhockeyassociation.net/ . http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040630/DEW024LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Detroit Gladiators CONTACT: Kelly Smallegan-Maas, +1-616-235-9581, , or Lee Ann Welsh, +1-248-471-2809, , both for Detroit Gladiators Web site: http://www.detroitgladiators.com/ http://www.worldhockeyassociation.net/

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