Western Collegiate Hockey Association

Patrick Wiercioch

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DU Signs 2nd Round NHL Draft Pick Wiercioch to NLI

Defenseman picked No. 42 overall by Ottawa in 2008 NHL Entry Draft

July 14, 2008

DENVER - Star defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Grove, British Columbia) has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Denver and play hockey, two-time National Coach of the Year George Gwozdecky announced today.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Wiercioch was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the second round (No. 42 overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Wiercioch will enroll and start his hockey career at DU this fall.

Wiercioch tallied 21 points on three goals and 18 assists in 40 games for United States Hockey League regular-season and playoff champion Omaha in 2007-08. The talented two-way defenseman added 11 points on two goals and nine assists in 14 playoff games. Wiercioch netted 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists for Burnaby of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2006-07.

"We are very fortunate to add a student-athlete like Patrick to the DU hockey program," Gwozdecky said. "Patrick is an extremely talented two-way defenseman, who will help our team immediately this fall."

Wiercioch is the second highest draft pick during Gwozdecky's 14-year tenure at DU. Incoming recruit Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) became DU's second first round draft pick when the Boston Bruins selected the forward 16th overall in June. Current NHL players Matt Pettinger (No. 43), Paul Stastny (No. 44) and Matt Carle (No. 47) round out DU's top five draft picks during the Gwozdecky era.

Wiercioch boosts DU's current roster of NHL draft picks to nine. He joins current Pioneers Colborne, Brian Gifford (Moorhead,Minn./Pittsburgh),Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif./New York Islanders),John Lee (Moorhead,Minn./Florida),Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood,Colo./Toronto),Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia/Florida), Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta/Atlanta) and Matt Glasser (Calgary,Alberta/Edmonton) as drafted Pioneers.