The Jamestown Ironmen landed just about all of their targets in Friday's North American Hockey League draft.
For the better part of May, Ironmen head coach Dan Daikawa has been traveling the country to scout out potential draft picks.
"We take every opportunity we get to watch players," explained Daikawa.
All four of the Ironmen picks have been carefully scouted and communicated with during the months leading up to the draft.
"We have been constantly communicating with each of these young men to make sure they would be a good fit for our team and to more importantly insure that they want to play for us and make their home in Jamestown," said Daikawa.
The Ironmen landed Conrad Sampair with their first pick. Daikawa saw the forward from Hill Murray High School in Minnesota in action during a workout in Minneapolis.
With their second pick, Jamestown chose Colorado native, Noah Eckebrecht; who Daikawa scouted during a showcase game in Denver.
The Ironmen took another forward, Jared Dedenbach, with their third pick. Daikawa saw Dedenbach, a Michigan native, in action during a showcase in Chicago.
With their fourth and final pick, the Ironmen took Kenny Curtis, a defensemen from Rochester.
"With this draft, we were looking for skill players who can handle the puck," said Daikawa. "I think we got that skill we were looking for mixed with a little grit."
The Ironmen have also been busy wheeling and dealing with other teams. In the past two weeks, Jamestown has added seven new players through trade. All seven bring experience with them which Daikawa puts a lot of emphasis on.
"There is a definite learning curve for first year players,'' he said. ''The guys we traded for all have experience playing in this league and can offer a bit of leadership to our team."
Of the seven players Jamestown acquired, forward Nathan Ropelewski spent his last season in Fresno and is originally from Erie.
Another forward, Joe Mottiqua, will be heading into Jamestown from Aberdeen and is originally from just outside of Pittsburgh.
Some of the veterans, picks and acquired players will be in Jamestown from Friday through Sunday for the first of three tryout camps. There are currently 80 players signed up for the tryout with 120 total spots available.
The second and third Ironmen tryout camps will take place in Pittsburgh from June 29 through July 1 and in Rochester from July 20-22.