Forty-two current or future NCAA Division I players were chosen by National Hockey League teams at the league’s 1997 Entry Draft.
Defenseman Ben Clymer of Minnesota was the first college player selected, as the Boston Bruins made him the first pick of the second round, 27th overall.
Boston College and Notre Dame led the way with four draftees each, followed by Boston University, Denver, and Minnesota with three. Thirteen players were chosen from CCHA and Hockey East schools, while 11 came from the WCHA and five from the ECAC.
The 42 collegians selected — 16 recruits among them — represents 17 percent of the 246 players chosen by NHL teams throughout the draft’s nine rounds.
The complete list of draftees from NCAA schools follows, listed in order of selection by round.
2nd Round
27. Boston — Ben Clymer, d, Minnesota (WCHA)
28. Carolina (from San Jose) — Brad DeFauw, lw, North Dakota (WCHA)
30. Philadelphia (from Toronto) — Jean-Marc Pelletier, g, Cornell (ECAC)
44. Pittsburgh — Brian Gaffaney, d, Northern Iowa (USHL)/St. Cloud (WCHA)
3rd Round
57. Toronto — Jeff Farkas, c, Boston College (Hockey East)
63. Boston (from Washington) — Lee Goren, rw, North Dakota (WCHA)
66. Ottawa (from New Jersey) — Josh Langfeld, rw, Lincoln (USHL)/Michigan (CCHA)
67. Chicago — Mike Souza, lw, New Hampshire (Hockey East)
70. Calgary (from Phoenix) — Erik Andersson, c, Denver (WCHA)
4th Round
83. Los Angeles — Joseph Corvo, d, Western Michigan (CCHA)
5th Round
110. Chicago — Ben Simon, c, Notre Dame (CCHA)
115. N.Y. Islanders (from Carolina) — Adam Edinger, c, Bowling Green (CCHA)
116. Washington — Kevin Caulfield, rw, Boston College (Hockey East)
120. Chicago — Peter Gardiner, rw, RPI (ECAC)
133. Colorado — Aaron Miskovich, c, Green Bay (USHL)/Minnesota (WCHA)
6th Round
136. N.Y. Rangers (from San Jose) — Michael York, c, Michigan State (CCHA)
147. Chicago — Heath Gordon, lw, Green Bay (USHL)/Providence (Hockey East)
7th Round
163. San Jose — Joe Dusbabek, rw, Notre Dame (CCHA)
169. Carolina (from Philadelphia) — Andrew Merrick, c, Michigan (CCHA)
172. Montreal — Ben Guite, rw, Maine (Hockey East)
179. Pittsburgh — Mark Moore, d, Harvard (ECAC)
181. Anaheim — Mat Snesrud, d, Northern Iowa (USHL)/1997-98 Michigan Tech (WCHA)
182. N.Y. Rangers — Mike Mottau, d, Boston College (Hockey East)
183. Florida — Tyler Palmer, d, Lake Superior State (CCHA)
8th Round
191. Boston — Antti Laaksonen, lw, Denver (WCHA)
193. Los Angeles — Jay Kopischke, lw, Northern Iowa (USHL)/Notre Dame (CCHA)
194. Toronto — Russ Bartlett, c, Phillips-Exeter (USHS)/Boston University (HEA)
196. N.Y. Islanders — Jeremy Symington, g, Petrolia (Jr. B)/St. Lawrence (ECAC)
203. Ottawa — Nick Gillis, rw, Cushing Academy (USHS)/Boston University (HEA)
206. St. Louis — Bobby Haglund, lw, Des Moines (USHL)/Northeastern (HEA)
211. Florida — Doug Schueller, d, Twin Cities (USHL)/Bowling Green (CCHA)
215. New Jersey — Scott Clemmensen, g, Des Moines (USHL)/Boston College (HEA)
217. Colorado — Doug Schmidt, d, Waterloo (USHL)/Northern Michigan (CCHA)
9th Round
222. N.Y. Islanders — Ryan Clark, d, Lincoln (USHL)/Notre Dame (CCHA)
224. Tampa Bay — Paul Comrie, c, Denver (WCHA)
226. Washington — Matt Oikawa, rw, St. Lawrence (ECAC)
227. Vancouver — Peter Brady, g, Powell River (Tier II)/Alaska-Anchorage (WCHA)
230. Chicago — Chris Feil, d, Ohio State (CCHA)
233. Phoenix — Wyatt Smith, c, Minnesota (WCHA)
234. Pittsburgh — Eric Lind, d, Avon Old Farms (USHS)/New Hampshire (HEA)
235. Anaheim — Tommi Degerman, w, Boston University (Hockey East)
236. N.Y. Rangers — Richard Miller, d, Providence (Hockey East)
List compiled by Mike Machnik.
