NHL 2005 Entry Draft

Keith Yandle '86 of Milton and Cushing Academy was drafted in the 4th round by the Phoenix Coyotes and Anthony Aiello '86 of Braintree and Thayer Academy was taken in the 5th round by the Minnesota Wild.

Yandle and Aiello played together for seven years on the Kings and will be attending Maine and Boston College respectively in the fall.

This is the fifth year in a row that South Shore Kings players have been drafted. Last year Billy Ryan '85 of Milton and Cushing Academy was taken in the 3rd round by the New York Rangers. In 2003, Brian Boyle '84 of Hingham was taken by the L.A. Kings in the 1st round. In 2002, it was a record year for the Kings at the draft. Ryan Whitney '83 was taken in the 1st round by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Michael Morris '85 was taken in the first round by the San Jose Sharks. Brian McConnel '83 was also taken in the 32nd picked in the draft and the in the 2nd round Robbie Flynn '83 of Milton was also drafted in the 7th round.

Keep an eye on the 88 Kings at the 2006 draft as several talented players could be selected.

 

Yandle a 4th-round pick by Coyotes by Boston Globe

Keith Yandle will take the advice often attributed to Horace Greeley: Go West, Young Man. That's because the Milton native was taken last week in the National Hockey League's entry draft by the Phoenix Coyotes in the fourth round. The former Cushing Academy star was the 104th player taken overall.
However Yandle will go north first. The son of former Canton High School hockey coach Bud Yandle will head to the University of Maine to play college hockey.
It wasn't his first choice. He expected to play at the University of New Hampshire, where his older brother, Brian, earned All-America honors last year and was named the team captain this year. Problem was UNH ran out of scholarship aid so in a matter of weeks when
they head off to classes, the Yandles will drop off Brian in Durham, N.H.,and continue up I-95 to Orono, Maine, with Keith. They will get together during the winter, of course, and not just for the holiday season. The two will battle in Durham on Nov. 12 when UNH hosts Maine and again Feb. 3-4 when UNH travels to Maine. The Maine-UNH hockey rivalry is a major event in northern New England. Phoenix, incidentally, was ecstatic getting the younger Yandle in the
fourth round.
''We think he is a great prospect. The good thing about Keith is that he's going to play in college, and we will have some good time to watch him develop. We think we have a player with size and ability to make his mark," said Coyote director of player personnel Tom Kurvers told the media at a post-draft press conference. ''We were watching for his name on the board for a while before we got to our next pick. He was there, and we were happy to select him."