The Lightning's second-round pick plays for the same junior team as the current stars.
By TOM JONES
Published June 27, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. - If you pick a good apple off the tree, where do you get another good apple? Off the same tree, of course.
That was the Lightning's philosophy in the second round of Saturday's draft when it plucked another player from the team that already has produced two of the best players in Lightning history.
The Lightning used the last pick of the second round (65th overall) to take left wing Mark Tobin from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Rimouski, the same place Lightning centers Vinny Lecavalier and Brad Richards played junior hockey.
"We've had some pretty good fortune in the past with forwards from Rimouski," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said.
Tobin, a 6-foot-3, 204-pound power forward, was a surprise pick at No. 65. Not only to the hockey publications that projected Tobin as a third-rounder, but to Tobin himself.
"I was not expecting the second round, to be honest with you," Tobin said. "I was thinking third round, maybe."
Worried he might not be drafted in the first three rounds, Tobin told his parents not to make the trip from his hometown of St. John's, Newfoundland. But he was high on the Lightning's list all afternoon.
After the Lightning selected Calgary junior defenseman Andy Rogers in the first round, head scout Jake Goertzen said there was another player he really wanted in the second round.
"That was him," Goertzen said later.
So why did the Lightning have Tobin listed so high when others didn't? Well, mostly because Feaster said Tobin fits the "Lightning template."
"Every report starts with his work ethic and what a hard-nosed player he is," Feaster said. "He's a guy not afraid to drop the gloves. He can score goals, and we just think he's going to continue to get better."
Tobin had 22 goals, 16 assists and 112 penalty minutes at Rimouski while playing alongside Sidney Crosby, perhaps the best junior player in the world though he isn't eligible to be drafted until next summer.
"I took advantage of that," Tobin said. "We played to full buildings on the road every game, and a lot of (scouts) got to see me."
Next season's Rimouski team is expected to compete for the Memorial Cup and carry on the rich tradition set by Lecavalier and Richards.
"Those guys are legends up there," said Tobin, who added he hopes to continue that tradition in Rimouski and Tampa Bay. But he's realistic. He said his skating must improve, and he doesn't expect to be in the NHL for at least four years.
He and Rogers likely will remain with their junior teams next season. The selection of Tobin ended the Lightning's brief draft day. It did not have a third-round pick and has only three picks today as the draft concludes with Rounds 4 through 9. The Lightning has picks in the fourth, fifth and eighth rounds.
The Lightning considered taking a goalie Saturday, but its top four choices were gone well before its first pick. Feaster, though, was not disappointed by getting Tobin and, especially, Rogers, a defenseman.
"You just can't find those defensemen," Feaster said. "A big man and a guy you think can play as a top-four defenseman on your team, you can't trade for them."
