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Sput
06-24-2006, 08:09 AM
Courtesy PG Citizen June 24.

Hunter has interest of NHL teams


by TED CLARKE, Citizen staff

Eric Hunter is back in the mix for today’s NHL entry draft.

That may come as a surprise to some followers of the Prince George Cougars, who have watched the 19-year-old native of Winnipeg patrol the left wing for the past four seasons and thought he was already taken. But don’t be surprised if Hunter’s name is called at the table today in Vancouver (3 p.m. start, TSN).

“I’m a little nervous, although it’s not as bad as when I was 17,” said Hunter.

“I’ve had a lot of good talks with some teams the last month-and-a-bit and we’re pretty confident coming in.”

This is Hunter’s third time around the draft sweepstakes. Two years ago, the Chicago Blackhawks drafted him in the eighth round, 229th overall. Hunter attended the ’Hawks camp but did not sign a contract. At the end of the season, when the ’Hawks still hadn’t sent him a qualifying offer, Hunter became a free agent.

“A qualifying offer is basically the league minimum with no signing bonus and they throw it at players and it’s basically an unwritten rule that guys don’t accept it,” Hunter said. “That buys them another year of your rights, but in my case they didn’t offer it and I was dropped by Chicago.”

He was automatically entered in the 2005 draft, unbeknownst to Hunter, but coming off a season in which he picked up 12 goals and 18 assists, he was not picked. Hunter attended the Edmonton Oilers camp as a free agent and went on to a breakout season in 2005-06. He led the Cougars with 40 goals and 72 points in 71 games. The five-foot-11, 188-pounder also picked up 125 penalty minutes.

“It’s kind of funny, it’s my third time in the draft, and I’m actually getting way more phone calls and interest than when I was 17 and it was my first time in the draft,” said Hunter, who remained living in Prince George after the Cats were eliminated in the first round of playoffs by the Vancouver Giants.

“I’m a little more confident about it and teams are saying better things than they were the last time.”

Hunter has narrowed down his best possibilities to the Atlanta Thrashers and Florida Panthers. He flew to Vancouver this past week to perform a fitness test for the New Jersey Devils, and he’s had strong interest from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators.

Hunter turns 20 on Aug. 11. While he’s eligible to return for his final year of junior with the Cats, that’s not his top choice.

“My goal for September is to play pro hockey, whether that will be as a drafted player or not, I want to try to get a contract out of camp,” Hunter said.

“It has a lot to do with what happens (today), obviously, and what system I get put into, or if I get into a system at all. If that doesn’t work out and I have to come back here, I’d be disappointed from a career standpoint, but I don’t think it would necessarily be a bad thing because we’ll have a good team here. I’ve been talking to (Cougars head coach) Mike Vandekamp and I train every day with (assistant coach) Stew Malgunas and it sounds like it’s shaping up to be a good season.”

Hunter said he never considered going to Vancouver to watch the draft live at GM Place.

“I’m not sure if I’m even going to watch it all. I’ll make up my mind at 3 o’clock,” he said.