The Niagara IceDogs completed the 2010 OHL Priority Selection on Saturday, selecting 16 new players over the course of 15 rounds.

The day saw the IceDogs draft three defencemen, six centres, five wingers and two goalies with their 16 selections.

The day got off to a quick start for the IceDogs, as they made four selections in the first two rounds, including having two selections out of the first eight.  With those two picks, the IceDogs selected a pair of defencemen, both from the Toronto Young Nats, in Jesse Graham and Luke Mercer.

Graham and Mercer were not only teammates on the Young Nats, but played on the same defensive pairing last season.

Graham, who was selected sixth overall, is 5'11", 145 lbs and had 14 goals and 88 points in 84 games.  He is an extremely skilled defenceman and is expected to contribute some offence from the blueline.

"If I could describe Jesse Graham it would be like a Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks," said IceDogs General Manager Dave Brown.

"He's got a very high skill level and he hasn't even started to hit growth. His upside potential is huge. He's going to wow people offensively."

Mercer, the eighth overall selection, is a 5'11", 160 lbs defenceman who also put up some solid offensive numbers from the blueline, collecting nine goals and 60 points in 72 games.  Mercer is a well rounded defenceman who can both shut the opposition down defensively and contribute offensively.

"He's an all-around defence-man, a complement to Jesse Graham," Brown said.

"This guy is going to put numbers up and shut down guys. He'll log a ton of minutes."

With their first of two second round selections, the IceDogs took Billy Jenkins of the Ottawa Valley Titans with the 25th overall pick. Jenkins, is a 5'10", 160 lbs. centre who had 40 goals, 96 points and 92 minutes in penalties in 65 games last season.

The IceDogs were thrilled to be able to add Jenkins, who they thought would be gone by the time their pick came back around.

"We love Jenkins and were in awe of him," Brown said. "We were shocked that we was still on the board. Everyone says that but we truly didn't think he would be there. He plays physical, he plays honest, and he puts up numbers. He's an all-around guy."

With their second of the two second round picks, Niagara took Joel Wigle from the Brantford 99ers.  Wigle is a 6'2", 175 lbs. right winger, who put up 19 goals and 11 assists in 27 games for Brantford last season.  Wigle will be look to for to not just put up numbers, but also to bring a physical presence.

"He hits guys and he hurts them and I think we needed to add that a little bit to our repertoire," Brown said.  "We joke about providing a safe working environment for our guys and Joel is one of those guys. He hits and he hits them clean."

In the third round, Niagara added their third Young Nat of the day, selecting right winger Jamie Lewis.  Lewis is 5'8" and weighs in at 150 lbs. and accumulated an impressive 46 goals and 108 points in 83 games.  While a touch on the small side, Lewis is an extremely hard worker and brings a lot of offensive ability to the table.

"Lewis is a guy who resembles Friesen a lot," Brown said. "He's a hard working kid who com-petes and competes. He's 5-foot-8, but competes like an SOB. He's as honest as the day is old."

The IceDogs had a bit of a break between Lewis and their next selection, as they did not pick in the fourth round.  When the fifth round came along the IceDogs picked 6'2" right winger Jeffrey Heard from the Ajax-Pickering Raiders.

After the selection of Heard, the IceDogs had an even longer break between picks, having traded both their sixth and seventh selections, causing a 47 pick break between selections.

While the later rounds were going on, some of the IceDogs earlier picks, made their way to the Gatorade Garden City Complex.  Graham, Mercer, Wigle and Lewis were all able to make it down to St. Catharines, where they met some current IceDogs in John Chartrand, Mark Visentin, Freddie and Dougie Hamilton, Matt Petgrave, Andrew Agozzino, Johnson Andrews and Ryan Strome.  They then were taken on a quick tour before taking part in their first IceDogs interviews as part of the TVCogeco IceDogs Draft Special. 

While some of the players were a little nervous for the televised interviews, they all did a great job and were very excited to be a part of the IceDogs organization.

As all this excitement was going on for the draft picks, the IceDogs scouting and hockey staff were still busy at work, completing the final eight rounds and ten picks over the course of the next few hours.

With their eighth round pick the IceDogs selected 5'11" centre Maxim Lamontagne from the Kapuskasing Flyers.

In the ninth round, Niagara selected their first goaltender in 6'2" Alex Sakellaropoulos from the Chicago Fury.

In the tenth round, the IceDogs had two selections, taking 6'2" centre Cristoval Nieves from the Syracuse Jr. nationals with the 182nd pick and 5'11" left winger Steve Hutchinson from the Guelph Storm with the 187th pick.

With their eleventh round selection, Niagara took their third defenceman of the day in 6'1" Matthew Alexander from the Thunder Bay Kings.

In the twelfth round, they took Scott Mossman of the Greater Kingston Predators.

In the thirteenth round, centre Davis Boyer became an IceDog, as they selected him from the Sault Ste. Marie North Stars.

With their fourteenth round pick the IceDogs took their second goalie of the day, selecting local product Michael Gallardi who spent last season with the Ridley College Tigers.

The IceDogs would then complete their day by selecting two more players in the fifteenth round, first taking centre Ian Nichols from the Grey-Bruce Highlanders with the 287th overall pick and then taking right winger Adam Wilcox from the TPH Thunder with their final selection of what was a very busy day.

The IceDogs would like to welcome all of their new additions to the organization and look forward to seeing them later this month at Niagara IceDogs Rookie Camp.  Keep your eyes on niagaraicedogs.net for more information on Rookie Camp, as it becomes available.