Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Rush Lacrosse Club invites the media to listen in on the 2005 National Lacrosse League Expansion Draft on Wednesday, July 13th at 2 p.m. MT. The Expansion Draft will be conducted via conference call.

Date: Wednesday, July 13th
Time: 2:00 p.m. MT
Call-in Line: 1-800-946-0713 (listen only line)
Passcode: 7660854

The Edmonton Rush will each select up to nine players from the league’s current teams as their roster begin to take shape for the 2006 season. The Expansion Draft will consist of nine rounds with the first selection going to Portland, who received the first pick by winning a coin flip with Edmonton at the Board of Governors Meetings earlier last month. Portland will select first in each round, followed by Edmonton.

Edmonton will be drafting unprotected players from the other nine teams. Each team is allowed to protect 13 of its runners and one goaltender, or ten of its runners and two goaltenders. Seven of the nine teams elected to protect 13 runners and one goaltender. Minnesota and San Jose both opted to protect two goaltenders and ten runners.

As a player is selected from a team during the Expansion Draft, that team’s General Manager can then protect an additional player who was previously available. No team can lose more than two players in the Expansion Draft. Once a team has had two of its unprotected players selected, the remaining players on that team’s list are no longer available for selection.

The unprotected players list includes unprotected roster players, retired payers, injured reserve players, holdouts, and players who are physically unable to report. To see the lists for each team, please see the story on the front page on www.nll.com.

The Edmonton Rush franchise was awarded to Edmonton on May 5, 2005 by the National Lacrosse League. Professional indoor lacrosse combines the physical play of hockey with the high scoring, fast pace and play-making style of basketball. Season ticket deposits of $25 are available at all Ticketmaster Outlets, Charge-by-Phone at (780) 451-8000 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.ca.