No time was wasted today in picking apart the Toronto Rock during the NLL's expansion draft, with the Rock's maximum of four losses coming before two new teams even got on the clock.

Granted, it was no surprise that the hybrid expansion team in Montreal, which split its picks with the Columbus Landsharks and didn't select until the seventh round, didn't get a crack at anyone from the Rock.

However, the Calgary Roughnecks didn't get to consider any Toronto players, either, and their initial pick was the first-overall selection. However, that pick was traded to Buffalo, and by the time the Roughies got to draft again, at eighth overall, the Rock shop had closed shop for the afternoon.

The Toronto Show began right away, with the Bandits exercising the top pick on Chris Langdale. The New York Saints took a little longer to pry loose Jamie Taylor with the following pick. After a brief respite for Rock coach and general manager Les Bartley, the Vancouver Ravens lifted Ryan O'Connor at sixth overall and Columbus scooped up Craig Gelsvik one pick later.

Bartley, working from his summer cottage in Kawarthas, Ontario, wasn't surprised that his team was hit so hard, so quickly.

"I kind of figured that would be the case," Bartley said. "I knew Buffalo was looking at us for a player who could help them immediately."

Bartley exercised his right to pull back a player after each player lost, recalling goaltender Matt Roik following Langdale's selection, defenseman Dan Ladouceur after Taylor was lost, and Ken Millin after O'Connor went to the Ravens.

"Goalies are a hot commodity in this league," Bartley said in explaing why Roik was recalled in the blink of an eye.

Because each team can lose only four players, Bartley did not have to make a move after Gelsvik went to the Landsharks. However, with no one immediately realizing that the Rock had been cleaned out, the Toronto coach quickly pulled back Terry Bullen.

Amid the Rock raid, Buffalo's Rich Catton went third overall to Vancouver and Phil Wetherup fourth to Columbus, while Albany's Darryl Gibson was drafted fifth, by New Jersey.

The Attack began the second team to lose four players, after D'Arcy Berthiaume went to Calgary (11th), John Rosa to Columbus (13th), and Dallas Squire to New Jersey (15th).

At the other end of the spectrum, the Washington Power and Ottawa Rebel were the last teams remaining on the hot seat, with neither club losing its fourth player until the ninth round.

Of course, the draft only lasted nine rounds, giving the Rebel in particularly an infamous footnote -- while its corporate cousins in Toronto were cleaned out in seven picks and Montreal in twenty-nine, the Rebel still had two players to lose entering the final two picks of the draft.

The Power outage is easier to justify -- Washington's unprotected list was filled with Americans, and all four new teams were seeking Canadians whenever possible. The first ten picks, and nineteen of the initial twenty-one, are Canadian-bred.

One minor trade was consumated during the draft, although it was costly for the Philadelphia Wings. Immediately after the Wings lost Jeff Shirk to Calgary with the twenty-fourth pick, they protected Kevin Finneran, leaving fan favorite Michael Busza exposed.

New Jersey, with assistant general manager (and former Wings GM) Jim Rogers making the Storm's selections, quickly acquired the following pick from Vancouver, for a third-round selection in the 2002 entry draft, and almost as quickly snagged Busza.

The defending champions lost two additional players -- Jamie Hanford to New Jersey (12th) and Kevin Kaiser to Vancouver (32nd) -- while acquiring one. Using the thirty-third pick, acquired from Calgary last month, the Wings selected former Baltimore Thunder and Pittsburgh CrosseFire player Dan Martin from Washington. Martin sat out the entire 2001 season.

The most curious selection came in the seventh round, when Montreal exercised its initial selection on Washington's Joe Hiltz. Hiltz, who can become an unrestricted free agent next week, is known almost entirely for his offensive prowess, while Montreal general manager Terry Sanderson is, with the possible exception of Bartley, unparalled in the league for seeking players with strong defensive skills.

The complete results of the 2001 NLL Expansion Draft follow:

##  TEAM             SELECTION (Team: Protected)
--  ---------------  --------------------------------------
 1  Buffalo (Calg)   Chris Langdale (TOR: Matt Roik)
 2  New York (NJ)    Jamie Taylor (TOR: Dan Ladouceur)
 3  Vancouver        Rich Catton (BUF: Kyle Couling)
 4  Columbus         Phil Wetherup (BUF: Scott Self)

 5  New Jersey       Darryl Gibson (ALB: Scott MacDonnell)
 6  Vancouver        Ryan O'Connor (TOR: Ken Millin)
 7  Columbus         Craig Gelsvik (TOR: FINISHED)
 8  Calgary          Randy Mearns (ROC: Jeremy Hollenbeck)

 9  Vancouver        Ian Rubel (MON: Curtis Palidwor)
10  Columbus         Andy Duden (BUF: Ryan Curtis)
11  Calgary          D'Arcy Berthiaume (ALB: Brad Reed)
12  New Jersey       Jamie Hanford (PHI: John Gagliardi)

13  Columbus         John Rosa (ALB: Aaron Wilson)
14  Calgary          Marc Landriault (ROC: Ben Hunt)
15  New Jersey       Dallas Squire (ALB: FINISHED)
16  Vancouver        Lindsey Plunkett (ROC: Eric Carlsen)

17  Calgary          Jamie Raffan (MON: Thomas Witte)
18  New Jersey       Joe Finstad (OTT: John Fay)
19  Vancouver        Jessie Phillips (WAS: Erik Miller)
20  Columbus         Kyle Arbuckle (MON: Jason Henhawk)

21  New Jersey       Paul Talmo (BUF: FINISHED)
22  Vancouver        Mike Battista (NY: Clayton Bergie)
23  Columbus         Gewas Schindler (NY: Tim Langton)
24  Calgary          Jeff Shirk (PHI: Kevin Finneran)

25  New Jersey (Van) Michael Busza (PHI: Dave Stilley)
26  Montreal         Joe Hiltz (WAS: Casey Connor)
27  Calgary          Dan Denihen (NY: Sean Steinwald)
28  New Jersey       Blake Miller (NY: FINISHED)

29  Montreal         Shawn Zettel (OTT: DJ Seer)
30  Calgary          Kevin Howard (ROC: FINISHED)
31  New Jersey       Shane Wannamaker (MON: FINISHED)
32  Vancouver        Kevin Kaiser (PHI: FINISHED)

33  Phila. (Calg)    Dan Martin (WAS: Rodney Tapp)
34  New Jersey       Travis Kilgour (WAS: FINISHED)
35  Vancouver        Nick Hartofilis (OTT: Doug Hill)
36  Montreal         Jason Tasse (OTT: FINISHED)

Transactions:

• Buffalo received Calgary's first-round pick (1st overall) in the Chris Prat / Derek Collins trade (19 May)
• New York received New Jersey's first-round pick (2nd overall) in draft pick trade (21 May)
• New Jersey received Vancouver's seventh-round pick (25th overall) for Storm's third-round pick in 2002 entry draft (15 June)
• Philadelphia received Calgary's ninth-round pick (33rd overall) in Chris Panos trade (21 May)
• Columbus and Montreal have split the picks in this draft due to the hybrid expansion settlement (13 June)