Anaheim selected Matt Disher with the first pick in today's NLL dispersal draft.

The brisk draft, completed in less than 30 minutes, was necessitated by yesterday's announcement that the Ottawa Rebel would suspend operations and not participate in the upcoming 2004 season.

This was the second dispersal draft in ten months, following the Montreal Express' suspension of operations last summer. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), the Express and Rebel were each run by Brad Watters, who also manages the Toronto Rock.

By picking Disher, the unnamed Anaheim club, which moved to southern California from New Jersey just last week, began what could be a massive hoarding of goaltenders. The team already owns the rights to Matt Roik, Derek General, and Ginny Capicchionni, and has expressed interest in signing free agent netminder Gord Nash.

As a group, New Jersey's goaltenders posted a 13.78 goals-against average and a 74.3 save percentage in 2003. Disher (12.33, 76.4) had much better numbers, while Nash (14.71, 74.7) had weaker stats. However, the numbers don't indicate that Nash suffered from playing behind a weak defense.

Nash's former team, the New York Saints, defied the predictions of several NLL insiders by taking defenseman Bruce Codd with the second-overall pick instead of goaltender Andrew Leyshon.

Codd was not a shocking selection at number-two, though. His defensive skills, including a Rebel-leading 101 loose ball recoveries in 2003, will help solidify the Saints' porous defense.

Leyshon, though, would have settled a glaring need in the wake of Nash's departure. New York entered the draft with only one experienced goaltender, Phil Wetherup.

Things worked out perfectly for the Saints, however, with Leyshon still on the board in the second round. New York added journeyman goaltender Derek Collins in the third round.

Drafting third, the Columbus Landsharks selected Scott Self (4 goals, 9 assists). Kevin Howard (30 goals, 25 assists) then went fourth, to Philadelphia.

The first surprise came at number five, when San Jose (formerly the Albany Attack) bypassed several high-profile players to select defenseman Brennan Day, who has never played in the NLL.

"Brennan will work well with our other defensemen like Jim Moss, Shaydon Santos and Cam Woods," San Jose general manager Johnny Mouradian said. "He is fast and likes to get up the floor to create scoring opportunities."

Half the picks in the remainder of the rest of the first round were the Rebel's top offensive weapons. Leading scorer Mat Giles (34 goals, 26 assists) was selected tenth by Rochester, with number-two man Jason Clark (31 goals, 26 assists) going to Buffalo one pick earlier.

Ryan Painter, who missed much of this season due to injuries after leading the Rebel with 45 goals in 2002, was selected eleventh, by Toronto.

Other selections in the first round were Jamie Roy, by Vancouver; Kyle Laverty, by Calgary; and Brad Self, by Colorado.

A few notable members of the offense fell into the second round, including Stephen Evans (Anaheim, 12th), Chris Konopliff (San Jose, 16th), and Kevin Dostie (Calgary, 18th).

None of the players chosen in the third round played for the Rebel in 2003. Many came from the "protected list," including Adam Mitchell (Anaheim), D.J. Serr (Philadelphia), Rick Matthews (San Jose), Jon Tarbell (Calgary) and Ryan McNish (Toronto).

Two third-round selections (Shawn Parnell, Columbus, and Jamie Raffan, Vancouver) were on injured reserve and a couple more (Collins and Mike Hamilton, Buffalo) came from the practice squad.

Colorado and Rochester passed in the third round, apparently unsatisfied with the players still available.

Nine players whose rights were held by the Rebel slipped through the draft and are unrestricted free agents, including three from the 23-man active roster: Doug Noganosh, Brandon Sanderson, and John Veltman.

Steve Fannell, a longtime faceoff man, was skipped over, likely due to injury concerns. Fannell only played four games for the Rebel last season.

Ross Cowie, Colin Linton, Charlie Lockwood, Sean Orr and Patrick Russel also went unselected.

Cowie, the former Buffalo Bandits goaltender, and Lockwood, the 1995 MILL Rookie of the Year, are retired. Cowie was forced to quit after a serious fall at his home in 2001. Lockwood hasn't played in the NLL since 1999, when he had a five-game stint with the Syracuse Smash (which became the Rebel in 2001).

The draft was held just a day after the Rebel officially stepped out of the league because the current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight tonight. If the Rebel had been in a suspension of operations without a CBA in place, any players it still had would have become free agents.

Unlike with last year's dispersal draft, teams did not have to release a player for each one they selected, and no picks were traded.

Teams selected in reverse order of the final 2003 standings, with the champion dropped to the final selection and the runner-up to the second-last spot.

The official dispersal draft results follow:

##  TEAM             SELECTION 
--  ---------------  ---------------------------------------
 1  Anaheim          Matt Disher
 2  New York         Bruce Codd
 3  Columbus         Scott Self
 4  Philadelphia     Kevin Howard
 5  San Jose         Brennan Day
 6  Vancouver        Jamie Roy
 7  Calgary          Kyle Laverty
 8  Colorado         Brad Self
 9  Buffalo          Jason Clark
10  Rochester        Mat Giles
11  Toronto          Ryan Painter

12  Anaheim          Stephen Evans
13  New York         Andrew Leyshon
14  Columbus         Eric Pacey
15  Philadelphia     Jake Lawson
16  San Jose         Chris Konopliff
17  Vancouver        Peter Veltman
18  Calgary          Kevin Dostie
19  Colorado         Mike Henderson
20  Buffalo          Marc Landriault
21  Rochester        Shawn Zettel
22  Toronto          Kevin Lunnie

23  Anaheim          Adam Mitchell
24  New York         Derek Collins
25  Columbus         Shawn Parnell
26  Philadelphia     DJ Serr
27  San Jose         Rick Matthews
28  Vancouver        Jamie Raffan
29  Calgary          Jon Tarbell
30  Colorado         Declined to select
31  Buffalo          Mike Hamilton
32  Rochester        Declined to select
33  Toronto          Ryan McNish