RAPID CITY - Joe Ferras is a busy, busy man these days.

The coach of the Central Hockey League's expansion Rapid City Rush spends hours each day on the telephone with potential players from other CHL teams in preparation for Friday's expansion draft, part of the league's summer conference in Phoenix.

"We've been crazy-busy talking to a lot of players," said Ferras taking time for a Tuesday interview in his office, his desk covered with pink sticky notes.

Ferras files the sticky notes into a notebook filled with information on each of the 60 players available in the draft.

Each of the 15 other franchises in the league is required to leave four players from its current 18-member roster unprotected for the draft. No team can lose more than one player.

Each team is allowed only four veteran players (those having played in 280 or more games as of opening day) on its roster. Because more players achieved that status during the just-concluded season, there will be some veteran players available, Ferras said.

Once the draft is completed, the Rush will own the rights to five more players and negotiations can begin to bring them to Rapid City.

"Hopefully, they'll want to make a change and come to a new franchise," Ferras said. "This could be a great place to start a career, or continue one."

Ferras can't name any of the players on the list, but he said reaction ranges from interest in Rapid City to disappointment at being made available by their current teams.

"I've talked to one player about 20 times and some of them won't return my calls," he said.

Ferras said there is no guarantee that a drafted player will ever lace up his skates for the Rush. Players could still be traded elsewhere in the CHL to teams in other leagues, opt to play in Europe, or simply retire.

"If we can get two or three of these players in our line-up, everyone would call this a very successful draft," he said.

Adding to the list of potential players was Monday's announcement that the Corpus Christi, Texas, Rayz, will compete in the league during the 2008-09. It was announced on June 2 that the Rayz were suspending operations pending sale of the team.

On Monday, sale of the team to a south Texas owner was finalized, allowing the Rayz to continue in Corpus Christi.

The Austin (Texas) Ice Bats will suspend operations for the 2008-09 season, and the Youngstown (Ohio) Steelhounds are moving to the International Hockey League next season.

Ferras hopes to have nearly 30 players at the team's inaugural camp in October, including first-year professionals fresh out of American and Canadian college ranks, along with veterans from the CHL and other leagues.

Currently signed to the roster are three Canadian players hoping to kick-start their professional careers in Rapid City, defenseman Stephen Cooke, 24, of Stirling, Ontario, forward Brady Olsen, 24, of Enterprise, Ontario and goalie Lanny Ramage, 25, of Baldur, Manitoba.

Ferras said the 2008-09 schedule should start coming together at this weekend's conference. The regular season starts in October, with the Rush likely to play early games on the road.

The team's home ice, in a new addition to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, is slated for completion in late November.

Also on the conference docket, Ferras said, is a proposal to increase the number of veteran-status players on each team from four to five along with discussion of the pending Professional Hockey Players Association collective bargaining agreement with the league. League players voted the PHPA to be their collective bargaining unit in March.