The Kootenay Ice decided not to draw from the European well this year.

Unless they acquire an international player through other means, this season could mark the first in Kootenay history that they’ll be without an import.

“Although we have been fortunate in the past with the CHL Import Draft, we feel that in this day and age it is becoming very hard to attract the top European players,” Ice general manager Jeff Chynoweth said in a press release.

“Our team is eligible to return 19 players and there is no guarantee if we selected a player (Tuesday) that he would be able to play in our top six forwards or top four defencemen.”

Kootenay sent its 43rd overall pick to the Brandon Wheat Kings, who chose Danish forward Mark Mieritz. The 19-year-old had 20 points in 34 games with Frölunda in the Swedish junior league.

The Ice started last season with a pair of Czechs: second-year forward Dominik Pacovsky and rookie defenceman Petr Senkerik.

Senkerik was sent to the Prince George Cougars at the January trade deadline for a 2011 bantam draft pick. Pacovsky, on the other hand, is entering his overage year and will remain in Europe next season.

The Ice have had hit-or-miss experiences in the import draft in recent years.

In 2006, they chose Swiss forward Arnaud Jacquemet, who wound up picking up 82 points over 115 games in a couple of seasons with the Ice.

The next year, they picked defenceman Jiri Ryzuk, who was pointless in spot duty through 45 games and didn’t return for a second campaign.

Pacovsky’s draftmate Ales Frieb lasted just five games into the 2008-09 season before returning to the Czech Republic.

The Cougars held the first overall pick yesterday, choosing 18-year-old Slovakian defenceman Martin Marincin.

The six-foot-four, 187-pounder was a second-round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL draft over the weekend.