Vinny Saponari had to pack his skates and head north to play big-time high school and college hockey. That's the price you pay when your home ice is in Marietta.

If and when Saponari gets to the NHL, though, he'll be coming back to Atlanta.

The Thrashers picked him in the fourth round of the NHL entry draft on Saturday. Saponari was the 94th selection overall.

"The Thrashers were my No. 1 pick for a team to draft me," said Saponari, who has been to hundreds of games at Philips Arena on his family's season tickets.

He might eventually get to play alongside his favorite Thrasher, Ilya Kovalchuk. First, though, he has to continue improving his game while fighting the notion that a hockey player from Georgia can't be much good.

"Just based on where you're from, people doubt you," Saponari said. "People don't take you as seriously as someone from Minnesota. You have to prove yourself."

He has been busy doing that, first at Culver Military Academy in Indiana, then as the first player from Georgia in the National Team Development Program, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. He played for the United States in Russia, Finland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

This fall, Saponari, 18, will play for Boston University, alongside his older brother, Victor. He will learn under Jack Parker, who has won more games at one school than any other coach in college hockey history.

Vinny and Victor grew up learning hockey from their father, Gus, a software salesman who moved from Cleveland to escape the winters and now lives in Powder Springs.

"I hated the snow," Gus said, but he loved the ice, and the game. Vinny started skating at age 3 and was playing hockey by 4 or 5. Gus became a youth hockey coach and, for awhile, owned the Marietta Ice Center.

Vinny played on traveling teams, but he eventually realized that wasn't enough.

"The level of competition wasn't what it would need to be to pursue my dream of playing in the NHL," he said.

He found that competition at Culver, and for the first time he found a community where hockey wasn't viewed as some strange Northern import. There were crowds at his games, and people around campus knew who he was.

He has gained the attention of scouts, too. The NHL's Central Scouting Service ranked him No. 135 among North American skaters heading into the draft.

Thrashers general manager Don Waddell rated the 6-foot, 179-pound right wing a bit higher than that.

"He's a strong skater," Waddell said. "He makes players around him better. He may not be a natural scorer, but he has great energy. He's a puck pursuer. He can forecheck and put pressure on the opposing team because of his skating ability."

Saponari is not the first Georgia-born player ever selected. In 1998, the Montreal Canadiens drafted Eric Chouinard, who was born in Atlanta. Chouinard, son of Atlanta Flames player Guy Chouinard, played in parts of five NHL seasons.

Saponari was one of five Thrashers draft picks on Saturday after the team picked two first-round players Friday night. Three of the picks are American, three Canadian, one from Sweden.

Saponari has had the chance to play for his country. Some day, he might get to play for his city, too.

"That," Saponari said, "would be awesome."