If you don't like reading about sports, avert your eyes. Although if you enjoy reading about stories where I fail to introduce myself to a cute girl, go ahead and fast forward to the end.



"Oh my god, this is so nerdy. I love it." -- Eugene

After years of toying with the idea, I finally attended my first NHL Draft. The Draft is usually in Canada or an Eastern state, which makes sense given the proximity of where most of the prospects and their families live. The closest I came before was 2003 in Nashville, but I already had a trip to Hawaii planned for the following week.

But this year, Luc Robitaille pulled some strings and convinced the NHL to hold the event in Los Angeles. Thus only requiring taking a day off and a friend's couch rather than a plane ticket and hotel.

With the Draft starting at 4pm local time, I decided well in advance that I'd need to take the day off and leave early from SD to avoid rush hour aggravation. Despite leaving a little after 9am, I still ran into traffic and didn't arrive until 12:30pm. And this is reason #1 I never had any desire to settle in LA.

(Had a couple friends from Edmonton who now live in San Diego who were supposed to make the trip up. They didn't leave until noonish and were stuck in Orange County by 3:30pm. They ended up turning around.)

One awesome aspect about the Draft is that you'll run into General Managers, coaches, former players (some in training to be executives), current players, draftees, and assorted media personnel at every corner. I went to go check out the Nokia Plaza across the street from Staples Center which was filled with various hockey related booths.

Within a couple minutes, I found myself chatting with longtime Kings announcer Bob Miller. Passed by first round prospect Derek Forbort and his family taking photos. Got stopped by two cameramen working for CBC and Sportsnet who wanted video of the makeshift jersey I made for likely #1 overall pick Taylor Hall. The TSN broadcast crew of Pierre McGuire, Bob McKenzie, and Gord Miller passed by as Eugene and I were finishing lunch.



Most people don't need to know how a cow gets slaughtered in order to enjoy a steak. Most reasonable hockey fans likely feel the same way about the Draft. They'd rather not immerse themselves in following guys that are likely 3+ years away from the NHL. They're happy enough seeing some young guys pop up every year without needing a Stephen Strasburg-esque buildup.

But to steal the theme from Cake's "Rock N Roll Lifestyle", there are enough dorks like me who enjoy seeing teams built from the ground floor.

Teams like the Penguins and Blackhawks have shown that the foundation for success in a salary capped environment is to draft and develop cheap players. (And ideally not have your GM screw it all up by paying your backup goalie and #4 defenseman 13 million combined)

Making the wrong pick on draft day can make all the difference. Walking by the Easton Hockey booth there was a giant banner featuring Ryan Getzlaf and Zach Parise. Since it prominently mentioned their draft positions, I couldn't help but think about how the Sharks drafted Steve Bernier directly ahead of both guys and whether San Jose might have gotten over the hump with either guy.



I actually submitted a form to volunteer at the Draft but the NHL declined my services. On the brightside, it looks like I would have been a glorified usher. On the downside, I might have gotten access to the official after party and shared a beer with various hockey execs.

Tickets to the draft were free, but the lower bowl was restricted to season ticket holders along with prospects and their friends/families. The Draft process isn't exactly the greatest spectator event and I figured it would be even less exciting in the nosebleeds at Staples.

Got inside the arena around 3pm and I wanted to try to sneak into the lower bowl if only for a token photo. My buddy Eugene is a season ticket holder and had a seat for the lower bowl. The usher quickly inspected his ticket to make sure he had access. I casually walked in with Eugene, hoping she'd just assume that we were sitting together. Success!

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Figured a team by team assessment would be overkill, so here are some scattered thoughts about the two days:

Unlike the NFL/NBA/MLB drafts, everybody is present and on the floor. So that creates a cool dynamic as you see GMs physically walk around trying to negotiate trades. Thanks to my super fun happy zoom lens, I got a good series of photos with Kings GM Dean Lombardi fervently negotiating a deal with Toronto for the 79th overall pick. In the background of this photo is future Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan seemingly just hanging out. Also walking by is everybody's favorite Russian malcontent Kirill Kabanov who had just been drafted 65th overall.

Just kind of a cool cross-section of the NHL as a business. You got GMs in an argument over a relatively miniscule trade. You got Shanahan who became the NHL's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development after retiring in October. And then you got an 18 year old kid who has the potential to be a future All-Star if he gets his head on straight.

One of the subplots that had been noted during a pre-draft presentation was the profileration of hockey in California. Two California born prospects were expected to go in the first round. Several more were expected to be selected on Day 2.

The main guys were Emerson Etem out of Long Beach and Beau Bennett from Gardena. There's another SoCal forward named Shane McColgan who is expected to be a top 10 pick next year.

It took awhile, but this is certainly the Gretzky wave of kids finally making an impact. Gretzky came to LA in '88, so now you're seeing all these guys born in the early 90s who grew up in an environment where playing hockey was an option. Heck, the Flyers even signed a guy who grew up playing at Ice Station in Valencia.

(Yes, these kids were born in the '91 or '92. I even felt older knowing that some of their fathers were on my fantasy teams at one point.)

While warm weather prospects are still the huge minority, it is starting to become like a weird version of The Mighty Ducks 2. Along with the Californians, there were a couple prospects from Florida this year, and Texas had popped out a few guys.

The first round can lag heavily, even to a dork like me. At times, there were ten minutes between pick. Name gets announced, player hugs everybody in his entourage, makes it down to the stage, meets his new bosses, takes a few photos, conducts an interview with TSN, and cut to two minutes of commercials. The worst part is that we get no draft commentary inside the arena while all of that is happening.

Since the draft tables are arranged by order of standing, Toronto's table was in the first row and basically nearest to the stage. They had traded their first and second picks (along with a first next year) to Boston for Phil Kessel prior to the season. But the year was pretty much an unmitigated disaster for the Leafs and they yielded the 2nd overall pick.

TSN made sure to have a camera on the Leafs table as the Bruins were on the clock with the pick. Toronto has a fine tradition of forking over top selections which ended up yielding some guys named Scott Niedermayer and Roberto Luongo.

The New York Islanders had basically turned into the NHL's version of the Clippers over the last fifteen years. In 2006, things seemed like they might be on the turnaround as they finally fired GM Mike Milbury and brought in former Cup winning GM Neil Smith along with former Islander great Pat LaFontaine into the front office. Naturally both were fired/resigned after only a month. Backup goalie Garth Snow then retired and immediately assumed the GM position. That in itself is bizarre.

In 2006, the Islanders hired Ryan Jankowski to run their drafts and he had done a fairly admirable job to this point (albeit most of the prospects are very much still developing). I spotted Jankowski at a bar nursing a beer after the first round. Little did I know that he'd be fired a couple weeks later.

So look at the draft photo above. You have Islanders owner Charles Wang, GM Garth Snow, actor Kevin Connolly from Entourage, a kid who is presumably Wang's grandson, first round pick Nino Niederreiter, and Jankowski. Most draft tables had some staff member's little kid there to basically fetch them food. Most teams wouldn't drag the kid up on stage en lieu of say one of the numerous scouts who gave input into the decision. Or some Hollywood D-list actor.

Steve Yzerman was recently named the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning who chose sixth overall. He received a much deserved standing ovation prior to announcing the pick.

Ron Francis announced the seventh overall pick for Carolina. You could hear crickets.

Oh poor Ronnie Franchise, he was overshadowed by Lemieux in Pittsburgh and played in anonymity in Hartford and Carolina. It's okay, I gave him a cheer. I remember that you have more career points than Yzerman.

Pet peeve: If you make the effort to go to a Draft, at least have some idea of what your team might be drafting. Especially if your team has a high pick. Case in point....

I was hanging out at the Bauer Hockey stand talking a cute Bauer rep girl. In walks an older dude sporting a Bruins jersey.

"Are you excited about Tyler Seguin?" -- Bauer girl
"I'm sorry, what?" -- Bruins guy
"Are you excited about Tyler Seguin?" -- Bauer girl
"I don't understand." -- Bruins guy
"Tyler Seguin, he's the guy Boston is probably going to end up with the 2nd pick." -- me
(blank stare from Bruins guy)

Pet peeve: If you spent $5.99 on The Hockey News' Draft Preview, please realize that it is not exactly Grey's Sports Almanac.

Obviously I'm at best a slightly better than informed fan, but I at least have the sense that most mock drafts and rankings will not reflect what actually happens.

And ever since I really started ramping up my prospect knowledge a couple years ago, I've come to realize:

A) The Hockey News has been god awful since the lockout.
B) NHL Central Scouting is respected for what it does, but their rankings are usually pretty bad too.

Unfortunately these are the two resources that are most accessible to fans who don't want to pay $50 for more in depth guides. The NHL funds its own scouting service (Central Scouting) to publish periodic rankings which supposedly are used by teams to augment their own research.

With each pick, fans would flip through their THN guides and lament "Oh man, the Islanders just took the #8 guy at #5. What idiots!"

Periodically they'd flash the rankings as done by Central Scouting on the scoreboard to give the fans some idea of who was left. This was particularly tough for Emerson Etem who Central had ranked #8 overall (and #4 forward) on their final list. Meanwhile, more accurate sources pegged Etem closer to #20.

So once he began to slip, the locals grew restless as the Long Beach native kept falling into the 20s while other forwards were being drafted.

"HOW CAN THEY KEEP PASSING ON THE 4th BEST FORWARD?" -- numerous people

I wish I had printed out a copy of Central Scouting's 2003 Final List and handed them out as a reminder that their rankings weren't the gospel.

When all was done, Etem did slip to Anaheim at #29 and was the 20th forward taken. But realistically, that would have been just as shocking if he had gone #8 or had been the 4th forward selected.

A significant number of folks come to the Draft every year expecting to hear Gary Bettman announce a blockbuster trade. Last year, the Chris Pronger deal was made on Draft Day. I still remember rolling out of bed in 2000, turning on the TV, and seeing a graphic that read:

Panthers: G Roberto Luongo, C Olli Jokinen
Islanders: LW Oleg Kvasha, RW Mark Parrish

This year certainly was a dud in that respect. Some figured Chicago would pull some fireworks given their salary cap situation as they already traded playoff hero Dustin Byfuglien prior to the Draft. Others thought the Kings might pull off a blockbuster to excite the hometown fans in attendance.

But it was only minor deals and/or seeds planted for subsequent deals down the line. Although I couldn't help but notice that Dean Lombardi and Brian Burke talking by themselves for several minutes during round 5. Couldn't help but wonder if that may have been Kaberle-related.

One of the unexpected things in round 1 was how defensemen Cam Fowler and Brandon Gormley dropped to #12 and #13 respectively. Most had considered them to be locks for the top 6.

It made some sense as the teams picking in the 5-10 range had higher needs at forward. The Rangers made the most surprising pick in selecting bruising defenseman Dylan McIlrath instead of Fowler/Gormley. I immediately gave the pick a standing ovation (and hopefully didn't jinx myself).

Every year there seems to be a tough defenseman with questionable hockey sense who gets selected a bit too high and never quite pans out; McIlrath potentially fitting that profile, although his supporters point to how much better he's gotten in the last six months and that he's just scratching the surface of his potential. Then again, I rest comfortably knowing that the Rangers' head scout was once the Islanders' head scout when they decided Mike Rupp was a top ten pick.

As for Fowler, he was supposed to be the latest "next Niedermayer" and challenge Hall for the #1 spot when the season began. Instead, he played like the second coming of Sandis Ozolinsh which apparently had teams worried.

Meanwhile Gormley didn't have any one star attribute, so teams opted for a potential first line forward rather than a more surefire #2/3 defenseman. Although unfortunately for the Pacific division, these guys fell to Anaheim and Phoenix respectively.

After the draft, had dinner with Eugene at Fleming's across the street. Two minutes after we were seated, Canadian Gold Medalist and Nashville defenseman Shea Weber got a table nearby. Later, we'd see various folks walk by on Figueroa. Florida first round Nick Bjugstad, Dallas coach Marc Crawford, Phoenix coach Dave Tippett amongst others.

We saw Emerson Etem's entourage walk by. Ten minutes later, Etem (still wearing a Ducks jersey) is walking by himself looking like his puppy had just been ran over.

Day 2 of the Draft runs much more smoothly. It's only broadcast on the NHL Network and there's much less fanfare. Teams announce their picks from their tables and the intervals are only a couple minutes if that between selections.

It was also funny to see teams get yelled at when they were lagging. The NHL rotated who was mediating the proceedings, there was one bitter old guy who announced over the PA "Colorado.....any time..."



Since no reasonable people would actually care about rounds 2-7, I managed to score a pretty sweet seat. I got an acknowledging head nod from the Devils' head scout David Conte. Had a brief conversation with Bob McKenzie and asked him "Where's my cigar" as a reference to a message board post that he commented on a few days before. It took him a few seconds, but he chuckled and asked "That was you huh?"

So the ironic funny tidbit was that after all these years of wanting to go to a Draft, I go the one year the Devils don't have a first round pick. They traded it away in the Kovalchuk deal, but they did get Atlanta's 2nd rounder (#38) back in return.

The Devils drafted a defenseman named Jon Merrill who *knock on wood* looks like a big steal at this spot. Merrill had been projected closer to the Devils' original slot at #24.

He had a dominant under-18 tournament which preceded the Draft. That tournament is usually the last impression a prospect gets to make, which sometimes makes a prospect get overrated since the two week event is a small sample space. But Merrill played well enough to seemingly cement a spot in the first round, if not the top 20. Some projected the 6'3 Merrill to be something like a Darryl Sydor, mobile and above average offensively and defensively.

But it was noted that Merrill didn't have the best of interviews with various clubs at the draft combine. There were some red flags about his character in the locker room along with an incident where he 'harrassed some girls' which led to him being suspended for two weeks during the season.

Enough clubs were scared off of Merrill and the Devils snatched him at #38. At the beginning of round 5, I was surprised to see Merrill and New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello suddenly pop up five feet from me. Lou motioned for Merrill and his family to come down from the stands for a meet and greet. Since the Devils didn't have a fifth round pick, Lou used the down time to talk to them for around ten minutes. Couldn't help but assume it was a "You know why you dropped, it's time to grow up" lecture.........although more likely a "Welcome to the organization."

Eugene had work come up, so I attended Day 2 by myself. But I befriended my fellow ubernerds. One guy continuously yelled out "Draft Tom Kuhnhackl" for two hours. Kuhnhackl was considered a potential first round prospect before the season, but had a bit of a lost season in Germany and is playing in Canada next season. He ended up being taken by Pittsburgh in the fourth round.

After the draft, I was loitering around Staples Center to see who might pop out. Kuhnhackl walked by us we had the standard "Congrats/Thank you" exchange. The fan boy then asked me "Who was that?"

"Uhm.....that was your boy Tom Kuhnhackl." He hurriedly skimmed through his THN Draft Guide for a photo and attempted to find his Sharpie in vain.

Couldn't help but make fun of him for not being able to recognize his favorite prospect. "Well, there he goes, walking out of your life."

I sat halfway through round five before I decided I'd rather watch the end of the USA/Ghana match. In particular, I had made the declaration that I'd leave as soon as Troy Rutkowski was drafted.

In my really geeky fantasy league (geeky fantasy league is obviously redundant), I had drafted Rutkowski 53rd overall to get my token Portland Winterhawk now that Johansen/Niederreiter weren't options. He projected to be a better fantasy player than real life player and most thought he was a 3rd rounder at worst. But he didn't go until pick #137.

As I was packing up my things, Phoenix drafted goalie Louis Domingue with pick #138. Was surprised and even mildly startled when I heard a boisterous cheer across the arena. It was Domingue and his family.

Every year, the NHL tries to warn prospects to come to the Draft at their own peril. Unless you're guaranteed to be a top 60 pick, prospects are basically told its better that they stay at home else they'd get the Aaron Rodgers treatment. But every year, guys will show up--much easier when the Draft is in say Ottawa or Montreal like the previous two years.

By the end of the 2nd round, teams would announce names and we'd only hear periodic bursts of joy from families still present.

One good thing about not staying for the entire draft might have been not seeing some undrafted 18 year old kid in a suit traveling across the continent to realize his dream was possibly over. And I'm sure there were more than a few that day.

After the Kuhnhackl thing, I also had a quick conversation with former Devil Steve Thomas. His son Christian was drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round.

I was struggling to think of something clever to say. Thomas' tenure with the Devils weren't exactly his banner years. While he had a couple of good seasons, he was also the guy that we got in exchange for Claude Lemieux while he was the reigning Conn Smythe winner in 1995.

The 95-96 Devils were also infamous for being one of the few teams that didn't even qualify for the playoffs after winning the Cup. Lemieux had the reputation of performing in the playoffs and the Devils didn't make it out of the 2nd round until they got Lemieux back in 2000 (albeit Claude wasn't really a defining player by then).

Couldn't exactly say "Man, sucked that the Devils won two Stanley Cups sandwiched around your time there."

Thomas would go on to sign a 3 year deal with the Maple Leafs in 1998. The Devils would knock them out of the playoffs in 2000 and 2001.

If I was really a dick, I could have mentioned "Man, sucked that you were on those really good Leafs teams that just weren't as good as the Devils. Remember when you guys only mustered six shots in an elimination game?"



Thomas would have one more good playoff run with Anaheim in 2003........and the Ducks lost to the Devils in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Yeah, suffice to say I wanted to be respectful around a 20 year NHLer who never got to raise the Cup.



I still remember saving a copy of the Union Tribune's sports page which had a picture of a saddened Steve Thomas as its cover picture. I guess I could have mentioned that the most I ever spent on tickets for a hockey game was game 4 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, and that I had the worst seat in the house for his 1-0 overtime winner.

And it would have been in bad taste for "Well, I guess I have to root against your son." Everything that was popping in my head about Steve Thomas might have resulted in him punching me in the throat. So I stuck to very generic "Oh you must be very proud" and "always a pleasure meeting a great player."

A day later, I remembered a story which might have gotten a laugh out of him. There was a November '95 game against the then Mighty Ducks that I remembered listening to on the radio. The Devils got destroyed 6-1.

In that game, Steve Thomas scored the Devils' only goal. But the funny part was that Thomas' shot had gone through the netting and play continued. On the same shift, Ken Daneyko scored. But the referees reviewed the Thomas shot and ruled that it was a goal. So the Daneyko goal ended up being nullified.

Steve Thomas scored 421 regular season goals during his NHL career. Ken Daneyko scored 36 in a 20 year career spanning nearly 1300 games.

By then I had coincidentally switched into my Daneyko jersey. I totally missed the opportunity to bring up that story and ask "Steve, why couldn't you have told the refs to let Dano have that one?"

After that, we saw an Islanders prospect (I thought it was Kirill Kabanov) walking around with a confused look on his face. Somebody asked him if he was looking for something.

"I'm trying to get back inside the arena, my parents are still in there."

He then explained to security that he wasn't some fan trying to re-enter and they let him back in. It took me a few seconds to realize it was Kabanov since I was thrown off by the lack of accent. Then I remembered that he was noted for speaking really well. But I missed my photo opp. D'oh.

And what would an entry be without me failing with women. Naturally I had fleeting hopes that I'd meet my soul mate at an event such as this. Spotted a couple gals after Day sporting Sharks paraphernalia. That alone is usually +1, but the chance they actually traveled to attend the draft was a potential +3.

But they were with a couple other dudes and I guess I didn't want to be Captain Trying To Hit On Your Girl, but I ended up befriending the guys and chatting it up for a few minutes with them as the girls kinda wandered about.

Eventually they were headed in another direction, so I did the customary "Have a safe ride back to San Jose, enjoy the rest of the weekend" as the other guys said adios. The one girl then says an agitated "Nice meeting you." And since then, both guys have added me as Facebook friends.

Yeah, I suck.