Friday, June 25, 2010

The 2010 NHL Draft Liveblog

11:00 - The Islanders trade up to the 30th pick, and have their selection announced by Scott Wolf from Party of Five. And with that, the first round is over.

Thanks to everyone for dropping by tonight. Enjoy rounds two through seven tomorrow.

And hey, why didn't Tomas Kaberle get traded?

10:50 - Hey, here's a question: if I have the 25th pick, and I trade it for the 20th pick, did I just move "higher" or "lower" in the draft?

You're not sure, are you? Doesn't it seem strange that we've had decades of pro sports drafts and we don't know the answer to this question? Can we get this figured out? Somebody call the guys a Behind the Net and get them working on this.

10:45 - Wouldn't it be fantastic if a player who had just been drafted responded to Gary Bettman's handshake by leaning into his face and yelling "BOOOOOO"?

No? OK, moving on.

10:20 - We finally get confirmation on that Canucks/Panthers deal involving Keith Ballard. Meanwhile, TSN is showing photos of a child with a broken leg on a tricycle. Five picks to go. God help me.

10:00 - The Habs trade up for Jarred Tinordi. Fun fact: his father Mark played for the North Stars, was a defenceman, and had a career record of 0-437 against Wendel Clark.

9:50 - I have no idea who Pittsburgh just drafted, but when he pulled on a Penguins jersey with "10" on it, the entire Senators organization had a Gary Roberts flashback and fled the building.

9:40 - Brian Burke is interviewed on TSN and mentions turning down a first round pick for a defenceman. Duthie assumes it's Kaberle, Burke says no, Duthie asks for a name and Burke says "none of your business".

Is it me, or didn't we already know that Burke turned down a deal for Schenn this week. I thought we knew that. Didn't we know that?

9:15 - Sens are up. Bryan Murray is furiously shouting into a cell phone, leading to trade speculation. My guess: he's checking with the security to make sure Brian Burke isn't going to swoop in and steal his pick again.

9:10 - And we have a trade! The Kings trade up to #15.

Here's my question: for 364 days a year, it takes the NHL hours to confirm a trade. Just a few days ago, the Hawks/Thrashers deal took about six hours to go through all the league approvals. On deadline day, deals get announced throughout the evening because of delays.

But during the draft, a trade can get be made in five minutes. Why?

Does the NHL stop reviewing deals on draft night? Do they hire a second guy to work the phones? Do they outsource the customer service center to India for a night? How does this work? Am I using too many question marks? I think I am.

8:55 - The Coyotes wind up with top five prospect Brandon Gormley. They were using a pick they got from the Flames, by the way. For Olli Jokinen. Leaf fans, you can start feeling slightly better about yourself... now.

8:35 - The Rangers just passed up Fowler and Gormley for Dylan McIlrath. In related news, Pierre McGuire's eyebrows are floating six inches over his head right now.

8:30 - Six-word phrases that make me happy:

#3 - "That cheerleader thinks bloggers are sexy."

#2 - "Yes sir, it's an open bar."

#1 - "We have a trade to announce."

Needless to say, I'm 0-for-3 tonight.

8:20 - I'm going off-topic here, but can somebody explain to me what the deal is with the NBA draft? I don't follow basketball, but whenever I watch their draft there seems to be about three good players before you start hearing phrases like:

"With the fourth overall pick, they take a guy he doesn't know how to dribble yet."

"With the fifth overall pick, they take a guy who is seven feet tall and comes from a country where they have no basketballs."

"With the sixth overall pick, they take a guy with a bad hip and a deformed hand."

Hm, OK, maybe that last one was a bad example.

8:05 - Lightning GM Steve Yzerman picks Brett Connolly at #6. The TSN panel doesn't like the choice, until Bob Probert shows up and pummels them all.

7:45 - Pierre McGuire on the Blue Jackets pick Ryan Johansen: "He's really good. And he's only going to get better." Yes, that's certainly an important quality for an 18-year-old draft pick to have.

7:30 - The Bruins take Seguin. Hey, obscure trivia: did you know this pick once belonged to the Leafs? It's true. Gord Miller just mentioned it 9,000 times.

7:25 - The Bruins will take their full 15 minutes to make this pick. Because it's a really hard decision.

7:15 - It's official: Hall is the Oiler pick. He hugged his family, kissed his girlfriend, then pulled out his cellphone and called his agent to demand a trade as he was walking to the stage.

6:50 - We're almost ready to go. No word yet on who the Oilers will be picked.

Meanwhile, the other intrigue right now is a potential Keith Ballard trade. Which would be fantastic, because I could use the leftover "hit your own goalie in the head" jokes that I didn't get to use in December.

"I'm glad I got drafted first, because
no one remembers number two"
5:00 - Welcome to the 2010 NHL Draft liveblog. Tonight, hockey fans will finally get answers to questions such as:
  • Where will Tomas Kaberle be traded?
  • Will the Oilers take Taylor or Tyler with the #1 pick?
  • Will the Panthers use the #3 pick on that one guy, or that other slightly taller guy?
  • If the Leafs don't have any picks, why does TSN keep showing Brian Burke every few minutes?
  • Does Gary Bettman practice looking insufferably smug in the mirror, or is he just a natural?
  • Wait, Burke's on the phone! Is he trading Tomas Kaberle!
  • Has there ever been a draft pick that Pierre McGuire didn't like?
  • And hey, why didn't Tomas Kaberle get traded?
I'll be updating throughout the first round. I'll also be on Twitter, and maybe even Facebook. (Did you know I was Facebook? I'm on Facebook. Nobody knows I'm on Facebook.) Everything gets going at 7:00 EST.

In the meantime, here's a thought: There's been a recent trend in sports drafts of teams letting players announce their picks. The Capitals had Ovechkin do it a few years back, and there's a rumor that the Penguins may have Crosby do it today. I'd like to see more of this. I know most teams would rather use the opportunity to give the assistant director of scouting (aka "Mr. Electricity") some face time, but there's a lot of untapped potential here.

Such as: If you're the Boston Bruins, don't you fly in Tuuka Rask to make the #2 overall pick tonight? Wouldn't that be the greatest anti-Maple Leaf moment of all-time? Wouldn't TSN have to break out a split screen so they could show Brian Burke sitting at the Leafs table trying to swallow his own tongue?

Do it, Chiarelli.




33 comments:

  1. If the Bruins did that, the Rask bit, it would go down as the MEANEST shit ever.

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  2. I'm just happy for the Bruins.

    (pulls out shotgun...begins to clean it)

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  3. While it probably would go down as the "meanest shit ever," as eyebleaf said (and I agree), part of me hopes they do it... On some level, I'm hoping it would shame Brian Burke so much that it would teach him to hold on to good picks when he has them. Or maybe it would spark an idea in the upper echelons of Leafs management to fire him instead since he let Rask go.

    Wishful thinking, but I'm sure we'd be better off either way.

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  4. As a Sens Fan, this would make that awful deal complete for me, let's hope it happens

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  5. Oh god, that would be, I fail at words.

    Lindsay:

    Wait, what?

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  6. Just for the record, it was JFJ who made the Rask deal, not Burke.

    But since JFJ couldn't get the night off from Dairy Queen, it probably wouldn't bother him much.

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  7. Matthew:

    Wow, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that it was JFJ and not Burke who screwed up with Rask. I haven't gotten any sleep lately, and considering I've been reading all about Burke... Got the names mixed up in my mind. Sorry about that. Excuse my previous post.

    Still think he's a terrible GM, though.

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  8. Did anyone else watch the "oil change" documentary on TSN and did anyone notice how many leaf like jerseys Seguin wore :(

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  9. DGB,

    What's the worst JFJ deal? Just your opinion.

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  10. In regards to the Rask comment. Seriously...that's some masochistic shit right there.

    Really.

    I'd likely be laughing and crying at the same time.

    If Burke trades Kaberle for a late 1st my resolve as a Leaf fan is going to be severely tested...

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  11. I would be totally fine with the 2010-11 Boston Bruins battling a team-wide case of explosive diarrhea, all season long.

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  12. Thanks for the Daigle photo and quote. This could only be improved by the inclusion of the "Daigle in a nurse's uniform" picture, which I have searched in vain for across the Intarwebs.

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  13. I'm upset that Boston didn't thank Toronto. It would have let you hate them even more.

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  14. @DGB: YES!

    But I remember the photo showing him from head to toe and wearing a skirt. Can you confirm?

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  15. Say what you will, but this draft needs a "Must Improve: Maturity" graphic stat.

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  16. 8:10 p.m. I am thinking that we only have to make it through another 56 picks and the Leafs can draft Cam Fowler.

    Hey, it could happen. No?

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  17. Which event do you think had the poorer attendance; the Columbus Blue Jackets' draft party, or the 'Save Spezza' rally?

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  18. DGB, were you posting on the Leafs Live Blog? If so, are you ironically considering Spezza or legitimately? :P

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  19. @Downey...

    The Leafs have a live blog? No, that's not me.

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  20. "I'm glad I got drafted first, because
    no one remembers number two"


    In fairness, most people don't remember who went "I'm glad I got drafted first, because
    no one remembers number two"#2 that year. Then someone tells them it was Pronger and they're like "Really? Holy bad drafting, Ottawa."

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  21. Oh, awesome typing me. Good job.

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  22. Some guy is in there as "Brown Guy" and Mike Ulmer assumed it was you. :P

    Personally I don't think there's a point in having a Leafs Draft Live Blog. :P

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  23. Didn't take long for Pierre to slip Mike Richards the tongue...wait.

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  24. thank god for ottawa and rundbland making me feel better about myself as a leafs fan.

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  25. I was really hoping that the bruins would go up announce they select seguin then end it with "thanks burkie."

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  26. //•Has there ever been a draft pick that Pierre McGuire didn't like?//

    Yes, Tyler Seguin.

    Pierre McGuire is a tool.

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  27. JayOnrait

    Just when it looked like @eklund was making progress... "Flyers and Hamhuis Getting Closer to Deal. No rights trade"

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  28. JayOnrait

    Go back to your basement please @Eklund If we have learned anything from covering drafts. Making progress does not equal done deal.

    hahaha

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  29. So, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. It just would have made more sense if it weren't upside down.

    I mean, you can do what you like. That's the nice thing about blogging but it's sorta confusing.

    I was just wondering why you wrote this article in reverse order?

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  30. @Martin...

    That's so the people who were checking in last night would be able to see right away if there was a new entry, rather than scrolling down to the bottom every time.

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  31. Ouch now there is an add featuring Seguin at the top of the page.
    The hockey gods must truly hate us.

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  32. hilarious. thanks for that.

    I still feel sick about the #2 pick, but the Scott Wolfe comment made me forget about it for 2 minutes.

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