• Could Penguins GM Craig Patrick be any less enthusiastic about selecting Sidney Crosby? It looked like it took Craig an exceptional amount of effort to produce a fake smile for the cameras. You got Sidney F'in Crosby!!! Maybe he really secretly wanted Gilbert Brule? :)
  
  
• Speaking of Brule, it's hard to get enthusiastic when he was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets. I don't hate the Dinner Jackets, but I was quite deflated to see him go to a market that I have no feeling for whatsoever. I was really hoping to see the Canadiens pick Brule at #5, but they went and got Corey Price. (WHY?). Columbus is going to rock your house with Rick Nash, Nik Zherdev, and Gilbert Brule as the core of a powerful forward corps.
  
  
  
• Canucks awarded the 2006 Entry Draft! Sweet
  
  
• Canucks select (crappy) offensive defenseman Luc Bourdon, who couldn't possibly look any more French unless he was wearing a beret. Bourdon had a -39 rating last year. -39!!! That must be a record for a first round pick.
  
  
• St. Louis Blues take T.J. "Oh, my goshie" Oshie at the #24 spot. I've never heard of this guy, but a 'Future John Madden' doesn't sound too terrible. There wasn't anyone else around that position that I would be clamouring for. Here is a scouting report on the guy.
  
  
• UPS and DOWNS - I am not surprised that Anze Kopitar 'slipped' to LA at #11. There is always one prospect that seems to catch a HUGE wave of hype before the draft, yet ends up being drafted lower than the publications would suggest. Kopitar seemed to turn into Superman over the summer as every publication somehow found a way to put him higher and higher in their rankings.
  If any prospect was bound to make a leap, Sasha Pokulok was bound to be that guy. Ranked in the mid/late 2nd round by most pundits, the 6'5" 220 defenseman was bound to be selected in the first round simply because big dmen who skate well are always a prized commodity.
  Speaking of slipping on a banana peel, Jakub Vojta, the offensive defenseman ranked the 3rd best European skater by CSS, slipped all the way to the Hurricanes at #94.
  Vojta is a major risk due to his style of play and suspect work habits. Still, at #94, the Canes certainly could do no wrong taking a player with some real upside.
  
  
• Slovakia didn't have quite the crop that they did the last 2 seasons (no goalie!), but they fared well with two 1st rounders and 7 players overall. (the highlighted links lead to their HF profiles)
  (1)13th - Marek Zagrapan, Buffalo
  (1)30th - Vladimir Mihalik, Tampa Bay
  (4)92nd - Marek Bartanus, Tampa Bay
  (4)121st - Juraj Mikus, Montreal
  (4)123rd - Ondrej Otcenas, Carolina
  (6)133rd - STANSILAV LASCEK(!!), Tampa Bay
  (7)205th - Mario Bliznak, Vancouver (He'll be playing for the Giants, too!)
  
  
• No, Tampa Bay is *not* my new favourite team, but they certainly were trying! Not only did the Lightning draft Stanslav Lascek (hooray!), but they drafted 3 Slovaks and 2 Czechs (Radek Smolenak and Marek Kvapil) in total. Mihalik at #30 was a bit puzzling, but Smolenak is an underrated gem and I'm really happy for Lascek.
  
  
• The UNWANTED - Among the names not called yesterday were troubled Slovak winger Richard Lelkes and the plodding ogre Devereaux Heshmatpour. Lelkes has talent, but a 10-cent head...while Devereaux is a slower skater than goaltenders wearing full equipment.
  
  
• 1st Round pick that looks like a bust from the start: Jakub Kindl, 19th overall to Detroit. I've seen him play and was thoroughly disappointed. I've read nothing but negative press all season long, and I just don't see what was so special about him.
  
  
• His Kitchener Rangers teammate, Matt Lashoff, went 22nd to Boston and I think that he will be a good value pick for the Ruins. Lashoff isn't flashy, but he looks to be above-average in all areas of the game and looks like a good bet (as good as a draft pick could be at #22) to do good things at the NHL level.
  
  
• The Russian Red Scare - I know the Russian draft crop was weaker than American Budweiser, but it looks like GM's are (rightfully) scared to take Russian players these days. Many of these kids will have little or no interest in coming to the new NHL, and there could be many problems dealing with their club teams as the Russian Federation bickers with the IIHF over the transfer agreement.
  Only 11 Russian players were taken, with the first one not going until the 70th pick to Ottawa (VITALY ANIKEYENKO).
  
  
• "Damn Yankees!" - The Americans, on the other hand, had 69 players taken! This number represents 30% of all drafted players yesterday. Canadians ought to be very nervous with the results of the US National Program these past few years.
  
  
• The Vancouver Giants had 3 players taken overall, which surprised the hell of out me.
  Cody Franson, a 6'4" 200lbs D-man was taken 69th by the Predators. He's big, but seemed to be nothing more than an average WHL defenseman. I really hope he does well, since he will be a big part of the Giants next season with Andrej Meszaros (likely) gone onto the pro ranks.
  J.D. Watt, a 6'1" 198lbs winger was taken 111th by Calgary. Watt is a hard-working plumber who will drop the gloves, but he has tremendous little skill and plays about 5 minutes a night for the Giants. Never in a million years would I have expected him to get drafted. *scratches head*
  
  
• An Ex-Giant, Matt Kassian, was taken in the 2nd round (57th overall) by the Minnesota Wild. Kassian was such a great fighter for the Giants that, as the rumours go, other WHL teams had a "Don't Fight Kassian" rule. With nobody willing to drop the gloves against Kassian, the Giants had no reason to keep him around. So, they traded him to the Kamloops Blazers.
  Kassian is great at fighting and hitting, but little else. I am not too surprised that he was drafted, but I never expected him to go in the 2nd round!
  
  
• Not a great year for people who eat Bratwurst and Sauerkraut. Only 1 German (Philippe Gogulla to Buffalo at 48th) was taken. Austria and Switzerland both had 0 players selected!!!
  
  
• With most NHL teams having about 15% of a player roster, there weren't a lot of real trades going on. Still, the Leafs made a cheap pickup in getting Jeff O'Neill from the Canes for a conditional pick. O'Neill then signed with the Leafs for $1.5mil/season for 2 seasons.
  
  O'Neill really wanted to be close to home, especially after the death of his brother. We could see a few more players take 'home town' discounts over the course of the new CBA, but teams shouldn't count on players being as 'generous' as O'Neill was.
  
  Now, O'Neill needs to repay the Leafs by actually breaking a sweat during his training sessions and actual games...and it would help if he went back to the defensive zone once in awhile.
  
  
• Steals of the Draft - I am calling these picks as great value picks for the clubs that were lucky enough to see them fall into their laps. (Yeah, they are all Czechs, so what?)
  
  1. Ondrej Pavelec, G, 41th to Atlanta - The best Czech goaltender prospect in this draft, he is the absolute opposite of Marek Schwarz in terms of style (substance over flash) and demeanor.
  
  2. Radek Smolenak, LW, 73rd to Tampa Bay - I liked what I saw from this hard-working offensive winger at the CHL Top Prospects Game (in which he was a last-minute injury replacement). Coming into the season, I was told that he was a 'Soft Giant', but we saw how he adapted perfectly to North American hockey.
  
  3. Tomas Popperle, G, 131st to Columbus - In the OVERAGE category, we have the 20-year old goalie who stole the starting job in Sparta Prague.
  Here is McKeen's writeup on "Puppy":
  

  A revelation in the senior Extraleague, the 84-born goalie has broken through with a dominating season, leading the league in save percentage after taking over as Sparta's starter when Petr Briza went down with an injury in mid-November. Popperle made headlines again at the Spengler Cup when he stole the starting job from David Aebischer. "He should be a sought-after player in the upcoming NHL draft," says a Czech scout. "One area of significant improvement to his game has been his added poise. Whereas in previous years he was prone to giving up weak goals due to poor focus, he has really economized his game. Does not play a fixed style - he plants himself very firmly and just sucks the pucks in without going down as a butterfly would. His dexterity is very good and he is sound positionally. He moves quickly side-to-side with strong recovery instincts and determination. Two areas that he must upgrade though are his glove hand and puckhandling."

  
  
• Last, but not least, we have Paul Stastny, the other son of Peter Stastny, drafted 44th by Colorado. Those Stastny's sure have some amazing hockey genes.
  McKeen's Scouting Report:
  

  A smart, street-savvy player with great militant hands like his father (Peter Stastny). The elder Stastny was a master of whacking an opponent's stick at first contact to create room for himself which Paul seems to have inherited. I love his defensive positioning - he is very responsible and oh-so-crafty with and without the puck. Stocky, strong, with powerful arms. Skating mechanics aren't bad and he moves pretty effortlessly, though he could use a better top speed.

  (militant hands?)

...and there you have it! Let the second-guessing, ranting, and raving begin!

# posted by Unknown @ 8:34 am