Draft Rant

Ok, so I've had a few spiced rum and cokes tonight, and it has intesified my anger somewhat...
But there are a couple things about the Draft that really cheesed me off.

1. Cherepanov was picked 17th overall by the Rangers and Jagr probably had something to do with it. Cherepanov made it no secret that Jagr is his favorite player. Glenn Sather must have wet his pants when the Russian was still available that late and he got his hands on him. Cherepanov should have gone in the top 5 in my opinion. The GM's go on record on camera saying that they pick the best player available but that means that some of the 12 GM's lied.
Is Russia's refusal to sign the transfer agreement a real achille's heel in this year's draft? Was Malkin's situation a deterrence for Russian players to be selected at early stages? Probably. But GM's covered it up by saying that Cherepanov's play was inconsistent. Hey, I'm sure that could be said a lot about the previous 16 picks. It's bullshit.

2. Using the Ducks' Cup-winning team as a template for drafting is stupid. Sure, I have nothing against having a strong amount of North American talent on a roster. But the size issue? Size was a big factor in Round 1 of the Entry Draft and it is no secret that GM's are looking at Anaheim's size as a big reason for their Cup-winning success and letting that influence their decision. But I am not agreeing with that concept. The Ducks' size played a role in their success. But it really isn't the be all end all of how to build a team. Were the Hurricanes bigger than the Oilers in 2006? NO!
Were the Lightning bigger than the Flames in 2004? Fuck no!
The theory of size for Cup success has huge holes in it. It is not consistent in history. The Sens did not lose to the Ducks because they were smaller. They lost because they lacked the desire as a team to win it.
And if I hear one more dickhead mention the Ducks' being the bigger team, I am going to put my foot through my fucking television!
God dammit, pick the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE and stop being stupid. I swear some of these GM's work on a popularity contest sometimes.
Bless Sather's heart. The jackass got a steal for his 17th pick and believe me: when Cherepanov plays in the NHL for the New York Rangers, nobody is going to be talking about size anymore. They are going to be praising Sather for stealing such a talented player THAT LATE IN THE DRAFT.
Alright, I'm going to bed.

T Tags: NHL Draft Size Fuckheads Stupid+GM's

Semi-live blog of the NHL Entry Draft

This is the first #1 overall pick ever for the Hawks?? Wow.

ROUND 1


1. HAWKS: Patrick Kane-goal scorer
2. FLYERS: James VanRiemsdyk: power forward. He's Dutch, so he's got to be good!
3. COYOTES: (Gretzky gets his usual major ovation!): Kyle Turris: smaller sized scorer.
4. KINGS: Thomas Hickey. Offensive defenceman. A suprise pick. Hickey was ranked 26th with North American players.
5. CAPITALS: A new Caps uniform! Not a bad throwback! Karl Alzner. A large, solid defenceman.

6. OILERS: Sam Gagner. Playmaker.
7. BLUE JACKETS: Jakub Voracek. Playmaker
8. BRUINS: Cam Neeley makes the pick! Zach Hamill. No relation to Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker). Playmaking forward. The colors on that new Bruins jersey don't quite add up (the logo with the rest of the jersey, IMO.
-----Blues trade 9th to SJ in exchange for 13th, 44th pick, and a 3rd rounder in 2008. Completes the Toskala deal somehow. Long story.-------
9. SHARKS: Logan Couture. All-round forward.
10. PANTHERS: Keaton Ellerby. Big, mean, physical defenceman.
11. HURRICANES: Brandon Sutter. The 9th Sutter to be drafted. An opportunistic, versatile forward.

---Alexei Cherapanov keeps waiting and waiting to get picked. It seems that GM's are avoiding them because of all the Malkin complications last year, and Russia's refusal to sign the transfer deal.---

12. CANADIENS: Ryan McDonagh. Offensive defenceman.
13. BLUES: Lars Eller. A playmaking forward.
14. AVALANCHE: Kevin Shattenkirk. Offensive defenceman.
15. OILERS (from the Smyth trade): I say Lowe takes Sherepanov... He takes: Alex Plante. Big and powerful defenceman.

---Apparently Dave Nonis was trying hard through Phoenix and Philly to draft top 3 and get perhaps Kyle Turris.---

---Ducks trade #16 pick to Wild for picks #19 and #42.----

16. WILD: Colton Gillies. Son of Clark Gillies. Fast, physical power forward with limited offensive ability.
17. RANGERS: Alexei Cherepanov...finally. His fave player is Jagr. Now they are saying teams were not picking Cherepanov because of his work ethic...sure.

---Flames trade #18 pick to Blues for the #24 and #70 pick.----

18. BLUES: Ian Cole. Big, solid, steady defenceman.
19. DUCKS: Logan MacMillan. A skilled defensive forward.
20. PENGUINS: Angelo Esposito...finally as well. A skilled center. He slid in this draft so much because for one his work ethic was questioned and secondly because his offensive numbers dropped last season.
Esposito was actually expecting to be picked by Montreal, but is happy to be a part of the Pens, playing with Crosby and Malkin. Like Espo said, he will now take it upon himself to prove the naysayers wrong.

---The Coyotes trade the 21st pick to the Oilers for #30 and #36.-----

21. OILERS (their 3rd pick in the first 21 selections): Riley Nash. Another BC guy. Skilled, but not flashy center that is good at both ends of the ice.
22. CANADIENS: Max Pacioretty. Power forward.

That's 6 American players picked in the first 22. Are GM's stupid? I kid.

23. PREDATORS: John Blum. Yankee defenceman. Offensive, mobile.
24. FLAMES: Mikael Backlund. Solid 2-way center.
25. CANUCKS: Please, Nonis, no Europeans! He takes: Patrick White. American. A strong center who will be playing in the NCAA with Minnesota.
Nonis likes his vision and ability to protect the puck.
26. BLUES:
David Perron. A hard-working skilled winger. Fave player is Kovalev though. So he could be a bum!
27. RED WINGS: Yzerman makes the call: Brendan Smith. A smooth skating and smart defenceman.

---another trade happened (swapping picks but I missed it. ---

28. SHARKS: Nick Petrecki. A mean, physical defenceman.
29. SENATORS: James O'Brien. Defenceman....or forward? Can play both well.
30. COYOTES (from Nagy trade): Nick Ross. A huge, hard-hitting defenceman.

It's drinking time for me! I'm out!!! Hope you enjoy the info!

T Tags: 2007 NHL Entry Draft