As I was watching the 2011 NHL Entry Draft Friday night, recently without a home team to cheer for (Jake was the last straw in a long, masochistic relationship with that team), I thought, “hey, I like John Buccigross and Bill Simmons. They do those ‘watch a game/event and give my thoughts as it goes along’ pieces, why can’t I?” So I did. As it went along, I wrote down my thoughts during the first round of the draft, for your reading pleasure!
7:03pm – Mention #1 of the trade. Grr. This isn’t starting well.
7:08pm – No Doug MacLean sightings. This is good.
7:25pm - Sharp, sharp jersey for the Oilers. I’m liking the darker blue and orange. Congrats, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins!
7:27pm – Tambellini denies Ryan Smyth back to Edmonton minutes after Dreger reports it… hmm? (Edit: As of 10:50am on Saturday, nothing’s official either. Odd.)
7:32pm – I hope more Euros follow Landeskog’s lead and play major-junior Canadian hockey in their draft year.
7:34pm – Loving this “Go Jets, Go!” chant on the feed. Great to see them back!
7:40pm – Larsson drops to the Devils? Lucky ducks, that’s exactly the player they need…if they take him. Huberdeau #3. Florida keeps getting great talent. Dale Tallon is a hell of a builder.
7:48pm – Great pick, Jersey! They needed a top offensive defenseman, and Larsson can be just that.
7:54pm – Is Garth Snow channeling Barry Melrose? #mullets
7:56pm – Strome will be unbelievable with Tavares… nice pick! Too bad their owner is a little out there. And they still are paying Rick DiPietro.
7:59pm – Mika Zibanejad: a fantastic name and one of the hottest-rising prospects in this draft. Ottawa’s gotta be happy with that addition.
8:04pm – Winnipeg’s on the clock. I love everything about this. Go Jets Go!
8:09pm – Seeing Claude Noel still fills me with rage. That’s not going to change.
8:11pm – First pick of the new Jets era: Mark Scheifele? Congrats, kid. You’re now Trivial Pursuit-fodder. I have a feeling you’re going to be another late bloomer ala Ryan Johansen last year.
8:13pm – All this Sean Couturier dropping is reminding me of Angelo Esposito in 2007.
8:15pm – Please don’t mention the trade.
8:17pm – Of course they mentioned it. Mention count: 2.
8:18pm – Mention #4…and they take Couturier.
8:22pm – Mention #5… Comparisons to Jordan Staal? Um, okay.
8:24pm – Seven mentions, and Holmgren is saying nothing but BS right now. That’s your GM, Philadelphia.
8:26pm – The rich get richer with Dougie Hamilton. “Thanks for the Cup, Toronto.” –Peter Chiarelli Still think Kessel was worth it, Burkie? Hamilton, Jared Knight, and Tyler Seguin…dang!
8:30pm – The hometown crowd is going… Wild! Sorry, bad pun.
8:38pm – AGH ADAM FOOTE. I’d say he’s a classy player and person... but I don’t enjoy lying.
8:40pm – Duncan Siemens … Grant Clitsome … what’s next?
8:47pm – I don’t care if he plays D; Ryan Murphy’s a monster in the offensive zone. I could watch his highlights all day.
8:48pm – Paul Coffey loves Ryan Murphy? Go figure, a one-dimensional offensive player loves another one.
8:52pm – SVEN! Quick guy out of Switzerland off to Calgary! Portland has a power program right now. Three Top-15 picks in the last two drafts.
8:57pm – Sven Baertshi second Euro to play in CHL and be a first round draft pick this year. Keep up the trend!
9:01pm – Oleksiak is HUGE. 6’7" defender. First NCAA guy drafted this year. Seeing him beside Bettman makes my night. Tiny little troll-man.
9:03pm – So which cheap grunt of a player will be drafted by New York this time?
9:11pm – NYR just have awful luck. First Cherepanov, then the Boogeyman. Sad, tragic stuff.
9:15pm – Is it just me, or does Terry Pegula act like he’s 94?
9:16pm – Wow, the NA-only trend for the Sabres is over!
9:24pm – And another French Canadian goes to Montreal. Good dman, good fit.
9:28pm – Nevermind. Beaulieu's not French Canadian.
9:33pm – Dang. Brent Burns to San Jose. I like that pickup.
9:36pm – Mark McNeil to Chicago. Compared to… Manny Malhotra? Whaaaa?
9:40pm – Bettman is a troll. A tiny troll of a man.
9:41pm – Oscar Klefbom is such a boom or bust prospect. I’m scared for his future. Could be huge… or burn out fast.
9:48pm – And now for the last first round pick in Phoenix Coyotes history?
9:50pm – It’s a crying shame to see Russia’s fall from glory. Sign the dang transfer agreement already. Quit being a pain.
9:51pm – YEAH CONNOR MURPHY! Former CBJ assistant coach Gord Murphy’s son. But will he be the last Phoenix first rounder ever? I’d think so.
9:56pm – Stefan Noesen: a true Texan in the NHL? Cool. Don’t like Corey Perry-comparisons, but eh.
10:01pm – Disaronno commercial #6 on the night… Product placement much?
10:05pm – Toronto trades up for … Tyler Biggs! Another mean, nasty American kid for Burke.
10:06pm – I like the Ohio connection. Biggs from Cincinnati, going to Miami (OH), just like Brian Burke’s late son, Brandon.
10:10pm – Go figure. Detroit trades out of the 1st round… again. Gets two second round picks. Who wants to bet they go off the board for some obscure Euro, who’ll be a superstar?
10:15pm – Joe Morrow of the Portland Winterhawks taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins. ANOTHER Winterhawk in the first round. #dynasty
10:19pm – Sens picking for third time at #24—Matt Puempel out of Peterborough. Another scoring monster to the anemic Sens.
10:24pm – These Dominos commercials with the kids is getting on my nerves. Whiney kids. Blech.
10:36pm – Brian Campbell waived NTC to Florida Panthers? Well then. I’d heard a different rumor on Campbell today.
10:39pm – Stan Bowman is a busy man. Could they have cap flexibility? That’s a marked difference from last summer. Should be interesting come July 1st.
10:42pm – Steve Yzerman and Guy Boucher. Classy, classy men.
10:43pm – And there goes our first Russian. Vladislav Namestnikov from the London Knights. Grew up in Michigan, knows English. Not your typical homelander. Could be a very good pick for the Lightning.
10:49pm – Stan Bowman doing work. When will Campbell be moved?
10:52pm – Great start to the draft for the host city, Minnesota. Lots of talent coming in.
10:56pm – No love lost between Minnesota and Vancouver. No wonder Mike Gillis didn’t announce the pick. #underlingsdoingdirtywork
10:58pm – Nicklas Jensen to the Nucks at #29. Strikes me as a very Vancouver player. Maybe because of Jannick Hansen haha. Another Dane in the CHL… I’m liking this.
11:00pm – Still no Campbell trade. Cool to see it unfold before our eyes, though.
11:02pm – Y’know, I’d give almost anything to be a fly on the wall for an NHL draft room ala Gare Joyce in 06 and 07. Or just work the draft. Either would make me happy. Where's next year's draft again?
11:05pm: Another Swede playing in the CHL goes to Anaheim at #30. I like this trend a lot, gets Euros acclimated to the North American game. Is that obvious yet?
11:06pm: Hot Swedish mom and bug-eyed bow-tied brother alert. Oh, the NHL Draft.
11:07pm: Semi-official: Brian Campbell to Florida for Rusty Olesz. Interesting!
11:08pm: Day 2 tomorrow: can’t wait to see my team draft! But wait… I don’t have one. :/ Awkward.
-Ryan Pratt
As I said four months ago, the NHL cannot afford another lockout. As reported by BleacherReport,
it took the NHL six years to see its ratings recover from the previous lockout—another
lockout would be disastrous. Many big name players (such as Joe Thornton and Rick Nash) are already rumored to have offers on the table from European teams for this next season.
If the NHL wants to regain its position as one of the “Big
Four” North American sports, they have to come to a solution quickly. Donald
Fehr and the Player’s Association remain optimistic,
but, with less than a month from the September 15th deadline, there has
been no progress in negotiations. There is still a wide gap between the owners and
the NHLPA’s demands. Any work stoppage would be disastrous for the league. The NFL and NBA have had years of good favor with fans and the media to lean upon with their potential work stoppages--the NHL doesn't have that same luxury. 
