It’s finally here! (I need cheering icon or emoticons) Draft day and we have 8th pick for today. No drama for the #1 overall but lots of drama available for the rest of the round.
With Stamkos still leading the pack and TBL (not being fools) will watch him don the blue lightning bolt. But everything after that will be interesting. Deep in defenseman and surprisingly interesting forwards, I expect this draft round to be complex.
Doughty, Bogosian, Schenn, Myers aand Pietrangelo are all making a case for themselves and the remainder of the top 5 spots. But Filatov, Boedker, Wilson and Hodgson will figure in that mix heavily.
I want a forward…specifically Filatov or Boedker. But of course the organization is touting the defensive angle. They are also saying they will be going for an NHL ready player which knocks a couple of my hopefuls off the list. That and the fact that most of the best DMen are BPA for the top 6 spots… but maybe Pietrangelo falls?
Personally, this has to be THE most anticipated draft of my hockey loving career.
With home repairs and needing to get out of the house to get to the draft party I neglected to post that entry… d’oh
But I’ll just leave it at the top of this one… impressions, thoughts and whatnot of Day 1 Round 1 Draft 2008
So we get to Upper Deck and it is really small looking, the sports bettors are all sprawled lazily throughout the upstairs portion of the bar and barely look up as we troup in. We congregate and secure space for the 14 expected members of the Patio 6 Posse (we actually ended up being like 25 fanatics as sweeties like Carcillo1 from theNHLarena.com joined us, along with a visiting Aussie favorite DesertDingo from the LockerRoom, WhiteTiger and Ghosthoffa from the CoyotesCorner.net, Synergy from HFBoards as well as many others) It almost felt like a hockey game where everyone gathers before hand to talk Yotes and speculate.
We got introduced to the new radio folks. They have good sense of humor and were upbeat and approachable throughout the event. Heeter and Louie were their regular fun and crazy selves. Desert Dingo and SCOTT had a lot of fun razzin the two of them and exchanging old tyme hockey palaver.
DMO and Mules showed up to sign autographs and do the picture thang. Dmo was his lively and sweet self. Mules however was chillin and sportin a new do… A faux hawk! and a great new tat too. *pics will be posted as soon as BTinAZ can get them processed for us.*
There was a bit of confusion at the start, Xtra910 was doing live broadcast simultaneously
and at times we could not hear the VS broadcast. But then everything settled down… in an almost eerie kind of lull as the big Coyotes trade flashed up on the screen…
OLLIE JOKINEN HAS BEEN TRADED TO PHOENIX!
the place lit up like a roman candle. But just as the high fives began to circulate throughout the room, we saw the fine print and realized that we lost Bally and Boynk in the deal. I swear it was like a tsunami of grief. First disbelief, then denial, then anger… then acceptance (very reluctant acceptance) but we all know you gotta give to get in this business. I for one am just thankful the GMDM pays less than most GMs, when it comes to bargain hunting GMDM is a championship shopper.
Good luck and godspeed Boynton and Bally. Florida better appreciate you two. You will be missed… sorely missed.
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