Draft in Review

by Anne

I was at rehearsal, where I've been a lot for the last few days and will continue to be for the rest of the summer.

I wasn't able to learn anything about any of the prospects until I returned home last night.

Here are my pithy insights:

HOLY CRAP! Everyone we drafted was at least 6'0" tall!

Round 1:

Zack Kassian -Windsor, ON. 6'3", 210 lbs, RW.

He seems adorably dim and he started out as a figure skater. Amazing. He said his favorite team was Toronto growing up but when asked about this situation now he said: "Now its the Buffalo Sabres...Toronto, I don't like them at all." Well done, Mr. Kassian. He's big, he hits a lot, he scores a lot. Buffalo will like him. He already works out with and knows Mike Weber and knows of Patty Kaleta

ETA: Love for Mr. Kassian from Maine Hockey Blog: “My brother really stepped in there to be a father figure,” Kassian said to the NHL.com. “I have to give a lot of credit to my mom and my brother. They drove me everywhere, got me where I needed and made me the man I am today. They deserve a lot of credit and I thank them a lot.”

Round 2: Nothing doin'

Round 3:

Brayden McNabb - Sasktatoon, SK. 6'4" 200lbs, D

Well we got a Brayden from Saskatoon. Granted, the Brayden I would've hoped for was Schenn, but McNabb works as well. There wasn't much to report from him at the draft, I don't think he was there, so there were no interviews. He's a defenseman. He was tied for the team lead in goals scored by a defenseman this year.

Round 4:

Marcus Foligno - Buffalo, NY - 6'2" 200lbs - LW

Son of Mike. Born in Buffalo when his dad played here. The better looking but perhaps less talented brother of Nick. He had better do the leap if/when he scores his first NHL goal. Do it for Dad, and for the fans, Marky Mark.

Round 5:

Mark Adams - Massachusetts (?) 6'2" 187 lbs

I can't find much of anything out about this kid other than he plays high school hockey and he's committed to play college hockey in Providence. He played for Malden Catholic high school in Massachusetts. He was taken #134 but was not ranked among the 210 North American skaters. Ho-kay?

Round 6:

Connor Knapp - Harrell, NY. 6'5" 215 lbs - G

He's super tall. Built like Millsy but bigger. Plays for Miami of Ohio. Played for Boston of the EJHL. Uhh, he was hella good when he played there. He posted a record of 22-1-0 in 2006-07 with three shutouts and a 1.66 goals-against average. Yeesh.

Round 7:

Maxime Legault - Mont Tremblant, QC. 6'2" 195 lbs - RW

Um, he has the same birthday as my sister, so I'm down.

In other team news: The Kings took Brayden Schenn 5th over all, the Pens took Simon Despres. I'd seen a few mock drafts that had the Sabres taking Despres but, if he fell to 30th overall, I wonder the validity of those drafts. The Canucks got Jordan Schroeder who most people feel was a steal at #22 and most analysts thought he'd go at least in the top 20.

All in all, yet another exciting(?) draft.

Also, Chris Pronger as a Phlyer? Barf.

The Flames acquiring Bouwmeester (or his negotiating rights anyway) is pretty sweet and helps keep them in the running to be a team I enjoy next season. However, if JBo walks away from the Flames, they'll be back to square 1. The Kings traded Brian Boyle to the Rangers. I'm not losing sleep over this.

Free Agency on Wednesday!

If any of you who read this blog cheer for the team that Jaroslav Spacek signs with (sob) on Wednesday... treat him well!! :'(

My Choice for our #13 Pick

by Anne

David Rundblad.

Why? Because he seems a decent young Swede and he already lists the Sabres as his favorite team.

I KNOW! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT EITHER!

The truth is he probably accidentally left that part blank and they just tossed in the team with the least representation on the list.

Think of all the time that'll be saved wondering if he's going to bolt the second he can!

He's ranked 6th among European skaters, according to Central Scouting. He's a right-handed shot and draws comparisons to Mike Green. I'm down. Also, he and my dog (now deceased) have the same birthday. So far birthdays seem to be the thing drawing me to prospects. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Ryan Miller share a b-day. Now David Rundblad and my long deceased cocker spaniel. Good GOD, I have such great GM skillz.

He's supposedly snappy offensively and most mock drafts have him going in the mid-teens. I formerly had my heart set on Simon Despres, but I suppose David Rundblad will be just as bad-ass, if he can be more physical. Lord knows we need tougher d-men, Henrik Tallinder. Toni and Craigory can't do it all, and Sir Christopher is still testing out his wobbly newborn NHL legs. Besides, Simon Despres lists his favorite website as "Fulltiltpoker.com." Please, Simon, everyone knows the NHL poker website of choice is Pokerstars.net.

Hold up, Rundblad has a teammate named Tim Erixon who's a "European" skater but he was born in Portchester, NY. He's got an American flag next to his name but he's listed as a European skater. How often does that happen?

Expect serious OUTRAGE if we don't draft one of these gents. Oh, but if we get another "He's a small, speedy scorer," I'm going to punch something.

ETA… thanks to Alix at Canuck's Hockey Blog for bringing David to my attention

Its Getting Drafty In Here

by Anne

Paul Hamilton discussed on WGR that the Sabres are decidedly anti-European, and its hard to disagree with that sentiment. There are precious few Sabres draft prospects that do not hail from this continent. The majority of our highest ranked prospects are Canadian and American, with the exceptions of Dennis Persson and Jhonas Enroth, among others. But, is this really a significant parameter for discussing the potential for success within the Sabres prospects?

It would seem that the argument for drafting European players is the luck and skill that has mixed together to form the Detroit Red Wings drafting in the last decade. Players like Zetterburg and Datsyuk were drafted very late in the draft (179th and 210th overall respectively) and have become NHL superstars. Detroit struck gold with these two, among many others they've drafted and, when looking at their track record, its hard to disagree that Europeans are the way to go when drafting.

BUT! (There's always a BUT) The 2007 Stanley Cup Champions, the Anaheim Ducks were helmed by one Mr. Brian Burke who has developed a reputation as being anti-European and pro-North American. When reviewing the 2007 Stanley Cup winning team roster we find three European players: Ilya Bryzgalov, Teemu Selanne and Sammy Pahlsson. The entire defense corps was Canadian, the Forwards consisted of four Americans, Selanne, Pahlsson and the rest were Canadian. There's no doubt that Teemu Selanne is and was a huge part of their offense, but, as we can see, clearly the European factor was almost non-existent, even with The Finnish Flash at the helm.

This year's Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins' heritage breakdown goes as follows: Europeans - 5, Americans - 4, Canadians - 13.

The point I'm trying to make is that, just because Detroit happens to have a helluva lot of Europeans and they're good, doesn't mean that one MUST have a Euro-centric team in order to win a Stanley Cup. Talent, skill, leadership, grit and heart can be found around the world, not just in Sweden.

When a team finds these diamonds in the rough, it is to be commended. However, Datsyuk and Zetterberg are most certainly rare players that flew well under the radar and Detroit got a huge return on their investment.

There have been attempts by other NHL teams to capture the same success with less thrilling results. (See: Brunnstrom, Fabian).

So, when the Sabres choose their 13th overall pick if its Simon Despres (D - Canada - St. John Sea Dogs) or Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D - Sweden - Leksand) I hope they choose the better player. Oliver gets my vote because he and Ryan Miller have the same birthday. This is my extremely scientific drafting process, I hope you enjoy it.

Playoffs Start Tonight!!

by Anne

Woooo!!

The 2009 Stanley Cup AND 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs kick off tonight!

MOST importantly, our very own Portland Pirates kick of their Round 1 series against the Providence Bruins tonight @ 7:05 pm at the Dunkin' Donuts Center aka the Greatest Named Sports Arena of All-Time. When you think of donuts, think of Bruins' hockey.

This is the fourth time the Pirates and Bruins have met in the post-season. The Pirates have won the previous three match-ups and are 5-2-0-3 this season against the Bruins. Speaking COMPLETELY from a non-biased perspective, I could see the Pirates being poised for an upset. Their special teams are higher ranked than the Bruins, they've outscored the Bruins 37-31 this season, not including shootout deciding goals. Providence won all three times the games went to the shootout... which is mostly irrelevant in the post season because there is no shootout. Also, for the first time in a long time, the Pirates have eight, count them, EIGHT healthy defensemen with 47-games-in-the-NHL-experienced and recently crowned new King of the hearts of the ladies of the Buffalo Blogosphere, Chris Butler coming back into the fold. I see this Pirates team doing well.

And also the Providence Bruins boast the one and only Wacey Rabbit on their roster, so the more we hear about him, the better.

Lindy, if the only way to make the playoffs if to have your team hoist you over a wall, GET CLIMBIN'

ALSO. The Vancouver Canucks square off against their first round opponents, the St. Louis Blues tonight at 10:00 pm at GM Place in Vancouver. The battle of Backes v. Berglund is still up in the air with both gentlemen making strong statistical and aesthetic cases for themselves. It would seem whomever plays better againt my playoff mistress Canucks would be the winner... just so long as they lose the series to Vancouver, pleaseandthanks. Apparently David played for Team USA last year at the WCs. This had escaped my notice and appeals to me immensely... let's see what happens after you're eliminated in the first round. (RIGHT CANUCKS!?! Wooooo!!!!)

In news that exactly no one is surprised by, the New York Islanders won the first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry draft. The rest of the picks played out in the same order teams finished in the regular season standings, meaning the Kings will pick 5th. The Sabres will be picking 13th overall again this year.

I'm just glad the Tampa Bay Lightning won't have yet another first overall pick to force into the NHL before he's ready. Now they'll have a #2 overall pick to do that to.

In the Hedman v. Tavares battle of the interviews tonight, Hedman gets my vote. It was after 2:00 a.m. in Sweden and Victor was WIDE awake, speaking all articulately in a lovely Swedish accent, and Johnny, rocking an OHL playoff beard sounded like he'd just been pulled off a bar stool after an all day bender... which he isn't allowed to do yet as he's only 18.

The NHL Entry Draft is June 26 and 27, 2009 in Montreal.

Just a few hours 'til puck drop on the playoffs!

Also, don't forget to file your taxes by midnight tonight!!

Draft Lottery Day!

by Anne

Today's the day we find out if the Islanders' tank of a horrible season was worth it and they are able to pick first overall in this year's NHL Entry Draft.

The top (bottom?) five worst records in the league are eligible to be included in the lottery to pick first. Those teams are:

New York Islanders 61 pts, 48.1% chance (of getting #1)
Tampa Bay Lighting 66 pts 18.8% chance
Colorado Avalanche 69 pts 14.2% chance
Atlanta Thrashers 76 pts 10.7% chance
Los Angeles Kings 79 pts 8.1% chance

Woooo Kings!

TSN predicts that, if everything stays as is, the Sabres will pick #13 and will choose defenseman Ryan Ellis, not to be confused with Matt Ellis or Tyler Ennis.

Also, I don't care where he goes, I just can't wait to see an NHL jersey with the last name Svensson-Paajarvi squeezed onto the back. TSN has him going 7th overall which in the order teams finished would be Toronto.

The Draft Lottery is at 8pm and will be on TSN and streamed on NHL.com.

For the record, the Sabres have a 1.5% chance of being picked in the lottery and the highest they can move up is to spot #9 which TSN declares is center Scott Glennie.

I, for one, think it would be beyond awesome for the Islanders NOT to get the first pick, just because it would be hilarious for them to have such an awful season and not get #1. Although Hedman is pretty awesome as well so #2 or #1 are both good.

I just hope that Tampa doesn't get #1. Poor John Tavares will be all Stamkos v. 2.0 and everyone will be scratching their heads wondering why he was picked first overall because he was rushed into the situation with an awful team.