Drafting fun.

So much is being made of the "mystery" behind the upcoming NHL draft this weekend.

Oh god, we don't know for sure who will go number one? Oh the humanity!

Some mystery... fact: the top two players play two different positions equally as well. Not every year can have a Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin. In fact the draft is usually more likely to have an Angelo Espisito instead.

In the stretch run towards the end of the season when the Ottawa Senators had a chance to lose their way to the best draft pick, everyone was calling it the Tavares Derby. I don't think it was ever the Tavares Derby. Back then I thought that the Senators would've taken Victor Hedman...because they needed a puck-moving defenseman after letting Zdeno Chara AND Wade Redden leave.

Of course this was before Dany "I just signed a long-term contract with this team but now i don't want to play with them anymore" Heatley decided to say "i don't want to play with you anymore" so maybe it would've taken a turn for a Tavares Derby afterall. Because maybe they could've gotten a puck-moving defenseman in the trade for Heatley. if, if, if. and, and, and.

The reason we don't know who is going number one, is because the New York Islanders are terrible. They are so terribly bad that they need both a scorer and a puck-moving defenseman. And possibly a whole new team. Oh yah, and they have Garth Snow as a GM so it's even possible that he won't take either Tavares or Hedman, and take someone ranked 13th... and then he'll sign said draft pick to a ONE HUNDRED YEAR CONTRACT!

So just sit back, stop freakin out whether Hedman or Tavares will go first, because really i'm sure they both have their fingers crossed that the Islanders don't pick them.

Hockey Day in Canada.

Oh Hockey Day in Canada... so heartwarming.

Every year the CBC spends the day broadcasting from a small town somewhere in Canada. They also manage to get three games in there, featuring all six Canadian teams and as well as hockey stories and minor league games from across the country. It is extremely cute and gives Ron MacLean ample opportunity to make puns.

It went well, I spent the day plunked on my chesterfield being completely lazy (although i did play a bit of pond on the the terribly soft ice we've got right now) and now I've got some thoughts on the games.


Game 1 — Kovalev's revenge.

Alexei Kovalev was forced by GM Bob Gainey to sit out the last two-game road trip. With that trade rumours swirled and fans wondered.

Apparently there was more than met the eye (and the media).

Kovalev told reporters that he has felt tired this season, has inexplicatly lost weight (which blood tests have been unable to explain), and he felt the break given by Gainey was good for him.

"I have no idea why this has been happening for the last few months,
but I feel better now," he said. "The last few days are going to help
me."

Well it seems like it did help.

Kovalev was on fire the entire game. He made a lot of beautiful passes and scored a classic Kovalev goal where he stripped the puck from a Senators defensemen and put one away with his super-quick release.

Also it seems the fans were pulling for him too. A friend of mine was at the Bell Centre for the game (jealousy) and he sent a text to say that Kovalev recieved the biggest pre-game cheer from the crowd.

Perhaps sentiments helped along by the fact that "party-gate" came out while Kovalev was on his break.

Another thing I noticed was the powerplay of the Canadiens. And for once it wasn't because it was deplorable.

I've joked about the news that the Canadiens have traded for Mathieu Schneider — but it almost seems to be working. They had a deplorable roadtrip in Washington and Pittsburgh (although when Ovechkin does this sometimes it can't be helped.)



But the powerplay looked fabulous last night. They were passing like the Canadiens of last year and Schneider seems to have fit in nicely as the new PP quarterback.

On the other side — Ottawa had Mike Comrie in the lineup. No this isn't 2007, the Senators traded for him.

The Senators general manager reacquired Comrie and defenseman Chris Campoli from the New York Islanders for centre Dean McAmmond and a first-round draft pick.

To help understand what draft pick the Senators traded away I am using an excerpt from CBC.ca: "The 2009 first-rounder heading to the Islanders originally belonged to San Jose, which included the pick in the Andrej Meszaros-Filip Kuba trade with the Senators on Aug. 29, 2008."

Got it? No? Oh well.

What I think this is trying to say is that the Senators will still have their own first round pick should they tank their season (which is very possible). So don't worry, Sens fans, your dreams of Victor Hedman are still very much alive.

Comrie is an unrestricted free agent on July 1. I'm betting this will be one of those one-night stands. However Campoli, a puck-moving defenseman is making less than a million and he's under contract until the end of next season.

Oh yah... the final score: Montreal 5, Ottawa 3

Game 2 — The Return of the Sundin.

It's the kind of stuff that makes you think hockey might be fake... you know, like wrestling. Someone is scripting this stuff, right?

Stuff doesn't work out this perfectly.

Sundin makes his return to the team he played for for 13 years (on Hockey Day in Canada, no less) and scores the final goal in the shootout to win it for the Leafs Canucks.

I am pleased to see that the Leafs fans didn't act like a bunch of fools and boo him. During a television timeout he received a huge standing ovation that lasted until it was time for puck drop, for which he was on the ice. The refs stood back and let him gather himself.

Good job Toronto fans.

Score: Canucks 3 Leafs 2 (Shootout)


Game 3 — Squeezing the stick a little too hard.

Edmonton... to win a shootout you need to hit the net. All three shooters for the Oilers couldn't even get a shot on Kiprusoff.

Sam Gagner actually lost the puck on the way into the net. The look on Craig MacTavish's face was absolutely priceless.

Score: Calgary 3, Edmonton 2 (shootout)

Overtime — Final thoughts on the day.

- I am actually really sick of "Hockeyville". It was cool the first year, but it's beginning to get repetitive and kind of seems like filler.

- I was a bit skeptical about the CBC picking up PJ Stock as their sort of... well.. what does he do? Anyway, he has really grown on me. He cracks me up, his self-deprecating humour is refreshing. You could tell it took some time for him to work out the kinks of broadcasting but I think he's got it now... he's definitely brought some spice to the CBC set which can sometimes seem a little bit too serious. His blog posts also crack me up, I can just picture him saying this stuff.

- Alexander Ovechkin is absolutely dismantling the NHL this year (see video above) — he got his 43rd goal today (8 more goals than the nearest challenger... although Crosby and Malkin both have more points) and he had a slow start. Unreal. Crosby and Ovechkin had a little battle through the media today. Ovechkin said Crosby talks too much and Crosby said he doesn't like Ovechkin's showboating on the ice. Not exactly Avery versus Phaneuf but still fun.

And that's it for my epic Sunday afternoon post. Somebody get me a beer.

Dear Senators,

Even the Hockey Gods want you to lose and get Victor Hedman.

OTTAWA - With the Ottawa Senators needing every point they can muster down the stretch to maintain their slim playoff hopes, just about the last thing they needed was to lose one of their stars for any length of time.

But the Senators, 13 points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot heading into their game Thursday against Vancouver, learned they'll be without captain Daniel Alfredsson indefinitely due to a fractured jaw.

Keep on truckin' Ottawa.

Ottawa is awesome.

Wait. Before you question whether I've truly lost my mind, hear me out.

I know that the Senators lost yet again last night, (now to be fair, it was 4-1 to the Devils who have won 6 in a row now.) But moving on... yes, I did notice that Ottawa re-assigned Martin Gerber to the minors. And Yes I absolutely noticed that the Senators are jockeying for the bottom spot in the Eastern Conference.


But that's exactly why Ottawa is awesome. They are great... at sucking.

They're losing. There's no real turning the season around now. So just keep losing. This is something that the Toronto Maple Leafs have failed to do for about three years now.

Continually they get this late-season glimmer of useless hope and win a bunch of games down the stretch, only to finish 10th. Good draft picks are available in the middle of the first round. But great draft picks are first.

Last three years: Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Erik Johnson (but I would argue Teranna woulda taken Jordan Staal).

Instead of sort of throwing your season. Why not go out in a fiery blaze of glory. Suck... like no other team has sucked before. KA-BOOM!

Mr. Victor Hedman, Welcome to the Ottawa Senators, you're in for a ride.