D-Day

At long last, Draft Day has arrived.

I'm not sure how much remains unsaid about the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, at least from the Islanders' perspective. As Zach noted, the Rangers could be involved in some deals, which would be great for them. Truly, though, today is the Islanders' day.

It's been a pleasure to see the Islanders become the talk of the NHL, even if it's been for the wrong reasons. It's also been extremely interesting to watch the Canadian media totally turn on John Tavares because God forbid he joins the New York Islanders. But by the time tonight's draft ends, all of that will be a memory. The Islanders will return to their rebuilding project, the Rangers will prepare to make a big splash on July 1, and that will be that.

One of the most fascinating things I've read about John Tavares over the past year or so is that he might have been too good in juniors. That he scored 72 goals in 2006-07, then "only" scored 40 the following year. Tavares has been, easily, the most dissected prospect since Eric Lindros in 1991 - and Lindros doesn't even compare because he was the consensus #1 pick that year. What's happened with Tavares is what's happened with so many prospects in other sports. People have simply seen way too much of him and have started picking at every flaw in his game. And that's what scares me.

Zach and I appeared on our buddy Anthony's radio show in March, and one thing Anthony said is that it would take a new face to crack the "new" NHL. It wouldn't be one of the old guard; instead, a new GM would come in and figure it all out. I've said many times that Garth Snow understands the CBA better than any other GM in the game. And the way he's gone about his business over the past few years calls to mind the New England Patriots of the NFL. Very secretive, not giving much to the media, going about things a bit differently, but with a solid knowledge of what the organization needs and what it can do without. That's become the norm in football. But another thing that has become the norm is the overthinking of simple decisions. Coaches and GMs have too much information these days, and that can be a bad thing. So something that's a work in progress, like Tavares' skating, suddenly becomes a huge deal. And before you know it, people are saying things like, "Tavares might score you 40 goals, but Duchene will win you a Cup".

That's what scares me. Garth Snow doesn't live in a bubble. He doesn't listen to all the crap the Canadian media spits out, but he must be hearing the whispers that only came up after the Islanders won the Draft Lottery. I'm afraid Snow will talk himself into taking Duchene because it falls in line with his now-established model of unconventional thinking. Snow rarely plays it safe, which is usually a good thing, but now might actually be a detriment. Maybe someone should step into the Islanders' war room and remind them of a few things. Namely, Tavares has the OHL record for goals scored in a career. Tavares was the MVP of the 2009 World Junior Championships. Tavares averaged damn near a goal per game in juniors. Tavares was a slam-dunk #1 pick before all this nonsense about his skating and his defense came up. These are things the Islanders might want to remember before making their selection.

Here's the thing - I love John Tavares. Just about all of Long Island has fallen for this kid. From his play to his star power to how he went out of his way to assure the fans he'd love to be an Islander, every Islander fan is absolutely smitten with John Tavares. We like Hedman and Duchene, but we love Tavares. No other fan of any other team can imagine what Tavares means to us. For better or worse, he's our hope. And for once, I'd love to see the Islanders be praised for doing the right thing than to be questioned for yet another dubious decision.

With that in mind, here's The Rivalry's draft card for the top three selections. We're solidly in agreement on these items; we're just as solid in agreement that everything after the third pick is a total crapshoot.

1) New York Islanders: John Tavares, C, London Knights (OHL). There are just too many reasons why this has to be the pick. It's the safe pick and the sexy pick all at once. Tavares is the player the Islanders could never even dream of being able to sign as a free agent, and he could be theirs for the next 15 years. Tavares will not only get people excited about Islanders hockey, he'll be the goal scorer the team has lacked since Ziggy Palffy departed.

2) Tampa Bay Lightning: Victor Hedman, D, Modo (Elitserien). The Lightning went through a ridiculous 21 defensemen last year. Clearly, some stability is needed, even though they had that stability before they foolishly traded Dan Boyle. The Lightning have Lecavalier, Stamkos, Malone, Prospal, etc., but they have nobody on D. Hedman will solve that problem quite nicely.

3) Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene, C, Brampton Battalion (OHL). With Joe Sakic on his way out in Colorado, Duchene could pick up where Sakic left off and be the face of this franchise for a long time. The Avs desperately need to rebuild, and Duchene is a leader who can hold his own at both ends of the ice.

As for coverage of the draft... I'm going to be at the Islanders Draft Party at the Coliseum. The Islanders have distributed more than 20,000 tickets for this event. If even half of those people show up, it's going to be one wild scene. Word is that there will be customization stations around the Coliseum so people can order their Tavares (I hope) jerseys and wear them home.

Anyway, as much as Zach and I completely despise Twitter, it's probably the best way to send frequent updates about what's going on. I make no promises, but I'll do my best to make sure the updates aren't influenced by the heavy celebratory/depressed drinking that will surely take place after the draft. You can find us at http://twitter.com/therivalry. There's also a little Twitter feed on the right side of our main page. As you can see from our most recent updates, we don't really use Twitter that much.

If you're looking for some live updates from Montreal, my Blog Box buddies Ken, Tom, Michael, and Doug will be fully credentialed media members at the Draft. Congrats to them for getting there, and they should be giving us some awesome stuff.

Enjoy the Draft. And if my allegiances weren't already evident enough, here's one last bit of proof...