Ruining A Classic

The 2008 NHL Winter Classic was one of those events we'll always remember. The novelty of an outdoor game, the snow falling, the almost-too-perfect ending with Sidney Crosby scoring in the shootout. The 2009 NHL Winter Classic was no less entertaining, with a resurgent Blackhawks team and the defending champion Red Wings taking over Wrigley Field. The 2009 game showed that the Winter Classic was a sustainable commodity, something that could get the casual sports fan to take an interest in the NHL. Most true hockey fans, though, had the same thought - as great as the Winter Classic is now, if there's a way for the NHL to screw it up, they will certainly do so.

Fast forward to this year. The debate over who would play in the 2010 Winter Classic was red-hot, which is usually a great sign. Hockey fans had high expectations for the third installment of this event, and with good reason. So when the NHL announced that the Boston Bruins would be playing the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park, many were a bit underwhelmed. Sure, Fenway Park is an iconic venue, but Bruins vs. Flyers?

Many have pointed to the Flyers' sorry start to this season - 38 points in 38 games, 13th in the East - as proof that the NHL screwed this one up. My thought is that the NHL didn't screw anything up. Instead, NBC stepped in and got who they wanted - as in, who they thought would pop the best rating. The far more appealing Bruins-Canadiens matchup was shelved, and instead we get Bruins-Flyers, a matchup of two teams who have no rivalry whatsoever and combined to win exactly one playoff series last year.

A Bruins-Canadiens Winter Classic would have done so much to promote the event as a true hockey event. The Montreal Canadiens have one of the richest traditions in all of sports, maybe even more rich than that of the almighty Yankees. Casual fans might not be able to name one player on the Canadiens roster, but they know the team and understand something about the their history. They could come to understand the Canadiens-Bruins rivalry (assuming the NHL and NBC promoted it) and get into this matchup, giving the Canadiens the same respect they'd give to any well-known NHL team. Lastly, and most importantly, including the Canadiens in the Winter Classic would have been a huge bone thrown in the direction of the Canadian teams, who got the ball rolling when it comes to outdoor games and deserves to be part of this event going forward.

Of course, that's when NBC stepped in. I can picture the conversation...

GARY BETTMAN: For the 2010 Winter Classic, I'd like to have the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens at Fenway Park.

NBC EXECUTIVE: The who?

GARY BETTMAN: The Montreal Canadiens.

NBC EXECUTIVE: What are they, an expansion team?

GARY BETTMAN: No, sir. They've been around for a hundred years. They've won 24 Stanley Cups. They may well be the most famous...

NBC EXECUTIVE: Hold it right there. I don't know what you're talking about with all this Montreal nonsense, but I'm not interested. This is NBC, damn it. We only show games that include the Penguins, Capitals, Rangers, Bruins and Flyers. Hey, Bruins and Flyers, that'd be a great matchup, no?

GARY BETTMAN: Not really.

NBC EXECUTIVE: Well, that's how it's going to be. If you think about it, it doesn't really matter who the Bruins play. ESPN will see that a Boston team is involved and promote the hell out of it, so neither of us will have to do anything.

GARY BETTMAN: Good point. Besides, we don't really care about our Canadian audience anyway.

NBC EXECUTIVE: Then it's settled. It'll be Bruins-Flyers at Fenway, and I'll tell you what. We'll put you in our NFL studio show for Wild Card weekend. We already have 30 analysts on that show, what's one more?

(Both Bettman and the executive laugh uproariously, then roll around in a pile of money.)

OK, so maybe it didn't go exactly like that. But it may as well have. In the mean time, the NHL is already doing everything it can to weaken its "flagship event". (Editor's note: Anytime your "flagship event" isn't your championship game/series, you're in trouble.) Bettman has talked about creating an outdoor game solely for Canada, largely because he knows there's no way in hell NBC is letting a Canadian team anywhere near the Winter Classic. With more than one outdoor game in any given year, the NHL seriously risks ruining the uniqueness of the Winter Classic. It might be running against crappy college football games, but the viewing audience still needs something new and fresh to watch.

Sadly, NBC doesn't do "new and fresh". NBC does "whatever will get us the highest TV ratings possible". So, while the 2010 Winter Classic might be about the Bruins and Flyers on paper, it's a bit different to diehard hockey fans. Years from now, we may look back at the 2010 Winter Classic as the year the Winter Classic changed from a hockey event to a TV event - the year the NHL gave its huge showcase event to NBC in the name of ratings and advertising dollars. You know what the worst part is? The only thing that's surprising is that it took this long.

Tanguay; Phoenix...

Yes, we are still alive. However, with temperatures in the mid 80s and rain escaping us (save for the lightning storms we are currently having), nothing has been going on in the hockey world, and we've been on mini-hiatus.

Two things of note though. With the money saved on Nik Zherdev, who is probably 90% not returning after the Rangers low-balled him (the arbitration process is simply going through the motions, I would think, to sever ties with him), the Rangers got Ales Kotalik. Wouldn't it also be nice to sign Alex Tanguay to a 1- or 2-year deal in the $3M range? Don't you think he'd rather play with Marian Gaborik in Manhattan than with Kyle Turris in the desert?

And about Phoenix: Why is the NHL so intent on making this mistake work? I wrote about it two months ago, and it still stands. This team has lost $60M over the past season. It won't get better, no matter who is running the show. It's hockey. It's a desert. The only desert city I can see with hockey is Las Vegas. Not Phoenix (or Glendale, or Scottsdale, or Sedona). Time to move.

Yet the NHL doesn't accept Jim Balsillie's bid again, even though he offered over $200M, $40M more than the guy whose bid was accepted (Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the Bulls and White Sox).

Something's going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. Think about it: Let's say you have a broken car 2,000 miles away, and 2 people wanted to buy it. One person was going to keep it in the same crappy lot and pay you $1,600 for it; one person was going to move it to an area where he could fix the car AND he'd pay you $2,100 for it. No-brainer, no?

No.

Odd.

Phoenix; Penguins; Sutter...

Three things on the docket today, a day when I'm off from work and it appears my softball game will be rained out. What is that old expression? June showers bring July flowers?

1) NHLPA head Paul Kelly agrees with me that Phoenix should no longer have an NHL team. He questions how much money a team should have to lose before people question that maybe they shouldn't have a team.

My point was that it should be marked as a failed experiment, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman should admit it, and the league should move on. Kelly's point is that he doesn't care who gets the team - Hamilton, Toronto, anyone - but that Phoenix should not have it.

I personally think Jim Balsillie should be allowed to have the team. He has a passion for the game, the desire to own a team, and certainly the deep pockets necessary to launch and nurture an expansion team.

Links: My post on it. TSN's article on Kelly's comments.

2) Is it wrong that I'm rooting for Pittsburgh tonight? And not just so we see a Game 7 (although they are always great, especially in the Finals), but to win the Stanley Cup.

I always like to see new teams win. I loved Anaheim and Ottawa in the Finals in '07, and I liked Carolina/Edmonton in '06. This year, not only is it a rematch of the last two teams in the Finals, but the same team is poised to win in the same exact amount of games. The only difference is that last year's Game 5 had Detroit up 3-1 and one probably the greatest non-Rangers game I have ever watched. Maxime Talbot scoring with 35 seconds left to send the game to overtime, then a triple OT, and Petr Sykora scoring to keep the series alive.

While I can't stand the Penguins, I'm rooting for them solely to see a new team win the Cup, and once again, maybe if they do win, the NHL can go back to refereeing their games fairly.

3) It's going to come out today that Brent Sutter has left the Devils. This was a move everyone saw coming last month when Darryl Sutter hinted it was going to happen. Darryl fired Mike Keenan in Calgary, then at his 20-minute long press conference, said the 3 best men for the job were currently under contract. Someone said, "Brent?" and he said he was under contract and couldn't talk about it.

Ah, Brent Sutter, once a scumbag, always a scumbag. The man who gave his word that he would never leave the Red Deer Rebels (which he owns and managed) and then up-and-left for New Jersey. Now, an opportunity to work with his brother comes knockin', and he is on the next plane back to Alberta.

Brent Sutter, we won't miss you. Maybe you can take your intent-to-injure son back with you also.

An Open-Letter to Gary Bettman...

Dear Mr. Bettman,

If the Pittsburgh Penguins lose again in the Stanley Cup Finals, does it mean that next season is yet another one with an obvious officiating bias against them, especially in the playoffs? It happened brutally last year in the playoffs, it happened heavily this season, and in the playoffs as well this year.

Please, no more. Let the best team win the games!

Sincerely,

Rangers writer Zach, www.nyhockeyrivalry.com

A Few Notes...

1) Tom Renney will be the assistant coach in Edmonton next season under Pat Quinn. Renney in Edmonton? Know what this means? Three more years of Jason Strudwick in an Oiler jersey.

2) Sergei Fedorov will be going to the KHL in Russia to play with his brother, Fedor, on the Metallurg Magnitogorsk. This puts to rest the commonly held theory that no one wanted to ever be on the same team as FedFed, as at least one person in the world does.

3) Years ago, people criticized Ronald Reagan for calling the Soviet Union "an Evil Empire," yet no one criticized them for actually being an evil empire. Yesterday, the NHL fined Joel Quenneville $10,000 for criticizing the officials. Quenneville questioned a penalty when the game was 2-0 which he said was the worst call in the history of the game. They fined him for saying something was wrong instead of investigating what went wrong and why the phantom call was made. Detroit scored on the ensuing power play and the game quickly got out of hand.

4) Can you imagine if both matchups end by tomorrow and we have 9 days off until the Stanley Cup Finals start? What a stark difference to the NBA, which plays Round 2 games in the West when Round 1 games in the East aren't even finished yet.

Nine days? Nine days? Nine days?! That's ridiculous! What "fringe fan" who has been interested in fast-paced Penguin/Hurricane games is going to even remember to watch again on a Saturday afternoon 9 days after the Conference Finals end!?

Of all the questionable decisions the NHL has made, this is up there as one of the worst. For Gary Bettman's sake, he better hope Carolina and Chicago get the comeback trains rolling.

Horrible. I know they want NBC to have the games on weekends, but still, there has to be someone over in the NHL offices who has a clue about how to run a league. Are the ratings on NBC on Sunday afternoon really that much higher than the Versus ratings on a Wednesday night? I would venture "not much" because the real fans watch no matter what channel it's on.

Boring...

Once again, the Conference Finals roll around and I tune out. Last year, Pittsburgh/Philadelphia and Dallas/Detroit did not hold my interest (until Dallas started a comeback that eventually failed). This year, neither series are keeping me that into it either as a repeat of the 2008 Finals seems inevitable.

The Penguins/Hurricanes series is definitely the better of the two, but the teams don't interest me much so I am not watching much, regardless of the score or how well Sidney Crosby performs.

Detroit/Chicago? If this were 1999 and Hugh Grant were here, he would say, "Fuhhgedaboudid." Borrrrring. This series was so hyped up going into it - Central Division rivalry; Old Guard vs. New Blood; Chelios returning to Chicago. And yet, they even make playoff overtime boring! This afternoon's game on NBC was such a blowout that even Mike Emerick wasn't excited, and his "interesting facts" seemed dull and forced.

Add to the fact that I don't particularly want any of these 4 teams to win the Cup. Detroit and Carolina have won recently, and I always like seeing new teams win. I can't reasonably make myself root for Pittsburgh or Crosby. And Chicago? I guess it would be nice if they won for the 7,600 fans who were going to games in 2003 to see a winner finally, but those other 13,000 fans who sell the place out sure seemed to have hopped on board at the right time (much like fans in Boston and Washington, as well).

Of course, I will be intently watching the next round, but once again, I am disappointed in the Conference Finals.

And I guess I will be rooting for the Penguins, solely so Gary Bettman gets his wish and the officials can go back to calling every game fairly, even those with the Penguins playing.

Why Stay?...

For the past few months, I have been mulling around a question in my head...

Why Stay?

Why would the NHL even want to stay in Phoenix? The team averages under 15,000 fans per game, yet Gary Bettman keeps saying how committed the NHL is to hockey in Phoenix. In Hamilton, Ontario, 12,000 signed up for season tickets a few years ago without even having a team. They didn't just put their name on a list, they gave Jim Balsillie a deposit for them, hoping he would bring them a team.

But this isn't about Hamilton. You could easily replace Hamilton with Seattle, Toronto, Winnipeg, Kansas City, Quebec City, or (my personal choice) Las Vegas.

Why stay in Phoenix? The team is a drag to the owners of the teams who actually make money because of revenue sharing. It is an embarrassment to the league to have a team file bankruptcy.

Are the 14,632 fans they averaged last year really that important to the rest of the league? (By the way, their attendance is dwindling, the year before they averaged 14,820.)

Other cities are begging for teams. Balsillie is intent on moving them to Hamilton, which has been hockey-ready for years. Seattle just lost its basketball team, its football team is garbage, and its baseball team lost over 100 games last year. Las Vegas has said it wants a team, regardless of league. Same for Kansas City, who offered up their Sprint Center for free. Winnipeg wants their team back; Quebec is such a good market that it houses entire leagues in the city. A 2nd team in Toronto would do so good that the Maple Leafs actually had to nix the idea out of greed, not necessity.

Is Gary Bettman really that stubborn to admit his decision to grant a franchise to Phoenix was a mistake? I've made mistakes, and I admit them. Mine don't cost people millions of dollars.

Hockey in Arizona is a joke. For that matter, hockey in Miami and Atlanta is ridiculous also, but that's for another day.

Is it about expanding the game within the U.S.A.? There are better ways to do that then with a 25% empty building, and the four letters for that are E, S, P, and N.

There are probably 13,000 people who would actually care if a young-and-coming team left the desert. A ton more would care if Canada got another team.

Come on, Gary. Admit your mistake. Eat your crow. Stop backing the Coyotes. Sometimes, you have to kill your weakest link. Or at least move them to a place where people want them.

It's Prediction Thursday!...

For the third time today, we will have a prediction themed post on this website. I guess that's what happens when both of your teams have officially emptied their respective lockers and have held exit interviews.

Based on my poor showing in my 2008-09 predictions, you should not put much stock into what I say. Also take into effect that last year, I predicted Montreal, the Rangers, Colorado, and San Jose to win the 2nd round and go into the Conference Finals. The correct winners were Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Dallas. Much like David Wright, I was 0-for-4.

Keep in mind that Game 1 of Vancouver/Chicago is in the books

Boston over Carolina in 5
Pittsburgh over Washington in 6
Detroit over Anaheim in 6
Vancouver over Chicago in 6

I hope I'm not selling Anaheim short again. I heard Gary Bettman's erection has not gone down since the Hurricanes beat the Devils to force a Penguins/Capitals series. I also hope that the officials go easy in said series. You know they're going to referee it so that it goes to 7 games, or atleast try to. And Pittsburgh will win, of course, because Gary Bettman said so.

Regulation Wins...

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, the Rangers beat the Coyotes 4-1. Since then, they have had one regulation win, and that was against Anaheim on December 16.

Since Thanksgiving, there have been 3 shootout wins, 3 overtime wins, 6 losses, and 1 overtime loss (Capitals game last week where they blew the 4-0 lead to Alexandre Ovechkin).

And their power play has fallen to 25-11. That's 25 goals while on the PP, and 11 shorthanded goals against.

Yes, they are in first place. That 5-0 start was fantastic and it's the reason they are still kind of in first place (they are first in points but have played 2 more games than Philadelphia and 4 more than New Jersey, both of whom are nipping at their heels). Besides that fast start, the two reasons that they are in a decent position are Henrik Lundqvist and the fact that Gary Bettman hates games that end in a tie. Don't worry, Mr. Bettman, I do too. I enjoy the shootouts and what they've done to my team.

Let's hope a game against the Islanders breaks them out of their stupor, although the Islanders always, always play the Rangers tight, even with nothing on the line. 

* * * 

Don't forget to vote for us at The NHL Arena.

Avery Suspended for Violent Act...

Oh, wait, sorry. Sean Avery got a 6-game suspension today for a joke, however unfunny you might find it. That means Gary Bettman puts Avery calling Paris Hilton's co-star in House of Wax "sloppy seconds" (a true term in high schools all around the nation) up there with these violent acts...

:: Randy Jones gets 2 games for hitting Patrice Bergeron from behind in October 2007. Bergeron missed the rest of the season with a head injury. Avery's comments were three-times as bad as this career-threatening injury, apparently.

:: Mike Mottau gets 2 games for lunging himself across the ice at Frans Nielsen. Nielsen is out 3-4 months as a result of the hit. This was three-times less dangerous than Avery's childish wisecrack.

:: Ryan Hollweg gets suspended 1 game for boarding Sergei Kostitsyn in February because it was his second boarding game misconduct. He then does the same thing in pre-season, gets suspended 2 games, and does it again in his first game back this season, where he gets another 3-game suspension. That's 4 violent boarding penalties and a total of 6 games where he was forced to sit. Avery talking ill about Elisha Cuthbert is akin to Ryan Hollweg injuring 4 players with illegal hits.

:: Chris Pronger steps on Ryan Kesler's calf with his skate and receives an 8-game sentence, on his 8th suspension in the NHL. This (probably illegal by American law) act was slightly more damaging than Avery's comments.

There you have it. Avery's words hurt Cuthbert (and scumbag Dion Phaneuf) more than Bergeron's season-ending head injury. Frans Nielsen should just shake off his injury, as it is less important that a Hollywood actress's feelings. It was equal to 4 people being illegally hit from behind by Ryan Hollweg, and Chris Pronger's big skate blade being slammed onto Ryan Kesler's leg was only slightly more dangerous. How much time did Phaneuf miss from Avery's 15-second interview? None? Weird.

Bettman said he had "warned" Avery last season and that's why the punishment is so high. Were the Flyers not warned when 2 others on their team received suspensions in October of 2007 before Jones got his? Was Hollweg not warned during his previous suspensions? Were Pronger's previous 7 suspensions not warnings? 

Get real, Gary Bettman. You are a joke. You never liked hockey, so go back to the NBA and let a real fan take charge of the league. 

Brian Burke: Nice Guy?...

A few days ago, my counterpart, Islanders blogger Bryan, wrote about how he respects Brian Burke.

Well, yesterday, Burke went on NHL Live (XM 204/Sirius 208/NHL Network) and made some incredible comments about Sean Avery referring to the girl who slept with Luke Wilson in Old School as "sloppy seconds." Incredible in the sense that I'm amazed he actually believes what he said.

First off, he found Avery's comments "personally offensive." I was not aware that he was such good friends with Elisha Cuthbert to take personal offense at Avery saying that she has dated other hockey players besides #16.

He then, for some reason, threw Fedor Fedorov and Terrell Owens under the bus. Interesting.

He also doesn't "think it should be acceptable" that Avery should make comments like he did.

For the record, Avery's comments to a bunch of Canadian reporters have generated more press for the game in America than Burke going from Anaheim to Toronto. Most common Americans don't even know who Brian Burke is.

I'm not defending Avery in what he said, just his right to say it. He was being smug, he was being stupid, he did it for attention, and he did it to stir up the other team. He probably didn't think it through and shouldn't have even said it in front of the press. He should've just said something to Dion Phaneuf after a whistle and tried to draw a retaliation penalty.

However, it baffles me why this would personally offend Burke. After all, this is the same man who, as GM of the Vancouver Canucks, dismissed the severity of Steve Moore's broken neck when his goon Todd Bertuzzi (whom he later signed in Anaheim) jumped him from behind and punched his paralyzed and bloody body on the ice. He said Bertuzzi's punishment was too severe.

Bertuzzi wound up getting 13 games for ending Moore's career. Avery has already been suspended 2 games and will likely receive more (I'm guessing 5 total) for saying a non-NHL entity has had more than one boyfriend.

Right now, Avery's comments are apparently on par with Mike Mottau headhunting Frans Nielsen and injuring him for 3-4 months, as they both have received suspensions of two games.

This makes me so angry that I cannot properly express it. It's reasons like this that the NHL is considered a joke, and if Gary Bettman was serious about the league gaining popularity, he would suspend those who injury on purpose and not those who put the league's name on ESPN's SportsCenter.

It's crap like this that makes me want to give up on the NHL.

Colin Campbell...

For the first time, I watched the Mike "4 Career Goals" Mottau's hit on Frans Nielsen. Very reminiscent of Brandon Sutter giving the Rayden Torpedo to Alexei Cherepanov in the Summit Series. He left his feet, he was looking for an injury. Here, Mottau headhunted Nielsen. A disgusting play on par with Chris Simon attacking Ryan Hollweg and Todd Bertuzzi-ing Steve Moore, and he gets 2 games for it.

Michael Peca touches a linesman's arm, automatic 5 game suspension. (Yes, I'm familiar with the ruling on an automatic suspension when an official is touched.)

Doug Weight gives a clean, feet-on-the-ice check to Sutter, and people vilify Weight for two weeks.

"Disciplinarian" Colin Campbell - and I use the term disciplinarian very lightly - claims it wasn't a direct hit to the head. Well, maybe he didn't see Mottau single out Nielsen and then LEAP off the ice and attack him.

Very questionable ruling.

Some plays are accidental. Weight on Sutter, for example. Jason Doig, while a bad player and a victim of the lockout (where only skilled players stay be in the NHL), injured Eric Lindros for the season, not on purpose but from a hard hit. Same can be said for Scott Stevens leveling Lindros.

However, my view on plays where the person is obviously looking for blood is that they should be suspended until the injured player can play again. Mottau should be out 2-3 months or however long it takes his victim to return. If it means a player will never play again, as it should be in Bertuzzi's case, so be it.

Anyone who wants to take the NHL to task on this horrific ruling can do so Thursdays at 4 as Gary Bettman goes on XM Home Ice 204 (and Sirius 208) to take calls from the fans. No doubt he will be hearing about this next Thursday (as I'm assuming he doesn't host a show on Thanksgiving), and no doubt he will be sticking to party-lines and reiterating what Campbell said, as he never makes waves and always touts the league as in the right. While I love the fact that the Commissioner of the NHL has a radio call-in show (that is always a good listen), I wish he wasn't so vanilla and he would stray from middle-0f-the-road, my-employees-are-always-right answers. If he came out and said Campbell flubbed this, maybe something could be done to change it.

* * *

Links to mentioned videos...

Sutter flying into Cherepanov

Nielsen getting attacked by Mottau

Weight's clean hit on Sutter

Moore getting his neck broken by Bertuzzi

Your Guide To The 2008 NHL Entry Draft

Tomorrow night, young prospects from all over the world will convene at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The first round will be shown in prime-time on Versus. Look no further than The Rivalry for your one-stop shop for information about the Draft. We're not going to do a mock draft or anything like that; after all, the one thing in common about all the draftees is that we don't know anything about any of them. That said, we'll still be watching, as we think all hockey fans should.

And away we go!

When and where is the draft taking place?
The 2008 NHL Entry Draft will be at the ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa. The Draft will be split up into two parts. The first round will take place Friday night at 7 PM. The Draft resumes Saturday morning at 10 AM, when the remaining six rounds will take place.

How can I watch the Draft?
For the second straight year, the first round is airing in prime-time on Versus. Saturday's portion of the draft will be broadcast on the NHL Network.

What can we expect to see?
We have yet to see even one second of footage of any of the top prospects at the Draft. So we have no idea of who will be picked where, which teams are likely to take what players, or any of the actual "draft" stuff. However, there are a couple of picks we're willing to take to the bank. And, since it's hard to get excited about a player we might not even see for five years, these items provide the most entertaining part about the draft.

• At least thirty mentions that this is "the deepest NHL Entry Draft in years".
• An awkward introduction by Gary Bettman where he thanks the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins for great TV ratings... err, a great Stanley Cup Final.
• Steven Stamkos showing up to the Draft with his parents, wearing a suit that combines the colors black, blue, and silver.
• Only one team will provide its' first-round pick with a jersey with the player's actual number on it - the Tampa Bay Lightning (Stamkos, #91).
• Each team will send a gaggle of executives and one alumni member to the Draft. The group will make a 5-minute speech, congratulating the Red Wings on their Stanley Cup win and thank the Ottawa Senators and city of Ottawa for their hospitality. Then, the pick will be announced, and the last name of the player will definitely be mispronounced.
• Lots of footage of the draftees, accompanied by lots of awful jerseys and lots of corporate sponsors all over those jerseys.
• Lots of bad interviews with players who are either nervous wrecks or are overly relieved to be chosen (or both). The phrases "happy to be here", "the organization", and "looking forward to training camp" will be said approximately ten thousand times. Each.
• Versus will air that Dockers commercial they showed a million times during the playoffs another fifty times on Friday night alone.
• Live cut-ins to Draft Parties around the country, where at least one team's fanbase will boo the pick of a player that they've never even seen play.
• Plenty of lagged interviews with GMs who will state that they got who they wanted, even if it's a blatant lie.

What will the local teams be doing for the Draft?
The Islanders, no strangers to high draft picks, will be hosting a Draft Party at the Coliseum. John Buccigross gets the night off from the Boston sports circlejerk that is SportsCenter and is slated to be the MC. Jack Hillen and Robin Figren, with a combined two games of NHL experience between them, will be there to greet fans. The event will feature interviews with Garth Snow, Ted Nolan, and whomever the Islanders pick.

The Rangers... um... don't get to have a Draft Party anymore now that the NHL hates them and wants to kick Charles Dolan out of the league.

As for the actual Draft?
Well, the Islanders' draft promotion says it all. "2000: Rick DiPietro. 2006: Kyle Okposo. Who's next?" I guess they'd like us to forget about Raffi Torres (traded for Janne Niinimaa), Jason Spezza (traded for Alexei Yashin), Robert Nilsson (traded for Ryan Smyth) Petteri Nokelainen (traded for the immortal Ben Walter), and Ryan O'Marra (also traded for Smyth). In other words, Isles fans, don't get your hopes up.

The Rangers have recovered from the era of Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark to have a very impressive draft record in recent years, particularly in the later rounds. If they don't wow you early on, just be patient - they'll get at least one or two solid NHL players in this draft, which is more than can be said for a lot of teams out there.

Will there be any trades?
Tough to say. We have all heard for months about how deep this Draft is and how nobody wants to trade their picks. Is this true, or was all that talk simply posturing for a bigger deal later on? We'll find out this weekend. The truth is, the sure thing of a quality player now means more to GMs than a player who might be good down the line, especially with a lot of teams feeling like they're just one or two players away. This year's free agent crop is pretty weak, which might force a few hands this weekend, so don't be shocked if there's a good amount of trade activity. However, don't be surprised if teams opt to simply take the best players they can with the picks they already have.

Anything else?
Nope. We hope you enjoy the Draft; after all, Versus could use good ratings so that they can bring us more quality NHL action next season. Seriously, even though these prospects are all mysteries to us, we still watch the Draft each year and are entertained by it. Hey, why not? It's hockey.

Oh, and if you actually care about who's good in the Draft, here's TSN's Top 60 Prospects. Enjoy!