Located mid-arena now, here are the last two rounds.
155th Jens Hellgren from Sweden
169th pick traded to Boston for the 4th round pick in 2008
195th Johan Alcen from Sweden
The final pick (211) was the Blue Jackets, who selected Trent Vogechuber from Columbus, OH.
That’s it for the draft. I am sad to report that I did not get selected this year, but there’s always the next. I will be posting pics, stories, and swag the rest of the day and tomorrow.
Direct from the draft, Colorado picks:
105th Brad Malone from Sioux Falls of the USHL
113th Kent Patterson from Cedar Rapids of the USHL
135th Paul _arey from Salisbury High School in Conn.
143rd pick is traded to the Flames for picks 155 and 169
After 4 rounds, the Avs have selected 3 players from the USHL. I’d say that speaks pretty well of US development. The USNTDP have had a strong showing, and the amount of US first round players that were US born points to a happy trend.
As Canadian as the game may be, hockey is the world’s sport.
Well, what is there to say? The hardcore hockey fans are still here, but th=
e pomp and circumstance has left the building. The lower bowl has been opened up for fans, getting us closer to the action. Even the press ranks have thinned out.
Of course, there are no jerseys being brought to the stage, even the picks are being made from the individual tables on the floor. Bettman isn’t around, and that’s just as well. He got the usual response yesterday from the hockey faithful. Being only the second round, most of the drafted players are here. Columbus’ first pick in this round (37th overall) got his 07 Blue Jackets jersey and went down to shake hands with his new team.
Colorado is picking 45th, 49th, and 55th in this round. Picks are as follows:
45th Colby Cohen from Lincoln of the USHL
49th Trevor Cann from Peterborough of the OHL
55th TJ Galiardi Dartmouth of the ECAC
I have lots of pictures to share, but those will go up over the next few days.
If this post looks weird, it’s thanks to the funky formatting of my phone, posting via email. I will fix it later.
I have returned from the longest first round ever, and have little to report this evening. It’s 3:00 AM local time, and for that I blame Eric McErlain. Eric kept me out until unreasonable hours, making me laugh, talking about hockey, and basically enjoying myself. I blame him completely.
The blogger meetup was a great success, and I got to meet plenty of bloggers. I even have photo evidence to prove the point.
But for now, it’s late, I have more rounds to attend, and there is plenty to sort out. Like who exactly the Avs drafted. Or why Esposito went 20th, or Cherapanov is a Ranger.
OUT!!!
For all my love of hockey, 6:00 AM is not my best hour, but that’s what it took to make it to the airport and catch my flight to Columbus for the Draft. There was a Draft info booth right at the baggage claim, with basic information. A kid in a Team Canada hat went straight up to it, after looking lost for a moment. Alas, I have no idea who he was.
Nationwide Arena is ready for the Draft (capital D? Draft? Anyone?)
Guess where I wasn’t?
It’s like both sides of my life altogether.
Tomorrow, I’m going skating at the Icehaus, which is attached to Nationwide Arena. Public skate starts at 11:30 AM, and may be crowded, but worth it. It’s a great place to skate (they rent skates too, so no excuses). Blogger party afterwords. See this post at Army of the Ohio for details.
It was just going to be a lark, and in some ways, it still is. One year ago today, Jerseys and Hockey Love was born. Starting on Blogger, and then moving to it’s own domain, JAHL has been a lot of fun to write. In fact, the best (and most) writing I have ever done has been at this blog. When I was growing up, I would have laughed in your face if you told me I would be writing about sports. I wasn’t the sports type,be that playing or watching, and it still surprises me that hockey has captured my heart the way it has. When I began blogging, I had no qualifications to write about hockey, I just wanted to start up some conversation, chat with other hockey fans, and branch out my knowledge. It looks like I got what I wanted.
This season was full of hockey to the brim. I had never watched as many games as I did, never gone to as many Avalanche games, never yelled “Whip his ass!!!” ever (last game of the season, Laperriere vs Phaneuf), and never written as many words. I always wanted to write, but there is a huge difference between wanting to write, and actually writing. I used to do the former, now I do the latter.
364 posts (including this one), 771 comments, plenty of visitors, moving to my own domain, and several new friends later, I almost feel like a hockey writer. I don’t want to be a journalist, but a hockey writer, sure, why not. Frankly, I can’t wait until next season.
I want to put up some of my favorite posts, for those of you who may have missed them, or came to the blog late. Such as:
Hockey Cats Who Dance
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Jerseys and Hockey Love Manifesto
I Have Returned, Well Fed, From the Burrito Emporium
Hockey Night Scripts
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
To those bloggers who have linked, chatted, poked fun, made comments, or otherwise supported my efforts around here, thanks. Without you, I could never have kept this thing going.
Happy Birthday, JAHL. It’s been fun, and it’s going to be even better next season.
An agent says what?
These people do not want to make me happy. TSN is reporting that Jose Theodore’s agent believes he will be back next season.
Don Meehan also believes the 30-year-old is capable of regaining the form which saw him win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP five years ago.
Really? That makes one.
“His confidence is good. He’ll be ready. He’s going to work hard this summer. He’ll be positive; he’ll be back,” Meehan tells the Rocky Mountain News.
Anyone remember what he was doing last summer? Oh, yeah…
Can we be a little more specific at what he is going to work on?
My take: The fans in Colorado have no confidence in Theodore, no matter how much he may (or may not) have in himself. If he doesn’t prove himself quickly, the fans will turn their backs on him completely, and the Avs management will look like fools, with GM Giguere misjudging the situation. Right now, in the eyes of the fans, Budaj is the savior of the crease. Budaj should start with the number one job, at least he earned it. Right now, it’s his to loose.
There’s an old sheriff in town.
On the other hand, Avs management got one right when they resigned Scott Parker to a one year deal.
“Scott is an intimidating player who brings energy and toughness to our team,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President & General Manager Francois Giguere.
Really? Ya think? His goatee scares the crap out of me.
Also, Parker loves playing for the Avs. It’s reported he has an Avs tattoo on his body somewhere (let the speculation begin). After coming to the Avs at the trade deadline, it was believed that his attitude was part of what kept the team going on it’s sustained run at the end of last season. Unlike Brad May, who was traded to the Ducks at the deadline (good riddance), Parker was a popular player, evidenced by the numerous Parker jerseys you see being worn at Le Can on game days. May jerseys? Not so much.
There have also been a few other signings so far. I’ll get to those later. For now, I will thrash about in the simultaneous agony of possibility and giddy excitement of a serious beat down to come.
All the hockey for the 2006 – 2007 season has come to a close. For a basic round up:
Anaheim Ducks win the Stanley Cup – But you knew that, you smart people you.
Hamilton Bulldogs win the Calder Cup (AHL) – You may have known that. They beat the Hershey Bears 4 games to 1.
Colorado Eagles win the Ray Miron President’s Cup (CHL) – This is the Eagles 2nd President’s Cup, which they won on at home against Laredo, beating the Bucks four games to two. This was a bit of a rematch, as Colorado had beaten the Bucks in 2005 for their first Cup. Last season, Laredo beat the Bossier- Shreveport Mudbugs (yes, read that one again) to win the Cup.
Rockford IceHogs win the Colonial Cup (UHL) – The IceHogs took it to game seven, and prevailed, against the Kalamazoo Wings. The K-Wings were last seasons champions. The IceHogs will be taking their toys and leaving, as they head to the AHL as the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate. I can tell you from experience that the IceHogs fans are solid, excited, and know their hockey (plus they have cool jerseys). The UHL is taking a bit of a hit this season, as the Quad City Mallards vacate the premises to make way for the Quad City Flames (formerly the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights), the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames. Some wonder what the future of the UHL holds, with the departure of the current Commissioner, the failure that is the Chicago franchise, the change of leagues for the Elmira Jackals (this makes lots of sense), and the financial trouble of the Port Huron Flags. Could the end of the league be near?
Fayetteville FireAntz win Presidents Cup (SPHL) – The FireAntz defeated the Jacksonville Barracudas three games to one, to win whatever it is you get when you are the champion of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Sorry.
Sioux Falls wins the Clark Cup (USHL) – The Sioux Falls Stampede won the Cup in one of the more convoluted playoff formats ever. Oddly (not really), the USHL will be changing the playoff format next season. Perhaps because they didn’t quite get it themselves?
St. Louis Bandits win Robertson Cup (NAHL) – Yeah. I got nothing here.
So, that’s it. Hockey is done being played for the season. I still have some things to do, like the after season post for the Avalanche, some thoughts on minor league hockey, and of course, the draft, which I will be attending. I am not going away, even if it may look like it lately. Plenty to do, plenty to say.
What a series, what a season.
Congrats to the Ducks, and the Ducks faithful.
I actually cried at one point.
More tomorrow.
So, I booked my flight and hotel for the NHL Draft in Columbus, OH today. I get in the day before, leave the day after, stay just a couple of blocks away, and may even get to skate at the Ice Haus at Nationwide (where the Blue Jackets practice).
If you want to go to the draft, Ticketmaster has made the tickets available, and each costs about two dollars (or so) to download. You don’t have to jump through all the hoops the Blue Jackets were creating. Just a few clicks away.
Michael from Army of the Ohio and Drew from End of the Bench are planning a blogger meetup, and some sort of drunken debauchery will likely occur. I’m bringing my skates, a few good jerseys, and a few mics to try and capture some audio, as well as maybe do a little blogger round table podcast of some sort.
For the Army of the Ohio draft info post, go here.
Who’s with me? Who else is planning on going to the draft?
