Draft Porn for Draft Geeks

Year of the super-rookie, take 2
The coming season will feature a battle for the Calder that should be nearly as entertaining as what fans witnessed in 2006, when Ovechkin "edged" Crosby for the honor. (League doctrine necessitates the verb "to edge," but feel free to take a look at the Calder voting for that year.) Draft geeks from here to eternity are waking up with sticky sheets at the thought of seeing Tavares and Hedman play on an NHL ice surface. While the more experienced, more knowledgeable scouts, GM's, and analysts all have Tavares going number one overall, if I'm Garth Snow, Hedman looks like the better choice. Those damn experts... pshhhhhhh. Rebuilding from the net out isn't a historically disastrous idea. As a GM, I think I'd at least do as well as Milbury; God bless you, Mike. Besides if Snow takes Tavares, Tampa will finally have a true number one blueliner -- a circumstance the rest of the Southeast could happily do without.

Have a look at ISS and Central Scouting reports here and here. Check out mock drafts here, here, and here.

Other thoughts, bloviations, and pontifications

• Three cheers for JP and Wysh who set up a fantastic awards show party at Baileys. I chatted with several of my fellows, including Tuvanhillbilly, Capital Spirit, JP himself, and Wysh. Ron MacLean wasn't missed, though I imagine most of the lot watching was too drunk to really yearn his misguided and cringeworthy attempts at humor. Tuvanhillbilly's badass hat deserved an award unto itself.
  
• Congrats to Big Z. Green should have won the Norris, but Chara has long been one of my favorite players, and this will only make Green hungrier. Concerning the Slovak giant, let it be said that people have no idea how much harder it is to coordinate oneself competitively standing at 6'9''. I feel your pain, Chara. I was a much better rounded athlete at 6'1''. At 6'9'', you can put me in the second row or in the paint, but my usefulness to the team ends there. Again, congrats to one of the big guys.