And with the first overall pick...
The Good Sir Gazette
Written by Cole Thompson
The atmosphere was electric as the day had finally arrived. Cords, Laptops, and Beer Cans littered the Living Room. You could feel the excitement building as we pushed closer to the 2-o-clock start. Clearly everyone couldn't wait for the website to be unveiled! All joking aside, the website unveiling is a huge step for the TOFHL. I believe it will help unify us and make our league even stronger.... After everyone had their appetite teased, it was time for the main course.... over an hour late as is pretty standard for the TOFHL. Once we were underway it came as no surprise that one Nail Yakupov was taken first overall. After that pretty predictable start though there was quite a few surprise picks to follow. The first real surprise came at the end of the first round when back to back blue chip prospects were taken. The first to come off the table was Alex Galchenyuk (taken 12th overall by The Phenoms), followed by Mikhail Grigorenko (taken 13th overal by Team Shake 'n Bake). While I personally thought those two would go early, I did not expect them to be gone before the middle of the 2nd round.
Four goalies were taken by the time the second round was over, with Niklas Backstrom being the first (10th overall - Team Shake 'n Bake), followed by Devan Dubnyk (11th - MVB All-Stars), Martin Brodeur (15th - The Phenoms), and Thomas Vokoun (21st - Vonderkats). Big Buf was the first defensemen off the table taken 25th overall by Team Shake 'n Bake. Team Shake 'n Bake was all over the early part of the draft, like No Boundaries on a drunk underage boy, with 8 picks in the first 4 rounds. Once we got past the first few rounds things really opened up and there were multiples runs on certain positions (goalies and Dmen especially). Something very peculiar happened during the 11th round of the draft, which really tells you something about a certain NHL squad. For five straight picks (125-129) only CBJ players were taken, led off by James Wisniewski (125th - The Good Sirs') and ended by Mark Letestu (129th - Gorilla Warfare).
Finally there were some great steals later on in the draft as teams were able to find some diamonds late. Jaromir Jagr was taken in the 6th round (68th overall) by FKS. Now this isn't necessarily a steal, but it is worth mentioning considering he was drafted 5th overall just one year ago. Staying with the first round, something odd jumped out at me. M. Ribeiro, A. Tanguay, P. Berglund, and S. Doan were all drafted in the first round last year. This year they were all spread out over the draft with Ribeiro going highest at 23rd overall and ending with S. Doan going 76th overall. What jumped out at me was not where these four players were draftd this year, but that they were all drafted by one team (The Good Sirs'). Not sure if the quality just dropped in these players or if The Good Sirs' struck it big by drafting four former first rounders from the year before. I guess only time will tell. Finally we have to talk about what could possibly be the steal of the draft. While blue chip prospects A. Galchenyuk and M. Grigorenko went extremely early (12th and 13th overall) there was another one out there that, once picked, was the envy of most every GM in the room. I'm of course speaking of MVB All-Stars 13th round pick of M. Zibanejad at 148th overall! Much like the Red Wings of the NHL, this is clearly a case of finding that gem later on, while many may have forgotten about them.
Overall I'd say this draft had a little bit of everything going for it. You had the predictable, the youth movement, the surprises, and even a couple head scratchers. It's a shame that this draft will probably have to be redone, when we come back to (from) the alternate universe. That said here's hoping that the NHL figures their shit out and we can get back to what's really important, shit talking in the TOFHL!
Four goalies were taken by the time the second round was over, with Niklas Backstrom being the first (10th overall - Team Shake 'n Bake), followed by Devan Dubnyk (11th - MVB All-Stars), Martin Brodeur (15th - The Phenoms), and Thomas Vokoun (21st - Vonderkats). Big Buf was the first defensemen off the table taken 25th overall by Team Shake 'n Bake. Team Shake 'n Bake was all over the early part of the draft, like No Boundaries on a drunk underage boy, with 8 picks in the first 4 rounds. Once we got past the first few rounds things really opened up and there were multiples runs on certain positions (goalies and Dmen especially). Something very peculiar happened during the 11th round of the draft, which really tells you something about a certain NHL squad. For five straight picks (125-129) only CBJ players were taken, led off by James Wisniewski (125th - The Good Sirs') and ended by Mark Letestu (129th - Gorilla Warfare).
Finally there were some great steals later on in the draft as teams were able to find some diamonds late. Jaromir Jagr was taken in the 6th round (68th overall) by FKS. Now this isn't necessarily a steal, but it is worth mentioning considering he was drafted 5th overall just one year ago. Staying with the first round, something odd jumped out at me. M. Ribeiro, A. Tanguay, P. Berglund, and S. Doan were all drafted in the first round last year. This year they were all spread out over the draft with Ribeiro going highest at 23rd overall and ending with S. Doan going 76th overall. What jumped out at me was not where these four players were draftd this year, but that they were all drafted by one team (The Good Sirs'). Not sure if the quality just dropped in these players or if The Good Sirs' struck it big by drafting four former first rounders from the year before. I guess only time will tell. Finally we have to talk about what could possibly be the steal of the draft. While blue chip prospects A. Galchenyuk and M. Grigorenko went extremely early (12th and 13th overall) there was another one out there that, once picked, was the envy of most every GM in the room. I'm of course speaking of MVB All-Stars 13th round pick of M. Zibanejad at 148th overall! Much like the Red Wings of the NHL, this is clearly a case of finding that gem later on, while many may have forgotten about them.
Overall I'd say this draft had a little bit of everything going for it. You had the predictable, the youth movement, the surprises, and even a couple head scratchers. It's a shame that this draft will probably have to be redone, when we come back to (from) the alternate universe. That said here's hoping that the NHL figures their shit out and we can get back to what's really important, shit talking in the TOFHL!