Well it is official – there will only be 1 Canadian team in the playoffs this year. This is very bad news for the Canadian hockey fan – the Montreal Canadiens are the only team north of the border in the 2014 playoffs. I will have a hard time cheering for them, but I guess I will have to try!
As a former sports bar owner, I feel the pain for all of he sports bars across Canada – outside of greater Montreal. The revenue simply will not be there. Many hockey fans in Canada beyond the Habs traditional fan base will not rally around the Canadiens and visit their local bar to watch the games.
As for my former teams, it looks like my hopes will rest on the Flyers (who clinched last night) and Detroit (while they have not clinched yet, they are in the driver’s seat).
It looks like the ownership group in Vancouver read my blog last week – they fired General Manager Mike Gillis yesterday! From what I observe their dressing room is in disarray, but I really think the way Gillis handled the goaltending situation the last 2 years led to his departure. He had 2 of the top goalies in hockey (Luongo and Schneider) and basically got nothing for them.
As exciting as the hockey was over the past number of weeks, the last few games will not be as meaningful. Most of the playoff spots are locked up and many teams will rest some of their top players down the stretch to get ready for the playoffs. I guess the race for the President’s Trophy is still on, but who really cares who wins this trophy – nobody remembers that winner.
The 2014 amateur draft rankings were released today, a young Canadian kid Samuel Bennett who plays for the Kingston Frontenacs was ranked first overall. In reading this, it made me think about my draft year. As I have written in prior blogs, I was drafted in 1978, 11th overall by the Atlanta Flames but what about the other players taken in the first round?
First off, the 1978 Amateur Draft was held on June 15 in the Grand Ball room at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. It was the last draft that featured only 20 year old players, as it was changed the following year to include 18 year old players. The draft back in those days was not the spectacle that the modern day drafts are.
For starters, there was no combine to test the players – you were judged on what you did on the ice, not in a gym. There were no interviews by the various teams; the scouts back in the day would really have to work to find out the make up of the various players. The trainers played a big part in this evaluation, they wanted to know how his teammates got along with the player, what was he like in the room etc… what a great idea -- find out what he was like in the dressing room.
I sat in the ballroom with my parents waiting for my name to be called. I had no idea where I was going. My agent at the time was Alan Eagleson (yes, that Alan Eagleson). He had told me that the Cleveland Barons were interested and was probably going to take me with the 4th overall pick.
The only problem was that Cleveland folded the morning of the draft – actually they merged with the Minnesota North Stars –so that was out. Eagleson then informed us that Detroit had 2 picks in the first round (9th and 12th) and they would probably use 1 of them to select me but they picked Willie Huber with their 9th pick so I was hoping that they wouldn’t pick me with their 12th pick – 2 defenseman so close wouldn’t be good. Anyhow they never got the chance, the Flames picked me 11th and the wait was over.
No time to celebrate, no going on stage or to the media area for photo opportunities and interviews. Afterwards, it was just me and my Dad having a cold beer.
A few stats from my draft year: there was a total of 234 players selected over 22 rounds, I never realized that the draft in 1978 was so big and long. Of those players selected only 95 went on to play in the NHL, the average career of the players drafted was 334 games played – approx. 4 seasons.
I played 15 seasons. The average total points earned by the players that played was 168 points, I had 198 total points – I just had to include that stat.
I often see some of the players from my draft year at various Alumni events, and quite often we talk about the draft and the players. In looking over the list of first rounders 3 players, Bobby Smith, Ryan Walter and myself played in over 1,000 games. I played in the most games at 1,086. At the other end of the game total, there were 3 players who played in less than 200 hundred games. Dan Lucas (6 games), Tim Coulis (47 games) and Danny Geoffrion (111 games).
I have often wondered why some players “make it… while others do not – some times it is luck of where you were drafted, other times it is injuries and some times the drafting team just made a mistake. Now take the 3 players players mentioned - each of them has a story on why they perhaps did not “make it…. Dan Lucas (drafted by the Flyers) falls into the category of perhaps mistake – he had impressive numbers in Junior, 50 goals, 67 assists, 117 points in 67 games but his centre iceman was Wayne Gretzky – makes you wonder.
Tim Coulis (drafted by Washington) falls into the injury category, he missed his entire first season with a broken hand – tough to start your NHL career off that way, as well he was suspended for the entire 82-83 season for attacking a referee. Tim missed 2 entire seasons in his first 4 years in the league. Danny Geoffrion had the kiss of death draft – he was picked by the Montreal Canadians but there is more to this story. So not only was he picked by the talent stacked Canadians, look at his name - he was the son of Canadians legend Boom Boom Geoffrion. Talk about pressure, and to add to that pressure his Dad was the coach! Most in the hockey world always felt sorry for Danny.
All in all it was a pretty darn good draft year with most of the players drafted playing a significant role on their respective teams. It is hard to say who was the best from the first round, so here is my take:
Toughest: Larry Playfair. Larry was tough as nails and fought for the team. I got in a fight with him once and I was sore for days – his punches had power. Close second Al Secord.
Most Skilled: I would say Bill Derlago, but he like a lot of players from that era enjoyed the off-ice activities a little too much.
Hardest Shot – Wayne Babych
Best Forward – I would say a tie between Bobby Smith and Ryan Walter - both brought a lot to the rink. Best Defenseman – me, what did you think I was going to say?
A few interesting side bars to my draft year:
Craig MacTavish - now the General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers was the last player to retire from this draft (1996/97 season), he was drafted in the 9th round 153 overall by the Boston Bruins. Craig was the last player to not wear a helmet. The reason I put this in is that Craig and I grew up together and played minor hockey together in London . Viacheslav Fetisov - the only player from this draft to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was drafted in the 12th round, 201 overall by the Montreal Canadians. However, at the time he was not able to leave Russia – he was re-entered into the draft in 1983 and was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 8th round, 145th overall, his first game as a Devil was in the 1989 season.