Post by columbus on Apr 17, 2006 0:51:33 GMT -5
(AP) - Fans in Columbus filled with excitement just a few days ago as the league announced that the local hockey team would be selecting first overall in the league's inaugural (player) draft. To the surprise of many, the Jackets elected to go with Russian Alexander Ovechkin instead of 47 OV goaltender 'phenom' Sebastien Centomo. The team followed that up with winger Markus Naslund and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. At this point, the team has yet to select an American, which caused ticket sales to actually plummet into the negatives. The trent continued with the selections of Canadians Martin Biron, Patrice Bergeron and Steve Sullivan, eh? Finnish stalwart Sami Salo was plucked in the 7th, while yet another canadian Dan Hamhuis was chosen in the 8th round. Czech defenseman Rusty 'Nail' Klesla was welcomed after being drafted in the 9th round, and to round out the top 10, two-way forward Alyn McCauley was picked. After picking 5 Canadians in 10 picks, Columbus immigration actually recorded the first ever Canadian to ever step foot into the city. Slovakia cheered as Josef Vasicek went in the 11th round, and David Vyborny of the once communist Czechoslovakia was picked after Columbus traded up (the first ever trade in the IWHL) and selected the winger in the 12th round. Trail B.C. product Barret Jackman joins Jason Bay as the two most known people to ever come out of Trail, B.C. after getting selected in the 13th round. Steven Reinprecht was handed a one-way ticket to Columbus in the 14th round, while yet another Trail, B.C. product, Shawn Horcoff this time, was flown southeast to the humble town I'm guessing discovered by an explorer who's first name was Christopher. Veterans Cale Hulse and Steve Staios, also Canadians, were drafted 16th and 17th, and Euros Micheal Nylander and Juraj Kolnik were added to the fold in the 18th and 19th rounds to shore up the 2nd and 3rd lines. the 20 to 22 rounds saw the Blue, not red Jackets select 2 french-Canadian goaltenders in Jocelyn Thibault and Mathieu Garon, as well as a continuation of multi-culturalism by selecting German forward Marcel Goc. History was made in the 23rd round, perhaps due to life-threatening phone calls from annonymus locals, as Columbus picked its first American citizen, forward Richard Park. Yes, he counts as American even though he's actually Korean, we checked, twice. To finish off what is a diverse draft, the Jackets GM picked youngsters Trevor Daley and Scottie Upshall, both former team Canada juniors, in the last 2 rounds of the draft.
"It was overall, a pretty mediocre draft, but hey, this is a mediocre city, and I'm a mediocre GM." Jackets GM Lawson Cham was caught saying at a Taco Bell in the region of Downtown, Columbus. "After our first line and Richard Park, we don't really have anything, but hey we have a bunch of Canadians and that's the next best thing. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if we're cellar-dwellers once again, but I hear they have decent prospects in this here upcoming draft. I mean our forwards are average, defense we're slightly below average, and in goal, we have 3 French Canadians, ask Don Cherry how they'll do. To show you how in the middle we are, our payroll is ranked in the middle, our average age, height, weight, and contract amount are either below average or slightly above average. That averages out to about average. If you caught all of that, you're over-qualified for the position of assistant GM. Man! I knew i should've listened to the fans and picked Sebastien Centomo!"
"It was overall, a pretty mediocre draft, but hey, this is a mediocre city, and I'm a mediocre GM." Jackets GM Lawson Cham was caught saying at a Taco Bell in the region of Downtown, Columbus. "After our first line and Richard Park, we don't really have anything, but hey we have a bunch of Canadians and that's the next best thing. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if we're cellar-dwellers once again, but I hear they have decent prospects in this here upcoming draft. I mean our forwards are average, defense we're slightly below average, and in goal, we have 3 French Canadians, ask Don Cherry how they'll do. To show you how in the middle we are, our payroll is ranked in the middle, our average age, height, weight, and contract amount are either below average or slightly above average. That averages out to about average. If you caught all of that, you're over-qualified for the position of assistant GM. Man! I knew i should've listened to the fans and picked Sebastien Centomo!"
