Your “Whoo Hoo! The NHL Draft” Friday Open Thread

NFL Notes:

• Well well well – it seems the League is going to the Al-Jazeera Four (not Five, since PeyPey retired).
• Florio has amalgamated a bunch of different stories, and woven together a tale that the public contribution to the potential Las Vegas NFL stadium could be as high as $750 million.
• While on the topic of stadiums:
  • the Falcons have asked for changes that add up to $200 million to their stadium design. Said “tweaks” will raise the total cost to $1.7 billion.
  • Wells Fargo has been ordered to remove rooftop signs from their offices adjacent to US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The goal is to prevent competing banks from getting into the blimp shot during televised games.
• Aldon Smith has one court date on two matters Friday. He can apply for reinstatement in November, at which point the Raiders can start paying him to play.

Finally, someone at DFO HQ better check the server, because it appears our private emails have been read by those cunning thieves over at SBNation, as evidenced by their story on “What is the new saddest sports town?”

Brexit notes:

If angry Scottish relatives are any indication, you can note June 23rd as the date which precipitated the breakup of the United Kingdom.

Personally, I thought “Remain” would win, because I figured that London would erase the nativism of the countryside, and that Scotland’s heavy pro-Remain vote would sway the difference. But what do I know; I’m the Stephen A. Smith of predicting election results.

I will be buying some Pounds this weekend, as the value dropped 15 US cents during the vote, to an exchange rate not seen versus the USD since 1985. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of a fluctuating currency (i.e. – Americans), the best analogy I can think of is if California seceded. Imagine what the panic-selling would do to the US dollar, and all the “taken for granted” treaties & trade deals that would have to be worked out. In Canada, we’ve seen the dollar drop by as much as 25 cents during the two Quebec referendums, only to see it rebound once the “Non” (Remain) side won.

All I know is that I’m not entertaining any long-term guests. I don’t need Sick Boy & Begbie visiting from Edinburgh anytime soon.

The NHL draft brings up dread in the hearts of Canucks fans. The banner photo is from 1984, when JJ Daigneault was drafted by the Canucks. You aren’t seeing things – those are crutches. He lasted 2 years with the Canucks before he was traded to the Flyers, the second of the 10 teams he’d play with during his 17-year career. He actually won a Cup with the Habs in 1993, and lost a Cup with the Flyers in 1987, so his career turned out okay. The key is that it wasn’t for the Canucks.

In fact, between 1980-90, the Canucks first & second picks are a “what, really?” of NHL alumni.

• 1980: Rick Lanz; Andreas Schliebner
• 1981: Garth Butcher; Jean-Marc Lanthier
• 1982: Michel Petit; Yves Lapointe
• 1983: Cam Neely; David Bruce
• 1984: JJ Daigneault; Jeff Rohlicek
• 1985: Jim Sandlak; Troy Gamble
• 1986: Dan Woodley; Don Gibson
• 1987: Robert Murphy; Steve Veilleux
• 1988: Trevor Linden; Leif Rohlin
• 1989: Jason Herter; Robert Woodward
• 1990: Petr Nedved; Shawn Antoski

Of the first-round picks, easily the most famous is Cam Neely, and he got that way playing for Boston. In fact, most of those first-rounders achieved their fame on other teams. Trevor Linden is far and away the most famous Canuck on this list, but Garth Butcher had a very respectable career as well.

The more depressing fact is that only 2 of those second-rounders played more than one season in the NHL. Period. What good players the Canucks developed they lucked into in later rounds – who figured 1989 6th round pick Pavel Bure would become anything, and would be the only player from that year’s Canucks draft to play more than 30 career games? The history of the Vancouver Canucks is marked by a tragic inability to judge talent, and the 1980s were the prime example. We made the 1982 & 1994 Cup Finals by fluke & trade, not sound player-development strategy.

I will pay attention to the draft, but I won’t fall in love with it. For every Linden or Sedin picked, there are massive examples of a failure to properly judge talent. That’s why we have no Cups, and Tampa does.

Provincial Exam update: one runner. Just bolted from the building and couldn’t be talked back inside. She will get a chance to rewrite in August.

Tonight’s sports:

NHL: Draft – 7:00 – Sportsnet; NBCSN (Rounds 1-3)

CFL: Montreal @ Winnipeg – 8:30 (TSN; ESPN2)

Alternative Programming:

• ESPN Classic: “30 for 30”
  • 7:00-9:00 – “Survive & Advance” – about NC State in 1983
  • 9:00-11:00 – “Hillsborough” – about the British football tragedy of 1989

That’s it. Tomorrow morning brings us three Euro knockout stage matches, and in the evening the third-place game between Colombia & the USA from Glendale, AZ. I’m not saying Arizona isn’t friendly to tourists, but

SOMEONE WARN THE COLOMBIAN FANS!