Wild Draft News

From The 2010 NHL Draft -
Chuck Fletcher stuck to his guns, keeping the Wild's only first round draft pick at #9.  How ironic is it that the ninth pick turned out to be a young man from Finland?  How ironic is that the Wild hope a certain Finnish team mate, who wears the number nine, will be this draft pick's mentor in just a year or so?  Things that make you go hmmm.  Here's Russo's coverage of Mikael Granlund: Wild's First Round Draft Pick 2010.  The Wild will continue on it's quest to rebuild through the draft today.  It still appears that GM Chuck Fletcher is still looking for just the right elements to make a favorable trade to fill the black hole known as our center position.  The rest of this years draft is being shown on the NHL network.  You can follow Russo on his twitter account or link up with TSN for their live feed coverage. 
    Oh - funny note from the coverage last night and I'm sorry Vicki, this may hurt.  The big hoopla this year was whether the Oilers would take Taylor or Tyler with the first pick.  The announcers (Pierre McGuire and Bob McKenzie) made such a circus out of who would be first.  The cameras constantly panned back and forth on these two boys hoping to catch some glimpse of utter disappointment from the one that didn't go to Edmonton.  Taylor gets the nod from the Oilers and Tyler never flinched while applauding.  With the drama of that over it was down to wating for the Bruins management to get up on the stage and make it official for Tyler.  As his name was announced, either Bob or Pierre - I couldn't tell which one, says "it's not a bad thing to be the 2nd pick, considering the bust some of the past number 1 picks have turned out to be - like ALEXANDRE DAIGLE."  I haven't laughed that hard since my meltdown over Wes on Monday.  I can't figure out if it was meant to make Tyler feel better or to be a cheap shot at Taylor.  I'm still chuckling over it this morning.
    Second funny note, just remembered - and please be sure you've swallowed your food and drink before reading further.  Each player drafted last night was compared to either a current day or retired NHL player.  For example, Mikael Granlund was compared to Saku Koivu, not bad.  When Brock Nelson was drafted the graphic showed he was comparible to James Sheppard.  Yep, they were referring to the Wild's epic bust, The One and Only: James I've-been-playing-hockey-since-I-was-3-years-old Sheppard!!  Wow, not exactly a ringing endorsement for Brock on the biggest day of his life, huh?     

I'm off to the deck where it's hazy, hot and humid - just the way I LOVE it!  Stay cool Wild fans and if you have to be out in today's weather be sure to keep yourself hydrated.