MONTREAL -- Greetings from the draft floor in Bell Centre. A little buzz generating that the New York Islanders may go off the board and select Matt Duchene first overall. Advice: Don't do it!
He'll be a fine player, but the fans on Long Island have been debating John Tavares or Victor Hedman so long that they'll go nuts if the Isles don't take one of them. They would have needed to leak Duchene much earlier than three hours before the draft to ease the shock.
Other tidbits:
*Ignore the rumors of the Sabres trying to acquire the rights to Jay Bouwmeester. Darcy Regier has repeatedly said the cost of going that route is too high. You have to give up something just to talk with the player, then you have to overpay to ensure you sign him. It's not the Regier Way.
*The GMs are starting to congregate on the floor, shaking hands and chatting.
*When you come to Montreal during the regular season, you think, "Wow, pretty cool city." When you come here in the summer, you think, "What an awesome city!" The bars, shops and restaurants that line the streets shed their windows in the summer, and it's patio after patio for folks eager to get outside after the long winter. Buffalo needs more places like this.
---John Vogl
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NHL Entry Draft
