Comments on: “TAKE THE BEST HOCKEY PLAYER. PERIOD”NYI dynasty draft guru Jim Devellano speaks to PB

By: 19 ISLE in NJ 22

19 ISLE in NJ 22 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:30:46 +0000

I felt the same way Devellano feels about announcing the 1st pick right away. I feel differently now that I’ve seen this fan energy playout. If the Isles announce Tavares early, the draft party would be anti-climatic.

I have a feeling Garth’s going to do the right thing by drafting Tavares while he has 18K of the biggest diehards at NVMC that will be storming the kiosks to be the first to have one of the first freshly minted Tavares jersey’s before Isles pick again.

Garth stating that “the fans will be excited” has me convinced he’s picking JT.

By: 19404ever

19404ever — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:33:08 +0000

The freakin tension on this soap opera is amazing. I transplanted to South Florida, but will be at the draft party. I should be easy to find if Snowang chooses to go another route other than JT, I’ll be wearing my orange 3d jersey(should mask the bloodshed somewhat), and will be trying to get out of handcuffs to assist the other 16,234 in the early demolition of the ol’ barn! LOL…BUT, if the RIGHT option is taken, oh boy, the rafters will be shakin…LET”S GO ISLANDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Spartiarti - RVC

Spartiarti - RVC — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:19:47 +0000

anthony c reason why Bailey not on top 20 NHL prospects is same reason why Okposo not on there anymore, they are NHLer and not prospects were Filatov is not.

Bailey going to be great. His puck vision is amazing and he is incredible passer. He just needs to work on his strength which he will. I expect good things from him this year along with Bergie and Nielsen.

By: 19 ISLE in NJ 22

19 ISLE in NJ 22 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:51:07 +0000

Coming to this party late … been a busy couple of days … I’d like to throw in my 2 cents … maybe others have mentioned this … I haven’t read the posts on this thread yet.

I’ll start by restating the Jimmy D is one of my All-Time fave hockey executives … for obvious reasons.

I agree 100% with his statement that a club should select the BPA … but he also states that he was targeting Pat LaFontaine in 83 partly b/c he was a local boy and it would mean a lot to the fans. Jimmy … Love Ya Man … but have you since changed your tune because Yzerman delivered Detroit a Cup?? CB – ya should of played gottcha with that

By: Spartiarti - RVC

Spartiarti - RVC — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:31:52 +0000

Hey Hedman fans, stop comparing his numbers to Lidstrom at same age. You forget that Lidstrom stats got him drafted in #3 round and 53rd overall.

The 1989 draft in which lidstrom taken the First round Dman drafted were Adam Bennett (who?), Doub Zmolek?, Jason Herter? and Jason Marshall? Did any of those dman make the NHL?

Potvin was drafted in 1973. over 26 yrs ago. We didnt win a stanley cup till 1980.

We tried the Draft the Dman first round strategy for many years and if you look at history. All the top first rounds hall of famers were Fowards.

Other first round dman taken first round. Let me know how many of them you know.
1981 – Paul Boutiller, 1984- Duncan MacPherson, 1987- Dean Chynoweth, 1988 – Kevin Cheveldayoff, 1991 – Scott Lachance, 1992 Kaspiritis, 1995 Berard (actually redden drafted).

This compares to 1sr round fowards – Gillies, BOssy, Tambellini, D. Sutter, B. Sutter, Lafontaine, Bertuzzi, Dumont, Connolly.

With exception of Kasper and Berard, our success rate way lower with Dman.

By: Jzimm

Jzimm — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:43:35 +0000

I agree, Doc. He wasn’t “THE BEST” player, but he was THE MOST POPULAR. So popular, and I suppose, marketable at the time, that there was a cartoon character who wore an Islanders #22 jersey in a pond hockey game. I don’t remember the name of the cartoon. Trottier was arguably the best, but Bossy was the most popular, and THE BEST GOAL SCORER EVER!!

By: ozzie307

ozzie307 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:42:53 +0000

I’m all for taking the best player available, as per Jimmy D., but ours is not the normal situation. With the Lighthouse hanging over us, we need to create a buzz and JT does that. JT and hedman are rated close enough that we have to keep “the big picutre” in mind

By: MikeinRichmondVA

MikeinRichmondVA — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:41:51 +0000

Well said DOC, Bossy was the scoring machine that made it work for the dynasty as Tavaras will be for the current Isles. Both natural born scoring machines.

By: doc

doc — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:39:11 +0000

People have revisionist history if they don’t think that Mike Bossy was without a doubt the MOST popular Islander during those years.

He was the back page story most days that there was an Islander story.

50 in 50, big time goals, etc. etc. etc.

He was without a doubt my FAVORITE Islander growing up and still is… and I’ve been a fan since ’75.

I appreciate all the other core players… and have fond memories of them all… but noone brought people to the edge of their seats in anticipation like Bossy.

DOC

By: isles72

isles72 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:05:29 +0000

I cant wait for the sparks to fly on the draft floor when VH gets picked

By: Rob76

Rob76 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:39:34 +0000

CB – In the past week I’ve read a whole lot of columns where people think that Hedman is going to be the pick. Even mock drafts have changed from JT to Hedman – Have you seen this too? Do you think there is any credible reason for these statements/changes? Is it something that has changed your mind about what they will do?

By: Chizzler

Chizzler — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:17:42 +0000

#13

True words, some of the best I’ve ever read about this whole draft mess.

And yes, I’m scared too.