Feeling Drafty

Considering the ratings of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals were so bad its safe to say the public at large has absolutely no interest in the NHL. In fact, the NBC affiliate in Tampa, where the Lighting won the Cup 3 years ago, pre-empted the games to show something else. Bad news for the NHL but probably a smart move for the station as test patterns would have drawn a better rating. NBC's coverage of the Cup was laughable anyway. When you cut away from an overtime game for pre-race coverage of the Preakness, it tells you all you need to know about the state of the NHL.

Its with these rays of sunshine the NHL blooms in Columbus this weekend for the annual player draft, or as my friend TFO calls it, "the day where the Blue Jackets select their next colossal bust or candidate for the injury list." Now I should note that TFO is the biggest hockey fan I know. In fact, he's the only hockey fan I know (other than myself). He actually has another friend who is a hockey fan...well technically, he's an Anaheim Ducks fan. If you're a fan of the Ducks, I don't really consider you a fan of hockey. A fan of water fowl most certainly but no hockey fan could ever root for a team that was designed as a marketing ploy by the evil empire Disney. TFO's request for his beloved Blue Jackets this weekend is a simple one...its to draft a player who doesn't suck. No more Nik Zherdevs....No more walking wounded like Alexander Picard, Derek Brassard, and Pascal LeClaire. The Jackets pick 7th and the pundits have them taking blueliner Karl Alzner.

Whoever the Jackets pick, 5 minutes after his name is called we'll find out he shared a flight with that TB guy and has been involved in a relationship with Lindsay Lohan and he'll spend the year on the injured list with a rare strains of TB and STD's.

The highlight of the Draft weekend should be the unveiling of the new Jackets jerseys. The league has been promoting the new space age materials in the jersey and how they will improve both comfort and performance. For the lowly Jackets they better hope the jersey is like Spiderman's black suit and contains the dna of Rocket Richard.