2009 NHL Draft: Live Blog

Welcome to 50MC’s 2009 NHL Draft Live Blog. This is the second major live blog I am doing for hockey—the first one being this past season’s Trade Deadline, which was a big success.

Remember to have your drinks ready because we will be playing the drinking game as we watch intently tonight.

7:26 PM – Tampa Bay Lightning select Victor Hedman with the second overall pick. No surprise here. Duchene should go next and all the pieces are falling into place. Drink up for Lawton thanking Montreal and congratulating the Pens. Sounds like the rocket beside Hedman is his girlfriend. Nice.

My dad knows nothing about hockey, but just saw Hedman’s highlights and said that Hedman will have a bigger impact than Tavares in the NHL. He also said that someone must have ironed his cheek when he was a kid.

7:21 PM– Dreger reports that the Flyers are giving up Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa and two first round picks. A little steep, but Pronger is still an elite defenseman. Drink up as soon as Bettman announces it.

7:15 PM – New York Islanders select John Tavares with the No. 1 overall pick. YE HAW WWW! Long Island goes crazy and I have officially stamped my passport to be a citizen for Islander Nation.

A million drinks for Garth Snow thanking Montreal, live shots at Nassau, the draft pick, and of course, Peirre losing his mind.

7:13 PM - Drink No. 3 for the boo’s for Gary Bettman. Here we go.

7:10 PM– According to IslandersPointBlank.com, there are 8,000 people at Nassau right now for the Islanders’ draft party. They are chanting “JOHN TA-VA-RES!” On the big screen, whenever Duchene or Hedman are shown, there are booo’s. Second drink for the live shot at Long Island.

7:08 PM– Drink No. 1 for a live shot at Nassau. Take a second drink as soon as the Pronger trade is official. There are a ton of people at the Islanders’ draft party. Wow. Hockey could be back on the Island, depending on who the Islanders take.

I think the consensus for the fans is Tavares. People are starting to settle down on the draft floor—we are close.

7:05 PM– Dreger reporting a splash: Chris Pronger to the Flyers for probably Joffrey Lupul. Haha. Lupul goes back to Anaheim. But wow. The Flyers are instantly a big time contender in the East. With Pronger, they will probably take themselves out of the Bouwmeester sweeps.

7:00 PM – Here we go. Tavares, Hedman, and Duchene have great suits on. I like the gray with red on Duchene. He is already great improvement from yesterday when he had the short sleeve and tie. Stay tuned for my peice tomorrow about the great suits of the 2009 NHL Draft. Who is the rocket beside Hedman?

6:50 PM– 10 minutes to go until we finally find out who Garth Snow will select. I would take Tavares. How can you pass up a legitimate candidate for 40 goals a season? Darren Dreger reporting that Bryan Murray will not be able to trade Heatley before July 1st.

6:26 PM – Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean says that they know John Tavares will be Garth Snow’s pick, but still nobody knows for sure. Sportsnet also reports that Jonas Gustafsson has taken Colorado out of the running. Down to San Jose, Toronto, and Dallas. While at TSN, Brian Lawton told Michael Landsberg on OTR that there is nothing on Vincent Lacavalier.

6:11 PM – Philadelphia has dropped out of the Ryan Clowe sweeps. Toronto, Minny and Los Angeles remain. The Sharks do not have a first round pick this year. Minny’s Josh Harding is in play. I would not want to trade Clowe. I think he is a necessary banger that the Sharks lack. Patrick Marleau is a better