Don't Waste Your Time with the Entry Draft
By Eric Rosenhek
There’s nothing special about the NHL Draft or any other draft in professional sports; yet, people tune in and find the lack of physical action riveting. It’s ridiculous!
Never watched the draft before? Then allow me to give you a brief synopsis:
A bunch of team executives and general managers sit at tables on the floor of an arena.
This year, the lucky arena is the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
Hopefully, nobody trips over all the pomp and circumstance left over from the Lakers’ championship victory last week. (That’s basketball, by the way.)
One-by-one, each team, following a designed order, is given a couple of minutes to decide which bright-eyed youngster gets to have his (or her, you never know) dream come true. A representative from the team then walks onto a stage and announces the lucky winner.
The lucky winner, who (nine times out of 10) come from Saskatchewan, Minnesota or small town Russia, jumps up, hugs his teary-eyed parents, high fives his unofficial agent, adjusts his expensive suit and walks to the stage. The commissioner and several team officials greet him. He puts on a jersey, a hat and everyone gathers for a photo-op.
This happens 30 times, multiplied by 7 rounds.
Sure, there are some stirring moments. A trade may occur or a drafted player may refuse to accept his selection. But that’s pretty much all you can expect to see.
In all seriousness, I really can’t understand why the draft has become a made-for-TV event. It’s just a bunch of hockey execs that talk amongst themselves and hand out jerseys.
Do we really need to see this? Is it really that important? The draft wasn’t even a public event until the 80s.
I can’t decide what’s more irritating: the hype created by the sports networks or the fans who buy into it.
The networks take the draft – an event with little physical action – and turn it into a biblical affair.
TSN, the Canadian broadcaster of the 2010 Draft, is providing “extensive” coverage. There was even a “Countdown” show. Apparently, TSN believes that hockey fans need to know everything single little detail about every single draft-eligible player.
On top of that, every move that occurs in Los Angeles will be vigorously scrutinized.
Meanwhile, there are hockey fans who invest so much interest and emotion into the draft. Some will even buy tickets to watch the draft live. These fans will pay top dollar to watch all the general managers sitting on the arena floor, eating bagels and handing out jerseys.
“Atta boy, Burkie!” screams a Maple Leaf fan from the stands of the Staples Centre. “Way to choose decaf! You’re the man, Burkie!”
I understand why the fans do it.
They’re all hoping for an “I was there” moment. They want to tell their children and their grandchildren that they were there when Player X, who went on to have a tremendous NHL career, was selected. They want to capture history before it even happens.
There’s really nothing wrong with that. As humans, we all want to have an “I was there” moment.
But hockey fans (and fans other sports) need to accept reality. The entry draft is nothing more than a crapshoot. To treat it as something that’s larger than life is just ridiculous.
Most of the draftees won’t even make a dent in the NHL. Some will disappear quietly, while others – *cough* Alexandre Daigle *cough* Gord Kluzak *cough* -- will become incredible busts.
So let’s hold off putting these young prospects on a pedestal and create excitedly high expectations for them. Perhaps we should wait to see what they can do before we form judgments and emotional bonds.
Forget the entry draft and its dull process. Let’s focus on the moments that count the most - say, on the ice.
