Draft comes, draft goes. Wanye whines

 

Well 15 per cent of you who voted in the draft poll were correct. The Oilers done gone and drafted another centreman, and a 5-10 one at that when they selected Regina Pat Jordan Eberle with the 22nd pick in the first round. Appparently this is the kid the Oilers wanted to pick up, and they got him. And though watching the Oil pick a centreman in the first round of the Entry Draft is about as surprising as, oh, the sun rising in the morning, we kind of like this Eberle kid the more we read about him.

When he was selected, he reminded Lowe and MacT that they had presented him with the championship trophy at the Brick Novice Tournament a few years back. That’s pretty hilarious that the kid is still living off that high, and according to Lowe “I’d imagine most kids are happy to be drafted, but he was genuinely excited about being drafted by the Oilers.” Lowe continued, “In the (pre draft) interview, when we gave (Eberle) the chance to ask questions about us, he was really asking a lot of questions about Sam Gagner and the things he did to advance as quickly as he did. I like to hear that.”

Nothing wrong with picking up a Regina Pat who was raised in Alberta. Good luck to you, kid.

Oh, for heaven’s sake. In a day where players were flying around from team to team and deals stacked to the sky like delicious doughnuts, the Oil sat back and watched it all go down. In our best back-seat driving position, your ol’ pal Wanye whines about the trades here and now.

Come on! There was mention earlier in the day around town that a Stoll-Cammalleri deal was imminent. Surely the Oil could have sweetened the pot to secure the services of the oft-injured-two-sets-of-double-letters-in-his-last-name Cammalleri. We suppose the Flames just wanted it more, and we can’t really blame them given how terrible their team is going to be next year. But Cammalleri, you should have known better. If you’re going to leave the sun and the surf for the refreshing Arctic air of Alberta, why pick the Flames? Do you have a particular interest in losing regularly?

What in the heck was so valuable on the Oilers roster that we couldn’t have taken a run at this deal? Neither Ballard nor Boynton have lit the world on fire offensively, but represent good solid d-men. Exactly the type of good solid d-men the Oil seem to have in rich abundance these days. Having given up the most shots in the league last year, Florida just flew in the defensive core of the Coyotes, who, well, sucked too. Perhaps now that they have 15 defencemen under contract for next season in Florida, K-Lowe can pull ol’ Jay “Glug Glug Vroom Vroom” Bouwmeester out of the sun and put him to work up here in Siberia.

OK, pass. Good call on avoiding this trade, we think. Another soft French player returning to the roost in Montreal. It could work… *cough*

Oh and why are the Habs suddenly one of the teams mentioned in every trade rumour in the league? It seems like all roads are leading to les Canadiens this off-season, and if half the rumours turn out the Habs will ice a squad of roughly 145 players next year.

All in all, the Oil drafted a good ol’ boy, and that’s about it. Oh, and the TSN coverage was so condescending to the viewer that it made our eyes bleed. Please take those terrible microphones off the analysts’ heads. The only time we want to see head gear like that on someone is in a Wendy’s drive-thru. Maybe that’s where Bob Mackenzie got the idea to go buy them. He looks as though he’s seen the second window of the odd drive through in his day.

For those of you seeking better draft detail, you can always go read Lowetide, who has done an excellent job as usual making a case for Teemu Hartikainen (The Oilers 163rd pick) being a real solid player.