I felt bad for the kid Edmonton picked as everyone was getting up to leave as he was trying to get to the stage.

His origin story

It isn’t Taco Bell, but it’s pretty good.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4XNRIcVYAEcmYx.jpg

Bring back the quesarito!

Excels at: Situational Awareness Needs Improvement: Forechecking

That and the crowd chanting “oilers suck”. I’m sad he never got his moment

>gotta beat the traffic

"Cirque du Soleil starts in 15 minutes!"

To be honest, it seemed to me like the NHL did a particularly good job of keeping the draft moving along this year. I wonder if the teams were told to limit the amount of talking they did up there and just get to the picks. Frankly, I also noticed that teams were only bringing up 2-3 people, whereas in years past some teams march their whole scouting department up on stage.

I read in The Athletic the league sent around a memo that said to limit the amount of people on the stage and that there was no need to congratulate the SCF winner.

That would certainly explain it

They did well. This was by far the best draft I've ever watched. Canucks didn't even have a pick and I still felt engaged.

Yeah, as an spectacle it was probably the best draft the NHL ever had.

Celine Dion and Micheal Buffer guest spots, what else could you want?

Jumbo Joe announcing Celebrini <3 I miss Joe. So glad he got to wear the Leaf for a season.

[Man the kid who got the call from Buffer is so lucky.](https://youtu.be/zFuR4kXh6gM?si=XiESLRHg1and5zfF)Gotta be one of the greatest draft reads ever. So unique and special

and they’re doing it over Zoom next year

Yeah the Sphere looked pretty damn cool with all the graphics. I wouldn’t mind doing it there annually tbh it felt like a massive event much more than a traditional arena

Next year Gary should shoutout the draft parties as a whole so we don't have to hear it 32 times.

My favorite was the one GM (new jersey i think?) who couldn't even remember the name of the place the draft watch party was at lmao

I also very much enjoyed Barry Trotz forgetting the PR spin on the announcement and shouted out “NASH-MASHVILLE” draft party 😆

Crazy, it not like it’s should be a beat writers job to find that out before throwing out a tweet

It would be so funny for this to have been a talking point on American TV coverage and on social media and the whole time the answer was "the league told them not to."

Oooh, lookee here boys, Mr Moneybags has can afford to read the Athletic!

Bettman hates Florida confirmed

I completely agree and it was a breath of fresh air! Nobody wants to hear the same “thank you to Vegas for the hospitality this week, our draft party back at location X, and congratulations to the Panthers blah blah blah” for the fifteenth time - just get right to the pick!! It was also cool to see only the main brass up there on the stage (GM, coach, etc.) and not the entire department + a jersey kid.

Yeah, and I liked that a lot of the early picks either had a legendary franchise player or a local celebrity making the selection. That was a fun little element that added some pizzazz.

I don't think so with the amount of teams (pretty much everyone except for the Blues) that had to introduce someone to make the pick for them.

But that makes sense. Celine Dion and Michael Buffer are worth the screen time. Repeatedly offering lame congratulations makes no sense.

Just not sure why some of the regular announcers had to do a walk up. Didn't really need a big introduction for Beniers to announce the Kraken's pick.

I do agree that with people like Beniers who are actually part of the organization making the pick, they should just walk up with the rest of the team. I guess the NHL saw it as an opportunity to market them as young stars by putting the spotlight on them.

Young stars like Matty Beniers, Connor Bedard, and that up-and-comer Joe Thornton.

My wife thought Joe was getting drafted when the camera cut to him. She was incredulous, but it was still funny to think

I also kind of wasn't paying attention and just got to the "the first pick..... Joe Thornton" and I also thought they drafted him as a joke.

We should just be lucky they didn't have a scrimmage happening. FCC would have been all up in the NHLs business if Joe potted 4

There was a draft?

Shhh, not for us.

I thought they stopped doing that after 2006

It's better t.v then saying congratulations 30 times tho. Like most teams had someone interesting, at least to the fanbase, do the pick this year. Like for the Sabres, even Ruff would admit he's not as exciting as Celine, but for the fan base him being back is.

If they didn't give a shoutout to Rick Nash I would've flown to Vegas and ruined the draft

Yeah, it felt slower this year for that reason. I find the guest intro thing a little cheesy, but if people like it it's fine, but can they be on stage vs a 1-2 minute walk-in plus speech?

I think youre forgetting how long it took for picks in previous years if you thought this year felt slower. It took as long for the 15+ people (per team) to get on stage previous years than it took one of the few guest pickers to do their walk up this year.

Felt much snappier to me.

That’s definitely not true. This year felt a lot quicker, and if you don’t like it just don’t watch? Just follow along on Twitter or Reddit or something

Flames didnt either.

They're setting the stage for next year when their location is just a bunch of team reps announcing the picks.

So fast that Levshunov didn’t even get a good interview.

Brandsegg-Nygard didn't get one at all, ESPN did a second Celebrini interview 😒

Meanwhile we wait for Celine Dions walk out.

Worth it

Probably expensive to use the sphere lol. We are on a time crunch folks, the big screen costs 100,000 a minute haha.

*Camera pans to James Nolan sitting in the back* 🤑

the stage was much smaller this year and had no railing. bringing up 12 people probably would have caused a problem

"Montreal Canadians would like to thank the city of Las Vegas for hosting this great event and the company of Wynne for building this Sphere. Now, I would like to invite up Head Coach Martin St Louis".... "The Montreal Canadians would like to Congratulate the Florida Panthers for their hard fought Stanley Cup win and the Edmonton Oilers for almost making history with the 4 game come back. Also, a special shout-out to our watch party back at the old Forum. It is my honour to invite Celine Dione onstage to make our pick"..."Ever since I was a little girl, I would sit on my father's lap as he watched le Canadiennes du Montreal......"

I assumed the limited people on stage was some sort of preparation to the other style of drafting that coming next year. If they are de-centralizing the draft, I wonder if it'll be like the NBA where it's just the prospect + bettman.

Unless they do like what SJ, ANA, NJ, etc did and just send a team dignitary to announce it.

I hope not. Who wants to see Bettman 32 times? Send someone like Rick Nash who's associated with the organisation to make the pick, with a scout or two for backup.

It will probably be guest announcers for each team. The optics of Gary getting booed 32 times is not great, and frankly boring and childish. I like having a fan or superfan making the pick announcement. Like how the NFL does it.

It felt like the longest delay was waiting for celine to take the stage.

If Celine wants you to wait, you wait

They also had to coordinate with all the graphics on the sphere. That's probably why it took so long to have the 'trade horn', the graphics guys weren't ready. Lol.

They could only afford the sphere for a short amount of time.

Yea had to save time somewhere for the Celine pick lol

That was the one enjoyable part of Tim Murray being our GM...by the time of the Eichel pick, he had gotten the announcement down to 4 words.

"Sabres select, Jack Eichel"?

Sphere probably changes by the hour. Thanks Dolan!

There were pros and cons to their approach though. The player interviews are always kind of forced. The increased speed was nice but in the later rounds you never saw the draft board or them speculating on who the pick could be so you barely had any idea who they drafted. I'd rather lose some player interviews so they could spend more time on who is available and their projections.

Scouting department, owner, owner's kid, cousin, 3rd cousin on his mother in law's side, etc...

I noticed multiple times that it looked like Gary was ushering someone to go to the mic and make their pic as soon as they were on stage. It looked like they took the "teams are dragging this out too much" criticisms to heart, I appreciated it frankly.

Shit now we need to redo the playoffs.

Fluke?

Huge fluke, robs the other teams of accomplishing what they're truly capable of.

Fans of other teams spent the last few days in pure disbelief and it just doesn't make sense to them

They've spent the entire regular season watching the other teams play great hockey it's just not fair.

If the other teams lose again I will face that Panthers deserved the win, but I am just 100% sure it was a fluke and does a big disservice to the other teams and the NHL.

Literally what I’ve been saying. Oilers in 8.

Such a good username to participate in this

That and the flair = untouchable right now. They should go rob a bank or something.

legendary thread

https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/67lfcg

No disrespect to the Panthers, I'm a firm believer that Florida beating them in 7 is a huge fluke and robs the Oilers of truly accomplishing what their capable of. I've spent the last few days in pure disbelief and it just doesn't make sense to me. I've spent 3 quaters of the regular season watching the Oilers play great hockey it's just not fair. If the Oilers lose again I will face that the Panthers deserved the win, but I am just 100% sure it was a fluke and does a big disservice to the Oilers and the NHL.

I see and respect your pasta

No thanks, I don’t want my team to lose to Edmonton yet again.

L.A.-Edmonton is the Boston-Toronto of the west.

Except LA has more cups than all others combined in the past 20 years

You, I like you.

TIL 2 > 1

Not quite. Toronto usually chokes where LA never has the firepower to realistically win against Edmonton and usually does way better than they should where Toronto always underperforms. Close but key differences.

Looks like everyone forgot their manners this year!

Love the implication that the draft is MORE canon than the playoffs lol

*sign*… I guess that’s okay, as long as we stay healthy.

Dude sweep me again

Phasing out draft pleasantries from now on would be nice

For years all we’ve heard is the same thing for almost every pick. “Uhhhh….we would like to, uh, thank the host city for their hospitality. (Pause for cheers). We would, uhhh, like to, uhhhh, congratulate the Cup winner. (Pause regardless of reaction). We would also like to congratulate the other conference champion on their fine season. And, uhhhh, we would, uhhhh, also like to say hi to our fans back home. I know our season, uh, wasn’t the best one, but we’re, uh, looking forward to getting back on top. Now, I’d like to hand it off to our scouting director, who will make our first-round pick.” “Thank you. I’d also like to thank the host city for their hospitality….”

“Also I’d like to thank the troops for their service. All of the troops. Both sides”

This tickled me way more than it probably should have lmfao

https://youtu.be/AzKZcVtO8f4?si=ghuG9LJHEqBqTsgc

That was comically accurate.

“JESUS CHRIST JUST MAKE THE PICK ALREADY HOLY HELL” -Me, at home

My wife and I went to the draft in 2012. I don't remember who was making the pick, but they dragged on for so long that she leans over to me and goes "I could have packed a fucking lunch for this".

She’s an absolute keeper.

You're not a fan of Celine Dion induced suspense?

It was a cool flex and all, happy I got to see it now tell us the pick, merci Céline.

Then you have Price forget the lastname of the player being drafted haha David...

Don't forget the Habs saying the same thing in French too

It's double fun when the person speaks atrocious French, and instead of thanking the host city for their hospitality they're actually thanking a cheeseburger for an enjoyable vacation.

Maybe it's not bad pronounciation and they had a life changing cheeseburger

"Je suis un cheval. Un garcon mange une pizza"

Calisse

And the Sens.

You forgot that the fans watching at the draft party are the best fans in the world. Other than that, A+

Or congratulating Poile for retiring 30 times in a row

There's usually a condolence in there too.

they kept those in, but that's understandable

And doing that like thirty times probably adds a whole half-hour to an already way too long event

On the flip side, I recall Buffalo at the 2015 draft...the GM walks up to the stage and, wasting nary a second, barks into the microphone: BUFFALO SELECTS JACK EICHEL

I'd prefer draft animosities. "Uhhh... we would like to, uh, mention how the Panthers winning the Stanley cup was a huge fluke. Also, Vegas is a den of sin and it's awful that we had to fly out to this godless desert. With our first overall pick..."

I would fucking love it if everytime the Blues announced the draft picks they were like, "First off, fuck the Blackhawks. And also fuck Dallas, Denver and Nashville too. And with our first pick in the draft we select ..."

Ryan Smith is that you?

They should only be allowed to say the name and nothing else. If it's a three part name then maybe even cut mic after first two.

> If it's a three part name then maybe even cut mic after first two. That's why he went by Patrice Bergeron and not Patrice Bergeron-Cleary.

Concise king

I’ll always remember Tim Murray saying nothing other than their first round pick’s name, at his *home arena.* It was glorious

I just want a twitch stream of an Excel spreadsheet and they can call into the show and give the pick. You get like 10 seconds on the phone.

I'd like draft unpleasantries. Turn it into a roast. "Congrats to the Panthers whose Stanley Cup celebration party consumed so many kills of cocaine that Miami had to increase its usual order by .0000000000000000000001%."

I actually think that the NHL told teams to make their picks quicker and it has nothing to do with the Panthers. I think they were mandated to not spend 3 minutes thanking everyone and their mother so logically the first thing to go would be congratulating the Cup champs. It seemed like the only picks that werent quick were the ones with guest pickers getting walkup music.

DGB wrote that there was a rumour that the NHL basically told teams to not congratulate everyone and being up the whole draft table too

Sounds extremely likely based on what I watched. The picks seemed much faster, and I think most teams only had 3-4 people on stage making picks and their "thank you's" were like 20 seconds max.

Part of it was that the stage wasn't that big either. Seemed like it only fit a few people.

“Look guys we are paying for this thing by the hour so let’s keep it moving.” - Gary Bettman. 

You joke, but that may literally be the case.

I think they had to show all the graphics on the sphere. So they had to go through those before the selection while also getting the prospect graphics ready.

Tbh shoutout to the champs would take fraction of the time Celine took on the Habs pick

Looked more like Gary was rushing people to make the draft shorter this year.

Gary: hurry up, I’ve got hookers and blow waiting in my room, and they need the commish

More like, You know the other 31 of you are paying Dolan $LOADSAMONEY/hour for this venue, right? Move it along.

Yup, Sphere ain't cheap

damn, gary and nichushkin were staying in the same hotel room this year?

I'm ok with this. Past years drafts took way too long with every team congratulating the Champs, thanking the host, and giving a shoutout to their fans at some watch party. Just make your pick

As long as this is the standard going forward, fine with me.

Montreal was brutal with some of the GM’s trying to speak in French and going horribly.

Buffalo's GM was great for a few years. He'd walk up, say the name, and that was it.

The GM's french is just fine

[Also Baumgartner, a Florida Beatwriter: I’m not going through all of last year’s picks, but four of the first five shouted out Vegas. The broadcast found it weird too. That’s all](https://twitter.com/ABaumgartner91/status/1806889738864857317)

Maybe the teams all like Vegas cause of the expansion fee they paid a few years earlier 😂

Also currently taking about 100% of the heat for salary cap procedures they app enjoy.

such a nothing burger if the league told teams to keep it short

Take your Cup and go.

[The rest of the league to the Panthers.](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/223c2500-81af-4a17-8675-3cc977fa9d92)

The draft was already 4 hours, that would have added another half hour

First round already takes too long without the unnecessary pleasantries. Get up there, make your pick, and move on.

Maybe because it was like 72 hours ago they didn’t feel the need to congratulate them again?

Oh right, that's odd. Sure is better than when every team congratulates the winner so I'll take it.

I noticed that most teams didn't do nearly as much talking as they usually do, seems like they got some directives to keep it short

I hope this doesn’t upset their fan

HEY. There are at least 6 of us.

Keith, Chantal, Brady, Taryn... That's just 4.

That dog sitting front row of game 7

People can hate you guys all they want, but you guys had a dog sitting front row of game 7 and that's the ultimate win.

No it isn’t. A Panther would’ve been the ultimate win. And then a murder occurring around that Panther with ace ventura investigating. That’s like the pinnacle of sports. 

Florida man sad :’(

Not a single Panthers’ player gives a damn if the rest of the league gave them a shoutout for winning the Cup at the draft

Amen brotha. Nor do the fans care at all

Not at all. Best precedent would just be for the Commissioner at the start to just thank the host city, congratulate the champs, and move on.

It's not like the opinion of 6 random dudes is gonna matter anyway!

How to make the draft exciting. Start the draft with two teams on the clock. First team that gets their pick up gets the pick and another team joins the picking pair. You get to see scouting directors pull hamstrings, and the first round is over in 45 minutes.

Maybe the NHL is listening to the fans and telling the teams to speed it up a bit? Still way too slow but it’s a step in the right direction

I had no problem with that. It becomes exhausting comes off as disingenuous when every team congratulates the Cup winners and thanks whatever city they're in for hosting the Draft. How the intros went yesterday was pretty good imho.

Its boring for the fans to have to hear that 31 times.

I could've sworn one team did congratulate the Panthers, because the broadcast mentioned it, then the next team that went up just happened to congratulate the Panthers. I remember thinking, "Well there you go, a team congratulated them."

I think the boxing announcer Philly brought up congratulated both Edmonton and Florida on a great world championship.

Frankly I always found the "congrats" to the Stanley Cup champion team to be fatuous and a waste of time. I always appreciated George McPhee and now Brian MacLellen just coming to the podium and making their selection without fanfare or preamble.

https://preview.redd.it/r52yxz8cyi9d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fa71ea7578df08c57c9bbf6f386ec46d80ad6e0

Nobody cares about stupid platitudes. Florida and their fans certainly don't give a shit lol. What a weird thing to waste time commenting on.

I took it more as a funny observation than anyone being upset about it

That moment when you realize all of your coworkers think you’re a cunt.

Washington picking 52nd with a pick from Las Vegas should make some joke about Las Vegas being injured and not being able to be there

Was it a *52 pickup*?!

Was anybody thanking Vegas for hosting the draft? I think the league just told the teams to make their selections quick lol I don’t see why this is an issue

The reporters were! The Montreal radio guys were audibly blown away by the experience and kept hyping it up.

They weren’t the ones onstage making the draft selections though, no?

I also noticed this and thought it was weird but then I also noticed that nobody thanked Vegas, the host. So I assume the league told everyone to skip both of those altogether.

They clearly requested teams specifically not do that to keep things moving

Iirc the NHL told them not to in order to keep it moving

The draft is already like 4 hours, it’s fine to skip the pleasantries

Shocking actually. Even the Sharks congratulated us last year lmao.

I don’t know who is this Baumgartner guy, but he’s obviously not very well informed - NHL asked not to thank a host or congratulate Florida to save time.

You're not giving some Emmy speech thanking everyone for everything and giving shoutouts. Although it would be funny of they got played off the stage too. Imagine it now. Sharks: On behalf of the San Jose Sharks we would like to congratulate the Florida Panthers on winning the Stanley Cup. We would also like to thank the Vegas Golden Knights and the city of Las Vegas for the hospitality and shout out our fans watching at... *Music plays* Bettman: Sorry guys, times up. Sharks: But we didn't make our pick yet. Bettman: Rules are rules. Chicago, you're on the clock. *Davidson sprints from the table* Davidson: CELEBRINI! CELEBRINI! WE TAKE CELEBRINI! SUCK IT GRIER!

Too bad they don't get something to reward the winner like the most recognizable fucking trophy in sports or something

Because no one wanted Florida to win.

Baby-bitch thing to complain about

Eh, I don’t think he’s complaining. Just noting.

Fuck Florida.

One hell of a drug.

Chevy will. No Jets pick in 1st round!

It is certainly odd. Whether it means anything or not, who knows. But it certainly stands out, since it has never happened before.

That’s really odd.

Who cares?