I dunno why that guy in the background didn't want to be immortalized with me.

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I never even gave it a second thought.

The man carrying the Stanley Cup down the street said "This thing is heavy, help me hold it up, c'mon grab it!" I grabbed it by the bowl and the base, the way Mark Messier and so many other captains have, spun the Cup around so I could see the 1994 team, and had my picture taken, three times.

What would you have done?

After the second day of the draft, I was hanging out with the NHL Tweetup crew. We had made the long hike to Old Montreal, and wound up at this very expensive, way out of my league restaurant. (I'm a t-shirt and hat kinda guy, and was dressed as such. I stuck out like a sore American thumb in my NHL Draft hat and Hartford Whalers t-shirt amongst the Montreal elite in this restaurant) After everyone had finished their dinner, my friend Dani and I decided to go downstairs for to enjoy an after dinner smoke.

A guy comes up to me and asks for a light. I let him use my lighter; he uses it and starts to walk away. Noticing my t-shirt, he says "Hey are you guys hockey fans? The Stanley Cup is coming down the street, its right there." We poke our heads around the corner where he was pointing, and sure enough, there it is, all beautiful 30-something pounds of it. Dani goes running up to it to take a picture, and I go to stand next to it for my chance to be photographed with the best looking trophy in all of sports.

I'd had my picture taken once with the Cup before. When I lived in Phoenix, the Phoenix Zoo did a Coyotes promotion, and I put on my Rangers jersey, and wore my "1994 Stanley Cup Champions" hat for the 2^nd (and last, I haven't put it on since) time, and drove down to the Zoo and had my picture taken. The Cup was placed on a table, we weren't able to manhandle it, but I did very gently place my hand on top of it when the picture was snapped.

This time, I had no such inhibitions. I picked it up, and held onto it for dear life. I figured dropping it would probably have me living forever in You Tube infamy.

So upon returning to our table and telling our story, I was immediately under fire from the Islander fans in the group, saying that you should never touch the Cup unless you win it. I told him I disagreed, that Cup celebrations had always been public, and that if Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin could eat oats out of it, that the Hockey Gods would certainly permit me my opportunity.

So let me ask you, if you were in that situation, would you touch the Cup?

Most of you guys know "The Mouth" from his website over at Ranger Crisis, and he has a new video where he went "undercover" at the Islanders Draft Party. He posted it as a Fan Shot, but I wanted to post it up here and make sure you guys all saw it, funny stuff, thanks Mouth!

Rangers on the clock!

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Here are some final thoughts from me on the NHL Draft weekend:

Montreal is not a cheap place to visit, and if you go bring comfortable shoes, the whole town is made up of hills and stairs. But a fun town, full of many different customs and cultures, I look forward to visiting again soon.

NHL Tweetups are doing a great job of bringing hockey fans together from all over North America, but I still don't get why after they all show up at a Tweetup, they sit and Twitter to other people. I still see Twitter as the death of the American conversation, but it is what it is, and its become a necessary tool for this site and thousands of others. I say this with much love to my dear friend @dani3boyz who was instrumental in bringing this new phenomenon of getting hockey fans on Twitter together and getting the NHL involved.  She doesn't get nearly the credit she deserves, and she'll never ask for it.

If you aren't already following her on Twitter, you should be, always good stuff from Dani. The NHL would be smart to consider a more official position for her, the league can only benefit from it. Make sure @dani3boyz is on your follow list.

Funny stuff after the Ryan Bourque selection, Ryan on the phone frantically trying to find his Dad Ray so the media could talk to him.

Saw Scotty Bowman a few times around the arena, and at one point he asked me how to get somewhere in the Bell Centre, which to me was akin to Vince Lombardi asking where Main St is in Green Bay.

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With their 7th round pick the Rangers have selected D Mikhail Pashnin from Russia

Here is his profile from Russian Hockey Prospects

Here is your open thread for Day Two of the NHL Draft. Again, we have a special section titled "Live from the NHL Draft", I'll be posting stories and interviews in there, and letting you know in the open thread when there is something new to see.

Whew! Sorry about this delayed post everyone, I had some serious log in problems. Here is a little more on Chris Kreider:

The Rangers chose (or were unable to, or were un-interested) not to move up or down in the draft, so they sat pretty at 19. The Rangers used that 19^th overall pick to select Chris Kreider a center from Andover, a prep school. This past year he had 33 goals and 23 assists for 56 points in 26 games. His calling card is his speed; many scouts say that right now he would be one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. In the scouting combine every player who is there is ranked on a scale of 1-10 in different categories. Well for skating Kreider ranked first overall scoring a 9.81, which is even more impressive considering that he is 6' 2" and 200 pounds. The kid has size and speed, which is exactly what was on the menu for John Tortorella.

After the pick Pierre McGuire had this to say: "He has dynamite speed. A lot of scouts say he might be the best prospect out of New England since Brian Leetch and that's pretty big praise." That's hefty praise for a young man who happens to be only 18 years of age. Various scouts had him being picked between 14 and 31 in this year's draft.

Gordie Clark was very keen on this pick for the Rangers, he had this to say (quote from Steve Zippay over at Newsday):

"It's the first thing [his speed] that stands out when you see him. He had 33 goals in 26 games at Phillips Andover. He's an elite, elite athlete physically, mentally. He's ripped. He blew through the combine in Toronto and he still has room to grow. He'll get thicker. He's gonna be a one or two year player wherever he goes. That's for his family and advisors to decide. He's a very intelligent kid. He can shoot a puck at full speed from the tops of the circle. He gets a lot of breakaways because he's so bloody fast. He's got that Alexander Mogilny-type speed. He's going to a great school. He can get the puck almost anytime he wants. We tried to move up to get him, as one of the guys we were keying on. We tried four or five teams and they were happy with what they had. So many teams had this guy in to test him. Everybody was there watching him through the year."

Here is My NHL Draft's scouting report on him (they had him going 21^st overall):

"Chris Kreider a dominating player, who dangles in tight spaces at high speed, cuts hard to the net, and is arguably one of the top skaters in this draft at any position. He is so strong on the puck that if the opposition doesn't stop him in that neutral zone, they are gonna have bigger problems when Chris gets the the pistons at top churn. One stride to top speed. His downside is being from a New England Prep school, Phillips Andover, the competition is far less a measuring stick than players in Junior A."

NHL.com had this to say about him in their scouting report:  

"Chris is an excellent skater with explosive speed and acceleration. His short-distance speed is exceptional. He sees the play ahead of time and knows what he's going to do with the puck as soon as he gets it. He is an excellent passer and playmaker. His foot speed, combined with his anticipation and quick stick, gives him the ability to create turnovers and gain puck possession. He is a constant threat to develop breakaways on the penalty-killing unit. He has both an excellent wrist and slap shot, which he disguises well and releases quickly. He can score goals in a number of ways."

A little more information on the pick for you all to take in. He is currently a junior and has already verbally committed to Boston College (always a good sign when your prospects play for BC) for the start of the 2010 season. As you can see it's a little hard to make any real statements other than the Rangers got a guy who can really be a diamond in the rough, no one has seen any flaws in his game. He is quite clearly the best of the best on the high school level this year, and the Rangers were lucky enough to nab him. If you were watching the draft the announcers on TSN absolutely LOVED this pick by the Rangers. Apparently the Devils wanted him very, very, very badly (also another very good sign) and were unable to trade up in order to get him.

As you can see the Rangers did good here. They got the size they desperately needed, and now they have two guys (Stepan is the other prospect in the organization) with blazing speed who could easily be in the top 20 for speed in the NHL right now.

Oh and in my search I did a little look-see on SB Nation and Die by the Blade (the Sabres blog) had this to say about him:

"He has the opportunity to be the best offensive player in this entire draft.  He has all the tools that will help him succeed in the NHL and he appears to have the desire to succeed as well.  He is big, strong, fast and he is creative with the puck.  He could be a steal with the number 13 pick."

A steal at the number 13 pick huh? How about at the 19^th pick? Want a prediction for the 2^nd round? Rangers trade up and nab Russian phenom Alex Avtsyn. His numbers, 56 goals 54 assists 110 points in 73 games (although in the Russia 3 league), look awesome to me. Check out his profile here on NHL.com.  

NHL Draft Stage

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The first night of the draft has arrived, and I am up in Montreal at the Bell Centre sitting on press row with the other SBNation hockey managers. You will note in the left hand column there is a new section entitled "Live from the NHL Draft", I will be posting any stories and interviews in there, and I'll let you know in the open thread when something new is posted. Grab a beer, sit back and relax, and enjoy the draft!