The NHL Draft is... Kind of a Bummer

Well, that's not what I was expecting. I was expecting glitz, glamour, lights and action, and instead I got... a bunch of pasty dudes giving jerseys to other pasty dudes. And everyone had REALLY big heads, I don't know what was up with that. Barry Trotz has a big head already, but in person? He looks like M.O.D.O.K.

The NHL Draft was this weekend and it was... OK, I guess. I met a bunch of people I've only known on the internet (thankfully I'm better looking than all of them) and it was kind of cool to see Bob Miller go walking by, but overall it was kind of boring. I think the problem is this: I love hockey. I love the Kings, and I am grateful to the NHL, but at the end of the day hockey is why I get up in the morning. The Draft is not hockey. It's related to hockey and thus is important, but I don't really need to see it in action. It's like watching Top Chef where they have an entire episode picking the silverware they're going to use. It's important, I guess, but it's pretty tangential to why I watch. It's the same with the salary cap, or the schedule, or attendance figures, or a thousand other things: it's important because it affects my hockey watching experience, but it could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't care a whit.

Plus, I was kind of bummed by who the Kings picked. Not that I don't think Derek Forbort (I can't say that without sounding like an idiot) won't be a good hockey player, it's just... I wanted Etem. I wanted the kid from Long Beach. I know, I know, I sound like a Montreal fan, but it would have been cool. The Kings traded up, I got nervous with anticipation, and then they drafted some goof from Minnesota. I couldn't help but feel let down, just a little bit.

I didn't stay for the whole first round and I didn't bother going on Saturday because I wanted to watch Ricardo Clark make a dick out of himself against Ghana, and thank God I didn't have to go. Most of the guys were journalists, guys whose job it is to go to these dreary affairs, but there were a few bloggers who bravely stayed for both days. I don't envy those poor bastards. Brandon Worley and James T. O'Brien from ProHockeyTalk, Tyler Blezinski and all the SBNation guys, and all the other bloggers: I salute you. You're doing the Lord's work.*

*I felt like a dick when I got there at about 3PM (everyone else was there by 11), when one of the SBNation guys, I forget who, asked me where my laptop was.

-I didn't bring one.

-Do you have a recording device?

-I don't know, I guess my phone has one.

-Oh... well if you want to interview anyone they're going to be right down that hallway.

-Nah, I'm good.