Diary of a Draft.

8:25 I think I’ll move over to Twitter for a while, if my hand doesn’t seize up. Thanks for dropping by the live-blog, Myra. And anybody else that did!

8:19 I think that’s all I can live-blog. It’s been 2 1/2 hours and it’s only the first half of the picks. Maybe I’ll just slow down a little. Maybe Minnesota at #16 goes up there and says that they pick Pierre to be co-GM!

8:16 Ducks are next. I wonder if I’m going to hate them as much now that they don’t have Pronger.
They pick Peter Holland. Hm. Maybe I should run over to dallasstars.com and see how that’s going.

8:12 I guess Buffalo was #13, because Florida just picked Kulikov at #14. I guess they couldn’t get anything for Bouwmeester yet. (Please, Stars, don’t get Bouwmeester.)

8:03 Awww. Ray Ferraro with his little boy! How sweet! (I like Ray Ferraro.)

Buffalo picks Zack Kassian. Ooh! A comparison to Lucic.

8:00 Buffalo’s up next. I hope they pick somebody good, for the sake of all my Buffalo fan friends. Is this #14?

You know, last year, when I was there in person, the Stars didn’t have a pick at all in the first round. It’s weird that we’ve already picked. I think a lot of Stars fans have probably left this show and are over on the Stars site learning about our new guy. I should do that, too, but I like the whole thing.

7:56 Interview with Pronger. I think they should ask him what his wife thinks of Philly. Duthie jokingly asks if he’s the missing piece in Philly and he basically says yes. He’s a peach. If he were anybody else, I’d feel sorry for him for the way Niedermayer strung the team along and got him traded by agreeing to come back to the Ducks for another year. But since he’s Chris Pronger, who cares.

7:53 TRADE! Oh, it’s a pick to the Islanders for picks the Islanders just got earlier. Yawn. The Islanders are up now. They selected Calvin DeHaan. Never heard of him.

7:49 The Stars are putting up Glennie links like crazy, and Ralph interviewed him already. I want to watch the rest of the draft! I want to go see this Glennie kid! I don’t have enough eyes.

7:46 Minnesota is up at #12. Are you SURE you don’t want Pierre to be your GM, Minny? He’s right over there! You can go talk to him right now!

7:44 Preds are up at #11. They pick Ryan Ellis. From Otter’s old team, the Windsor Spitfires! Hi, Otter!

7:37 Kevin Lowe. I couldn’t think of the Oilers’ GM’s name. It’s Kevin Lowe. The guy that makes fun of little children.

7:33 Oilers are up next. I saw a behind-the-scenes show about a previous draft and the Oilers GM pulled aside an innocent little kid wearing a Leafs jersey and made fun of him. I don’t like that guy.

The Oilers take ol’ Control-V!

7:28 I don’t have a problem with the Stars picking Glennie, mainly because I don’t follow it that closely. I don’t assume that mock drafts have all the answers. He was close to that rank, so that’s fine with me. If they’re drafting skilled guys, that’s fine. I don’t think drafting for what we need right now over the best player is a good idea, because it’ll be a year or two before he gets to town.

7:27 Ottawa picks Jared Cowan.

7:18 Wow! Look how big he is! I always think of Nieuwy as being average-sized.
Scott Glennie? Who the hell? Never heard of him. Pierre likes him. Sounds like a skilled guy. Not a bad idea.

7:17 DallasStars Twitter says a trade is possible! They need to get the pick first. They never get this high, don’t screw it up!

7:15 Stars up next! Nieuwy will get his chance to screw up the team, starting now.

7:12 Burkie makes no small talk at the podium. No thanks to Montreal or congrats to Sid and the Pens. He picks Nazim Kadri, but he’s obviously pissed. He’s all, “FINE! Get in the car, Kadri!”

7:05 The 6th pick is Ekman-Larsen. Were the Stars hoping for him? I’ve lost track. I’ve been clinging to Paarjave… what was it? That umlaut guy.

7:02 Columbus make a pick trade with the Islanders. Obviously it’s just to interrupt the proceedings.

6:59 Who’s next? Only 2 more picks until it’s our turn! Oh, it’s Phoenix? (Aside: Gretzky makes EIGHT MILLION dollars a year to coach the Yotes out of the playoffs every year. And they wonder why they’re out of money.)

6:57 Ooh! They picked Schenn. Brian Burke is pissed! That’s hilarious!
Two brothers in the top 5 in consecutive years is pretty impressive.

6:55 Luc Robitaille speech: zzzzzzzzz. Just make your pick, Kings! Sheesh!

6:50 Of course, Kovalchuck is welcome to demand a trade to the Stars if he doesn’t like him.

6:48 Is Evander a forward or a defenseman? I guess either one would be a big help for Kovalchuk.

6:45 Thrashers pick…(somebody to help Kovy?)…Evander Kane! Any relation to Pat Kane?

6:42 Duchene seems like a cool kid! Fun trick knowing everybody’s stick curve.

6:38 Colorado picks Duchene. I can’t believe the Avs have sunk so low that they’re picking third. (I probably shouldn’t throw stones, though.) Also, I can’t believe the crowd at the Isles arena and the ovation they gave their pick. That’s kind of sad.

6:36 Pronger trade confirmed. I’m so happy! Don’t let the screen door hit you on your way out of the West, Pronger!

6:35 Bob Gainey didn’t get where he is today by spilling his plans for Vinny.

6:34 I also started going top to bottom, time-wise, then changed, and now I think I should change back. (In the live-blog world, there’s no such thing as an un-expressed thought.)

6:32 I’m not sure about this live-blogging. I’m here, IPB, Twitter, email, and trying to watch TV. I ran out of attention long ago. And my hand hurts from typing.

6:27 Pick 2 is the Lightning. They got #1 last year. They pick…Victor Hedman! They need defense. Today!

6:24 As much as I loathe Pierre, I feel the opposite about James Duthie.
Ooh, Lupul for Pronger! Didn’t Anaheim used to have Lupul already!?

6:21 Wang brings his kid up on stage again this year.

6:19 John Tavares! They picked the guy everybody thought they’d pick forever. Pierre immediately jumps in and makes my ears bleed. I’m still mad at Minnesota for not hiring him as a GM.

6:17 Here we go! The Islanders pick…

6:14 Poor Bettman. That’s right, I said it.

6:10 Hearing that Pronger’s been traded to Philly! Wouldn’t that be great?!

6:09 Nobody knows whom the Isles will take. I hope it’s something crazy.

6:04 I like getting the TSN feed for something like this. The Bruins thing is a dead deal because they both thought they were getting the first-rounder from the other, it seems. Brian Burke is a nut, by the way.

Everybody should read Down Goes Brown, by the way. He’s a genius. Here’s how the Leafs are likely to feel on this “Christmas Morning.”

Kid: Socks? Underwear?
Dad: Merry Christmas!
Kid: But dad, didn’t you promise to trade up and get me a bike?
Dad: Daddy tried. Didn’t work out.
Kid: Maybe Daddy should spend more time working and less time talking to the media.
Dad: GO TO YOUR ROOM!

6:02 Darren Dreger says Heatley isn’t going to be traded at all. I want the Stars to pick Magnus Paajarvi Svennson, just so I can get people to call him “Control-Vee.”

6:00 – It’s starting now. I’m just going to make comments and post it later. I’m too chicken to do a live blog. I just know I’ll lose interest or get caught up in Twitter or something.

Rumors that Pronger’s about to be dealt. First it was going to be the Ducks, now I’m hearing Philly.