Before last night’s first-round of the NHL Draft, the Dallas Stars, who took Finish defenseman Julius Honka with the 14th pick, put up this hilarious media/scout translation guide (which could be a more accurate depiction of TSN and it’s Draft-speak.)
Check it out below via The Dallas Stars NHL.com site:
Canadian Made: The only way to watch the draft in the United States is through a feed produced by a Canadian TV network. This is a Canadian production aimed at the home country audience The only way it could have a more Canadian feel is if the announcers were at a Moose Lodge with catering from Tim Horton’s and refreshments provided by Molson. Sometimes broadcasters and experts get a little hyped at this display of home country superiority. Fans watching in the United States need to be aware of certain “phrases” that will be used during the broadcast and what these codes really mean:
1) “He is a can’t miss prospect and will star in the NHL” (Translation) Any Canadian-born player who excelled in Canadian Major Junior Hockey
2) “Most consider him a can’t miss prospect but there are still some doubters” (Translation) Any player not born in Canada but excelled in Canadian Major Junior Hockey
3) “He has excelled at every level but I’d like to see him compete against better competition” (Translation) He’s a top American player but played High School, in the USHL or NCAA and not the Canadian Junior system (This opinion drives American hockey people absolutely berserk as Team USA’s repeated success in the World Juniors and U-18 tournament should have earned these kids more respect)
4) “There are questions about his toughness” (Translation) He’s European
Mock Drafts: A nice way to kill time at work and also start a few arguments with hockey geeks in a chat room. In reality Mock Drafts are completely wrong. If lucky, an expert can pick the top 5 picks but after that, it’s anyone’s guess. Unlike the NFL or NBA draft, teams are not selecting for immediate help. It’s a process of guessing how a teenager is going to progress over time. If you can predict how an adolescent will grow physically, mentally and emotionally three years from today, I consider you a genius and would like to borrow your talents for future use. Despite the Once-In-A-Generation talent in the 2013 draft, almost no mocks had Seth Jones falling to 4th and NONE had Val Nichushkin falling into the open arms of the Dallas Stars at the 10th spot.
Monster Drafts: It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does…WOW! There are two types of Monster Drafts. The first is the draft when a large number of star players are all selected in the same year. In recent history the class of 2003 is the gold standard. This draft was so loaded that Shea Weber, Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson and David Backes waited until the 2nd round to be picked. Joe Pavelski was a 7th rounder. As for the first round, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Suter, Brent Seabrook, Jeff Carter, Corey Perry, Zach Parise and Dustin Brown are just the tip of the iceberg. This is the draft that all others are compared. The 2013 selections may come close someday in the future.
Read the entire post over at the Dallas Stars website.
