I guess I'll try this. I'm going to try the NHL's live video stream, but my internet connection isn't quite strong enough to handle video, so we'll see how long that sticks.
6:08- It looks like Jim Balsillie won't get his NHL team in Hamilton. Yippee.
6:10-The Blackhawks could probably get some serious eBay money for the jerseys of the two guys they don't pick.
6:11-Bob McKenzie is pretty confident that Pat Kane will be the first pick. Kyle Turris got to meet his idol, Steve Yzerman, which is pretty cool.
6:12-It looks like Columbus has drawn a pretty nice crowd for this. The TSN guy just made a reference to "Maggie the Monkey". This is way better than ESPN's draft coverage.
6:17-My video is really choppy. Chicago is on the clock.
6:20-And the first pick is............Pat Kane. The second American in a row. Congratulations, Mr. Kane.
6:26-Everyone is talking about Kane having the chance to play right away next season. I think that was probably one of the deciding factors for the Hawks over van Riemsdyk and Turris, who will hopefully be playing college hockey next season.
6:27-Philly is at the podium and selects..........James van Riemsdyk. Another American. That's pretty cool, and a nice feather in the cap of the NTDP program.
6:30-I think my video is pretty much dead for now. Sad.
6:36-Kyle Turris goes third to Phoenix. I think he'll play at least a year at Wisconsin, possibly two. I'm 3 for 3 with my mock draft. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
6:38-LA's GM is going up to the podium. He didn't pass any mirrors, so I couldn't check for a reflection. LA selects........Thomas Hickey. Wow. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off the board. Interesting.
6:43-Well, I suppose I expected things to get crazy. This should make things even more interesting. I guess if you can't trade down to the middle of the first round, you may as well take your middle of the first round pick early.
6:45-The Kings did try to move down, but like I said Wednesday, I didn't see anyone dying to get that 4th pick. The LA guy looks defeated.
6:49-Washington is up next. They keep showing Cherepanov, who came to the draft fully mulleted. Washington selects.................Karl Alzner. It sounded like he was going to take Sam Gagner, then he switched midway through and took Alzner. Odd.
6:53-Pierre McGuire is skeptical that JVR will go to New Hampshire, and cites UNH's lack of development of pros. Ouch.
6:55-Edmonton is coming up to the podium. Edmonton selects.........Sam Gagner. Very nice pick.
6:58-Hometown Columbus is up. Voracek maybe?
7:00-The overheard camera shot is not flattering for Dave Gagner.
7:02-Four of the top six picks will play at least one season in the US. That's pretty cool.
7:03-A lot of enthusiasm in Columbus. That's pretty cool. Columbus selects..........Jakub Voracek. Not a bad pick. He's the first European-born player to be selected.
7:07-People are saying Columbus wanted someone else, but basically had to take Voracek since he slipped. Basically, they got Voracek because LA couldn't trade their pick and had to take Hickey.
7:10-The Bruins are up next. Cherepanov looks like a stupid pick, so that's probably who they'll pick.
Cam Neely selects.........Zach Hamill. Interesting. He dropped quite a bit this past year, but I think he's got a lot of talent. This shakes things up a little bit more.
7:15-San Jose selects........Logan Couture. Another kid who slipped a little this past year.
7:23-They keep talking about Cherepanov falling. That seems to be the big story. Florida is up next.
Florida selects.......Keaton Ellerby. They had to be pretty happy that he was still available at number 10.
7:26-Pierre McGuire doesn't care if you can't sign Cherepanov. You should still draft him. Apparently he's so good that he can score goals all the way from Russia.
7:30-Carolina selects............Brandon Sutter. Probably one of the better forwards still available, which Carolina kind of needed, though they also need some young defenseman, so I'm not sure why they passed on the defense.
Still no Cherepanov. This is like Kyle Woodlief's dream.
7:35-Montreal passes over the local kid in Esposito and takes their second straight Mr. Hockey winner in Ryan McDonagh. I think McDonagh will be a great player someday.
7:39-John Davidson steps out of his tanning booth to make St. Louis' pick. I guess the Blues are my new favorite NHL team. St. Louis selects..........Lars Eller. I don't know much about Eller, so I'm not sure how I feel about that.
7:44-Colorado is up next. They select...........Kevin Shattenkirk. Good for him. Everyone I've talked to you says he's a great kid. He's pretty talented too.
7:50-Edmonton picks next. They already have Sam Gagner. Edmonton selects..........Alex Plante. I saw Planet all over the place. Edmonton may have been able to get him with their next first round pick, but they really liked him, I guess.
7:53-Vancouver apparently tried really hard to get Kyle Turris. They can go commiserate with the Vancouver Giants.
7:54-Anaheim trades pick 16 to Minnesota for picks 19 and 42 of this year. Minnesota is on the clock.
7:55-Minnesota selects...........Colton Gillies. Hey, the Wild got a grinder. I think they're lacking those. I think that one day, they'll figure out how to score less than zero goals in a game.
8:02-New York Rangers select.....Alexei Cherepanov. Now we don't have to hear about him, or look at his awful anymore.
8:09-St. Louis selects...........Ian Cole. A bit of a reach, but I really like this pick. Cole is a nice player, and something that STL needs.
I'm giving up on the live-blogging until later. See you then.
