The second-worst event in major North American sports goes tonight and it’s one that gets a surprising amount of hype for how bad it actually is.
We’re talking about the NHL draft, which is only slightly better than the MLB, but at least baseball has more common sense to actual broadcast its selection process.
There are many reasons why the NHL’s draft is bad, but it starts with the fact that very few of the guys taken in even the first round get a chance to make an impact in the coming season.
Once you get past the first 10 picks, it becomes highly unlikely that these guys will even play regular NHL minutes in the following season, let alone right away.
Looking at the nominees for the Calder Trophy this season, only Nathan MacKinnon – who won – was drafted in 2013. Of the top nine vote-getters, only two – MacKinnon and Sean Monahan – were taken last July.
So why make such a big deal over something that has so little impact on the immediate future?
In both the NBA and NFL, you should be getting big-time, immediate impact from your first rounder; not waiting for them to develop like in the NHL.
There’s also the fact that the NHL draft lacks any sort of atmosphere. The NBA and NFL get it right by hosting their events in theatres, which plays well for the fans. The NHL stages their event in an arena, which seems to suck the life out of the event.
The NHL also lacks a decent moderator. Instead of seeing the pick come onstage for a quick handshake and photo with the commissioner, instead we have to wait for the selecting team to thanks the host city, the league, etc., then make the selection. What follows is roughly a half-dozen handshakes with semi-scared, zit-faced kid from Kelowna that takes a good five minutes and is deathly boring to watch on TV.
And if there are a team’s fans in attendance for some reason, expect a smattering of applause at best. Also, it’s not like you can boo a selection because chances are you won’t know how good the kid is for three years.
Why the NHL seems to think this is an event worthy of prime time, I’m not sure. I’m sure, though, that people will watch it, parrot the analysis of TSN types to their friends and either applaud or pan their team’s pick accordingly.
After all, that’s what sports are all about.