I have to say that, for me as a sports observer and fan,
when I have a serious rooting interest in a team, the annual draft (whether it be NFL, NHL, whatever) is one of the highlights of the year. And that’s the focus of my latest VLM podcast—how much fun it is to see our team draft and develop young players.
When you look at the current Leaf roster you see names like
Kadri and Rielly who were pretty high first round picks. And as I mention in the podcast, they are "ours" - we drafted them. It’s great to see them playing so well so
early in what will hopefully be long NHL (and Maple Leaf) careers.Those examples got me thinking about Leaf drafts, which I realize have not always been stellar over the years in terms of actual outcomes. (Hey, the Leafs have not always drafted horribly, but there have been a lot of ‘misses’ since the league introduced what was I think was then called the old “universal” amateur draft back in the late 1960s.)
In any event, on this show, I focus on one of the most
special Leaf drafts of my lifetime: the
summer we had three picks in the first round, ways back in 1973.
Then General Manager Jim Gregory selected Lanny McDonald, Bob Neely and
Ian Turnbull with those picks. (Turnbull, who wore number 2 in his time with the Leafs, is seen at right.) All were tremendously talented individuals, and each had varying
degrees of success with the Leafs—and in their NHL careers.
If you’re interested, I invite you to sit back and listen
now to Episode 10.
**
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If you enjoy the show, by all means leave positive feedback on iTunes.
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