Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
I think its a bit of a misconception though....yes his first draft or two, he did go heavy on WHL kids, but if we go back as to why, it was in an effort to create an identity for his club of sorts. Whether or not that identity was a good one or not is up for debate, but that was the reason at the time. He wanted players that wanted to play in Calgary as a source of pride.
After those first coupe draft classes though? Nothing to do with birthplace and everything to do with what he thought would be the right pieces going forward. Look at Irvings draft year...he was the ONLY WHL player chosen out of 7 or 8. And that kind of ratio continued til he left....it didnt matter where they were from, just as long as they could play.
Granted, he did not go the Czech/Russian route at all though....and understandably to a point.
|
Agreed. The "obsession that set us back for decades" is overstated. 3 drafts (2004, 2005, 2006-Irving).... 2007 we drafted a Swede 1st round (Backlund), 2008 was Nemisz/Wahl (remember some had said Nemitz would go top 10 in another year... FTR I think Nemisz was a solid pick for his draft position, he'll be a player).... 2009 was a Swede in Tom Erixon... 2010 some dumb Western kids like Reinhart and Ferland...
We'll see where Irving comes out, but at the end of the day I bet we'll look back and see only 2 bad drafts - 2005, 2006. The sexy Calgarypuck pick with a cool Euro name, Lauri Korpikovski, didn't turn out anyways.