Quote:
Originally Posted by albertGQ
1997 was supposed to be the deepest draft since 1979.
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The leadup was definitely hyped. Thornton & Samsonov were very big deals. Quebec goalies were all the rage, and Luongo was first and foremost. Even our pal, Jokinen, was supposed to be a #1 center. This myth continued through several years of his NHL career, even convincing Daryl Sutter and the crew at TSN that he was the man to feed Iginla those sweet gimmes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FAN
I don't think 1997 was ever considered a deep draft but had high quality players at the top. It was one of those dream drafts where you had a big franchise center as the consensus #1 pick (Thornton), a franchise center available at #2 (Marleau), a top European center (Jokinen), and a franchise goalie (Luongo). The only thing missing was a franchise defenseman, although Brewer came pretty close as a prospect.
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Brewer was considered top 2 pairing when drafted, no? By the time he got to Edmonton, he was a source of mockery on this board, because Kevin Lowe used his influence to get him selected to Team Canada for the '02 Olympics.
Too add, Hossa must've been a known quantity. Lots of press coverage on his ETC.