[c.t.ner]

I'm sure this has already been posted in another thread, but it's probably buried deep within the pages of those threads.

Anyways, this is the sort of thing I find facinating about the draft is the justification and stories behind why the scouts, Button, Conroy and Weisbrod like a pick. Some interesting takes on some of the later round picks.

http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/...-flames-picks/

135. D Eric Roy (six-two, 180, WHL Brandon): “He put up some tremendous numbers last year (53 points), so we were on him early because they had another first-round pick there in Ryan Pulock.

I find this interesting, as it means the Flames were very much interested in Pulock. EDIT: Thanks to Flames Draft Watcher for the note

“(Scout) Mike Addesa pounded the table for this guy . . . all through our meetings, all through the year — ‘This guy is a good player. He’s big. He’s strong. He skates. He’s physical.’ He liked him so much and he had so much conviction about this guy being a player, we just said, ‘That’s your spot. Do you want to take him now?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely.’ ”

One of the "off" the board picks. Interesting that Addesa had a "spot" in the order.

The side story to that is I asked Craig Conroy to phone Igor Kravchuk because Igor coached his team . . . just to do some background on (Valeri) Nichushkin. I didn’t tell him about any other names. I just told Connie to ask him about Nichushkin. But through the conversation, Rafikov’s name kept coming up. We already knew about him, but it was confirmation.”

Anyways, I find this stuff super interesting. Gives a better sense of the process that the Flames go through during the draft.