THE HOCKEY G-DS HAVE SPOKEN!

Thanks to Arnie and Kerri Winnitt for getting me the Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier Bobbleheads

The New York Islanders are the proud owners of a brand-spanking-new 1st Overall Draft Pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

The Hockey G-ds have spoken!!

Conference Call with Garth Snow following the 2009 Draft Lottery

After the Draft Lottery completed with the Islanders retaining the 1st overall pick, Garth Snow, Islanders GM, made himself available for a short question and answer session with the local media including the Blog Box members.

The first question posed right out of the gate by Newsday's beat reporter Greg Logan was aimed at Garth's reaction to the great news:

"It put a huge smile on my face. It's obviously a great moment for this franchise and a great moment for our fans. It's gonna be a great day in June...We're gonna get a great player for this team. We have meetings coming up at the end of the week. As we've done in the past, we'll have meetings in May and June and we'll go through our process diligently and thoroughly. It will be a great Draft Day for this organization and our fans."

I'm sure like most Islanders fans, the GM and his staff were holding on to any lucky charm they could find that would suit the purpose. I chose the bobbleheads of Islanders legends that you saw at the top of this post. Ken Morrow happened to be one of them. He was also the Islanders representative at the studio in NYC. Garth quipped:

"Kenny had his 4 Stanley Cup rings and his Gold Medal around his neck."

When Snow was asked if the reward for such an awful season was worth the anguish the team endured, he responded:

"The reward is we're gonna get a great player. No doubt about it. It obviously doesn't disguise the fact that coming in 30th place is unacceptable and I think Kenny Morrow said it best that we don't want to be in this position next year. Bottom line, it's a situation we're gonna add a another great piece to the puzzle that we're building on Long Island. There's a lot of good things happening right now in this organization and it's an exciting time to be an Islanders fan and a New York Islander."

With all that's riding on the line, there is obviously a great deal of anticipation going into Draft Day. Garth expressed his feelings matter-of-factly:

"There's a lot of pressure. That's why we're gonna go through our due diligence with the staff. Bottom line, we're looking to build a consistent contender. A team that can win a Stanley Cup."

He went on to give a short scouting report of the top two players in this year's Draft, John Tavares of the OHL London Knights and Victor Hedman of Modo in the Swedish Elite League:

"Obviously both of those players are exceptional talents and they're unique in their own right as a forward or defenseman. The differences are obvious.---With Hedman, you have a 6'6" defenseman who skates like the wind and I had the opportunity to watch both of them play against each other. In John Tavares, you have a forward that obviously who can put up huge numbers offensively. It's two players who are exceptional talents and that's the one great aspect of being in the position we're in right now. We know we're gonna get a fantastic player."

Lastly, the GM was asked how he and his scouting team would evaluate the possible incoming prospects and how the draft choice would fit into Scott Gordon's system:

"Your looking for a fit not only in your system, but in your locker room. We have a strong group now, in our room. We have a lot of younger players that took huge strides this year in the right direction. It's something we put a lot of thought in to (how the next piece of the puzzle is gonna fit)."

Any way you slice it, the Islanders have a rare opportunity to speed up their rebuild by a couple of years. Let the debate about who Garth Snow should choose with the 1st Overall Draft Pick (saying that will never get old) begin.

(Photo courtesy of USAToday.com)

For Questions, Comments or Bonehead Draft Choices e-mail me at DougD84@optonline.net or Leave a Comment.

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Time to Hold Your Breath....

If you held your breath, you're most likely a Ranger fan who is under the delusion that Ovechkin, Semin and Green aren't going to combine for 20+ goals in the 4 or 5 games it'll take the Caps to dispatch the Rag$. Now that I've taken a shot at the Crosstown Morons who think the Islanders should go to Kansas City, on to more formative topics.

For Islanders fans around the world, tonight at 8PM will mark the beginning of the next chapter in the franchise's storied history. From Expansion, to upstart, to Stanley Cup Champions, to Dynasty, to solid playoff contender, to Cinderella story, to Laughingstock and back, now is the time the Islanders define the next 10 years of their existence. With the Lighthouse Project mired in political upheaval and the team landing itself the chance at a top 2 pick by finishing last in the NHL, it's been kind of a sweet and sour deal. On the one hand, the boys in blue and orange could walk away with a generational player in John Tavares or Victor Hedman or this could get really interesting, really quick.

What happens if things take an odd turn this evening and one of the four teams ahead of the Islanders (Tampa, Colorado, Atlanta and L.A.) does cash in on that 51.8% chance of getting the #1 pick? (I detailed the lottery system in my post, How Does 18.8% Sound?, so give that a read because I won't belabor the point)

Frankly anything could happen. It's not out of the question for Garth Snow to entertain offers for the #2 pick if he can garner some superstar talent and a 5-10 pick in this year's Draft for the right draft in that position. There are a lot of teams that have been salivating over Tavares and Hedman for close to two years. Give them a chance to prove how much these prospects are worth to them (in the case of having Tavares available at #2, I wouldn't think twice if I were Garth and take JT).

If the Islanders do retain the #1 and Garth even sniffs offers for the chance to choose between the top two prospects, then he is out of his mind. Having the opportunity to make a choice between arguably the best prospects since the turn of the century is rare indeed. It's time to end the Islanders fans suffering and do what's best for the franchise and the fans, not just "what best fits the system". Hopefully, whoever gets drafted by the Islanders does fit the mold, but at this point I think it's safe to say that the best available prospect should be taken.

The way the ping pong balls bounce tonight means little considering the opportunity at hand. Either you walk away with one of the best prospects in 25 years or you walk away with a superstar, a pick or picks and a chance to draft even more players in the first and second rounds of this very deep draft. There really is no way the Islanders can lose out on this deal. The only way I could see that happening is if GM Garth Snow decides it's best to trade away the #1. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Stories related to tonight's festivities:

• Greg Logan stirs the pot a bit with his article in today's Newsday detailing Garth Snow's willingness to explore of all of his options and not just the ones named "Tavares" and "Hedman".


• Chris Botta of Islanders: Point Blank has a couple of takes from "The Architect" Bill Torrey and TSN/NHL personality Pierre McGuire on what they think will happen.


• Dominik over at SB Nation's Lighthouse Hockey has his rundown in the LHinks of the Day.


• Adam Kimmelman, who writes for NHL.com, has a piece on tonight's Draft Lottery as well.


• Also, don't miss TSN's coverage (more comprehensive than anything in the U.S.) tonight.

Whatever happens, I've been told via Press Release that the Islanders will be holding a Conference Call with Garth Snow immediately following the Draft Lottery program airing on Versus in the States at 8PM. I will be back tonight with an update on Garth's comments following the event.

(Photos courtesy of LighthouseHockey.com (Ovechkin), TSN.ca (Draft Lottery), OntarioHockeyLeague.com (Tavares), ProHockeyNews.com (Hedman) and HotStoveNewYork.com (Garth and Wang))

For Questions, Comments or Random Draft Drawings contact YOLANDA VEGA and her associate blogger at DougD84@optonline.net or in the Comment space.

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