Something I love...

[BeeRYCE 2]

Okay, this is talked and thought about all the time by Wings fans and hockey fans alike, but I just wanted to go into more thought about it.

The top 10 forwards in the NHL (whatever order is uncertain, but these guys are included in whatever order on most top 10 lists)

1. Crosby (1st round, 1st overall)

2. Ovechkin (1st round, 1st overall)

3. Iginla (1st round, 11th overall)

4. Zetterberg (7th round, 210 overall)

5. Datsyuk (6th round, 171 overall)

6. Malkin (1st round, 2nd overall)

7. Thornton (1st round, 1st overall)

8. Lecavalier (1st round, 1st overall)

9. Heatley (1st round, 2nd overall)

10. Spezza (1st round, 2nd overall)

It just looks really sweet, and I know everyone knows the craziness of Datsyuk and Zetterberg's low draft pick success, but in comparison to every other top forward in the league, it's just sick.

[obey86 0]

haha that's kind of funny, nice.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Lasagna! Oh, you meant hockey....

But in all seriousness, that's just sick. You have to hand it to Detroit's scouting staff, best in the league.

Edited October 20, 2008 by Hockeytown0001

[HkyTwn 5]

That's hilarious and I love it.

[stormboy 47]

haha...yeah, this does get talked about a lot around here, but i don't think i've seen it laid out specifically in those terms. iginla is a close third, though, dropping down to more than a third of the way through the first round

i just find it hard to believe that 209 people were considered to be better than z in 1999. it's funny, too, because while i agree that our scouting did well to pick him, they also picked several people before him. i was just looking at the 1999 entry draft. heh. the sedin twins two and three that year. patrik sefan went first overall, who got 35 points in 105 games over his last two seasons in the nhl (with atlanta then dallas). he is now playing in switzerland. he never played a playoff game, much less won a cup.

if i'm reading right, detroit didn't have a pick until the 120th pick (4th round), with which they took jari tolsa, who never played in the NHL. our 5th round pick never played in the nhl, and our sixth round pick played about thirty games for the bluejackets over a couple of years.

jeff finger was taken in the eighth round that year, as was george parros. radim vrbata was taken two picks after z. those are the only names i recognize in the draft that took place after hank that year.

not sure why i decided to report all this information--it's keeping me from writing a paper. heh.

[Anomalously 0]

Scott Niedermayer (1st round, 3 overall)

Chris Pronger (1st round, 2 overall)

Dion Phaneuf (1st round, 9 overall)

Zdeno Chara (3rd round, 56 overall)

Wade Redden (1st round, 3 overall)

Sergei Gonchar (1st round, 14 overall)

Mike Green (1st round, 29 overall)

Ed Jovanovski (1st round, 1 overall)

Nicklas Lidstrom (3rd round, 53 overall)

Some of these guys aren't even elite (Jovanovski) at both ends, some are past their prime (Pronger, Redden), but none of them have the longevity or accomplishments that Lidstrom has.

Another interesting thing:

Top 5 draft picks in 1998 (name, numbers from last season):

Vincent Lecavalier (40-52-92)

David Legwand (15-29-44)

Brad Stuart (6-17-23)

Bryan Allen (2-14-16)

Vitaly Vishnevsky (2-5-7, playing in KHL now)

(and a sixth one, just for kicks): Rico Fata (plays in DEL)

Datsyuk was 31-66-97 last season.

Wings' first round pick at #25 was Jiri Fischer.

Top 5 draft picks in 1999:

Patrik Stefan (played a couple games in Switzerland)

Daniel Sedin (29-45-74)

Henrik Sedin (15-61-76)

Pavel Brendl (22 total points)

Tim Connolly (7-33-40 in 48)

Zetterberg was 43-49-92 last season.

Wings' first draft pick was (at 120) was Jan Tolsa.

[And edit: lastly, this is also keeping me from writing a paper.]

Edited October 20, 2008 by Anomalously