2008 NHL Draft, ABC's new hockey series, and baseball deja vu

Well, this evening, the NHL held its annual draft --- the annual ritual where 18 year old junior hockey players become multi-millionaire adults. This year, the draft took place north of the border in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, Ontario. There were little surprises with those selected. Of note, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved up in the draft selection sequence and picked defenseman Luke Schenn. This is certainly the beginning of a new era in Maple Leafs hockey and it is apparent that General Manager Cliff Fletcher wants to shake things up. Of note even before the draft started was the news that the Leafs have given the Montreal Canadiens exclusive permission to talk with Mats Sundin. This is ironic since Sundin invoked his "no trade" clause prior to the trade deadline this past season when the Habs expressed strong interest in him for the playoff and Stanley Cup run.

In other news from the draft, the Florida Panthers traded their captain, Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes. In return, the Panthers received two former first round pick defensemen, Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton. While Jokinen was a fan favourite, he pulled a disappearing act in the last 22 games last season, scoring only 5 goals --- at exactly the time when the Panthers needed him the most! Now, it is time for the rest of the Panthers to step up and lead this team to the playoffs!

Speaking of hockey, what is with ABC's new soap, "MVP"? The show shows hockey players as self-centered, drug addicts or alcoholics. The show is laughable; they don't even show these guys wearing a pair of Bauers!!!! The only thing missing is a stereo-typical Canuck accent and a flurry of "oooots" and sentences ending with "eh".

And, am I stuck in a time warp? Seems the Toronto Blue Jays fired their manager and the entire coaching staff and replaced the former with...wait...yes, Cito Gaston! Yes, you reading correctly. This is the same Cito that took the Jays to the promised land year after year after year and made the Jays one of the most feared teams in baseball history --- THE 1992 AND 1993 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!! What's next? I guess the Jays bring Dave Stieb, Jim Clancy, Tom Henke, Duane Ward out of retirement for the pitching staff AND convince Joe Carter, Kelly Gruber, George Bell, Jesse Barfield, John Olerud back to the major leagues! "O.K....Blue Jays!...Let's Play Ball!!!!!"