Late Picks…Who Cares!

I am sure that I wasn’t the only Stars fan complaining when I found out that our First, Second and Third round picks were all traded away. Then after seeing that our 2008 First Round was also traded away you start wondering if we will ever have some top young talent again.

But don’t worry as there are some grat players today that all got picked up in the 3rd round or  worse. Here are some -

During the 1987 draft one of the most bizzare players was picked up 166th overall, Theo Fleury. In 1992 the likes of Matthew Barnaby (88th) and  Anson Cater (220th) were all real late picks. But the real diamond that came out of that draft was the goalie that helped his team to win the 2004 Stanley Cup, Nikolai Khabibulin was picked up a shocking 204th overall. Closer to the present in 1997 Ladislav Nagy was picked up 177th. The next two drafts we saw the core of the Detroit Red Wings, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk get picked up 210th overall and 171st.

How has the Stars scouting been well we saw Marty Turco get picked up 121st and then Jere Lehtinen 88th.

The point of all these stats is to simply say sure we have no picks under 50th overall, heck none under 60th. But as seen from the past we still can get our core of players simply from a little luck and some great scouting.

Top 3 Star Prospects

With the Entry Draft taking place in around 1 month, let’s look at the Top 3 prospects who are in the Stars system and who most likely will be wearing green and gold in a year or two.

1. James Neal – LW #52 – Drafted 2nd round (33rd overall)2005                           

This kid from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan set carrer high’s this year in the OHL. James also had an impressive 16 points in just 13 games in the 2005 OHL playoffs and with the Stars low scoring hopefully he will be the missing ingredient for the Stars offensive unit.

Height: 6′2    Weight: 180 lbs.      Shoots: Left

2. Matt Niskanen – D – Drafted 1st Round (28th overall) 2005

The Stars first round pick of 2005 is raising eyebrows all over Minnesota. Matt was also a member of the 2005 USA’s WJHC team that was a heavy favorite to win the tournament. Look for Matt to possibily go to Iowa or come to Dallas if there is an injury on the blue line during the 07/08 season.

Height: 6′0   Weight: 194lbs.      Shoots: Right

3. Nicklas Grossman – D – Drafted 2nd Round (56th overall) 2004 

Nicklas is ready to come into the NHL due to his tough nature. Mike Heika wrote about him ”…he draws comparisons to Mattias Norstrom.” There is no better place for him then with the very team that has Mattais. Niklas Has a great combination of projectable size and poise from the back end, which will help with such a defense team.

Height: 6′3    Weight: 206 lbs.      Shoots: Left

After all of the youngsters from Iowa stepped up this year for the Dallas Stars and after the Iowa Stars had there Calder Cup run, it should be interesting just to see how many great players are in the Stars system.

3 People You Didn’t Know Were Stars Fan!

We see many celebraties going to sporting events these days, yet at the AAC you never see 3 of there most hardcore fans. Let me tell you about them.

 The first one is Bowser. At PowerPlayGoal.com it made mention to him being a Stars fan and he obviously is just look at what he wears. Other then the ugly Red-Wing color hair he is all Gold and Green, the two of colors of the greatest sports franchise. When asked why we never see him at games he replys, “Although I watch every game, I can not go to the AAC due to the fact at any moment Mario may come and try to steal Peach from me”.

Another Stars fan I bet you didn’t know about was the incredible Hulk. The man is all green for a reason. This guy is never seen at games for one reason. After going to a game against the Avs in the 2006 playoffs he got so mad at how bad his team was losing that he freaked out on everyone near him and nearly caused the death of 14 Dallas Star fans. Because of this he believes it is in everyones intrest to not be seen there.

The final fan is none other then a guy from Star Wars, Yoda! This man was a big fan of the team, actually he was more a fan of the North Stars (he did die in Episode VI). But I was told he was usually seen using his light-sabre as a hockey stick and pretending to be the likes of Neal Broten and Bill Goldsworthy.

So while some teams may boast of having a a celebraty cheering for them, all Dallas Stars fan can boast of Yoda,Hulk and Bowser all being a fan of there team.