Friday, March 12, 2010

Picks to Click: It's All About the Future



The Lounge will lean heavy on the kids tonight. Here's the reasoning.

Happened to watch a bit of the Tampa Bay-Toronto game last night, so the Lightning's game with the Washington Capitals is not that big of a draw. Neither is Minnesota at Buffalo. The Wild looked terrible early last night at Detroit. I've seen Buffalo a few times already.

Pittsburgh at New Jersey will get some play and I guess so will the New York Rangers at Atlanta. Luckily I get the MSG Double Secret Probation channel that the Blueshirts and Thrashers will be sentenced to tonight. Imagine that, the horrible Knicks are on MSG (or at least that's what MSG.com says) while the struggling Rangers, who still can get into the playoffs, will play on a bleed channel. Nice effort, MSG.

Still, the Rangers were not that inspiring against the Devils this week, and the return of Chris Chelios did nothing to make his new Thrashers teammates forget that Ilya Kovalchuk once wore their sweater.

Fortunately the Los Angeles-Dallas game (8:30 Eastern) will come at a time to create an interesting lineup the rest of the night. Kings/Stars on the main screen (Fox Sports West feed on Center Ice). A Western Collegiate Hockey Association game on Fox College Sports Central (8:30 Eastern start) will get extensive look-ins as will the Windsor-London Ontario Hockey League game (7 Eastern start) on the NHL Network. The Internet stream will have the late game (9 Eastern) at the Minnesota state boys high school tournament. Top-seeded Minnetonka faces Hill-Murray in the Class AA semifinals.

And after all that, maybe we catch the last bit of the Nashville-Anaheim game (10 Eastern) and all of the first "On the Fly Final" on the NHL Network.

Now back to the kids. That's the future of the National Hockey League. Who are the players your team is looking at, thinking of a Cup in 2015 if only we could get this kid?

They are playing in the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, United States Hockey League, Minnesota high schools and the NCAA.

The NHL Network, which had a WHL game on last Sunday and is showing an OHL game tonight, also will have a game from the QMJHL at 7 Eastern on Sunday; Saint John vs. Moncton.

If you really want to know who your team is selecting in the June draft, you have to follow the colleges, juniors and high schools the way your basketball counterparts follow the college game. Know who they are and who they might be before they put on your team's uniform.

You want to evaluate your team's general manager and scouting staff? To best do this, know what they are looking at. Hugh Jessiman? Really?

Hockeysfuture.com is a great site for prospects at every level. And the site doesn't stop tracking them once they have been drafted and placed in the minors. As a sampler, here's a link to an HF podcast about the top two prospects for the 2010 NHL draft.

And each week, there's Patrick King of Sportsnet.ca, banging out solid notebooks on the juniors. This week, he's looking for underdogs for the playoffs, which begin next week.

Another great site is Coming Down the Pipe, which is taking a look at Nick Bjugstad, another prospect for the NHL draft at Blaine High School in Minnesota. Sadly for Bjugstad, Blaine lost in the Class AA consolation semifinals today to Roseau, 7-5. USCHO.com, Inside College Hockey and College Hockey News help fill out the picture.

OK, there's your homework assignment for the weekend. And if you get your copy of The Hockey News digitally via Zinio (which the Lounge does), it's the Future Watch issue, which takes a look at the organizational depth of your team as well as sneaks a peak at the June draft.

If you don't get the magazine via Zinio (Why not??), you should look for the Future Watch issue in the mail next week or later, depending on the enthusiasm with which your postal carrier sorts your mail. I know what luck I've had with postal sorters in my various locations. So I still get a dead-tree edition (in the event the power goes out or something, I guess), but digital is the way to go.

And now, off you go.

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