Here's a link to the pre-draft show.  The current rumors are that the forward who will be picked last is going to receive a car.  Corey Perry is not sure if it is true, but it definitely makes it a bit more interesting. 

Personally, I think there is a good chance that Perry is picked last.  He's a very talented forward, but around the NHL, Corey hasn't made a lot of friends.  In an interview, he said that Lidstrom probably won't pick him because they have been jabbing at one another for a few years (Perry even mumbled a few words about playoff matchups).

Speculation related to Mr. Irrelevant aside, this should be a fun and interesting way for the NHL to generate some interest in a game that for other leagues has become a tedious chore.  NHL all-stars (all of them, multi-millionaires) are actually NERVOUS about getting picked.  Every one of them that has been interviewed has looked anxious and jumpy.  I think it will e fun to watch some of them squirm.

Like a lot of readers here, I scan a few other hockey blogs from time to time. One of my daily reads is Puck Daddy, the Yahoo! sports blog edited by Greg Wyshynski.  While it is occasionally insightful and rarely controversial, I find it to be a decent place to find human interest stories from around the league as well as a great place for highlights if you didn't have an opportunity to watch NHLN the night before.

This morning, one particular post caught my eye:

Habs fans rally for Operation: Make Saku Koivu 1st Star in Montreal

The post title seemed a little misleading and convoluted at first, but it had Koivu's name in it so I gave it a read.  By the end, I had completely changed my view of Montreal Canadiens fans.  Allow me to explain why:

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Yesterday, while in Buffalo, NY for the World Junior Hockey Championships, Emerson Etem took to his twitter account to express his feelings about his current surroundings:

While the local media in Buffalo took offense to this, the national media chose to cover their reaction and Emerson's polite backpedaling.  It has even been covered on Puck Daddy.  Emerson has since deleted the tweet and seems to have properly handled his public apology, but I wanted to chime in as a (totally unnecessary) advocate for Emerson as well as react to the coverage of the reaction to the original tweet (and you thought Inception had a lot of  convoluted levels of complexity).

First of all, Emerson Etem need not back away from his feelings on visiting Buffalo, NY near the end of December.  Our own Bobby Ryan shared very similar thoughts on Buffalo not but three weeks ago.  Does anyone else remember the radio broadcast of the Ducks-Sabres on the 21st?  Wood and Carroll were conversing about how the Ducks all playfully tease Todd Marchant about his hometown whenever they play in Buffalo.  The point I am trying to make is that this is not an opinion that is unique to Etem.  It is similarly held by several of his future teammates, and while the tweet may not have been the best way to say "thanks for having me" to your host city, it isn't completely unwarranted.  He's a young kid that can't go out to the bars (not that I would advocate THAT) and the town seems to close down at 5 p.m. on a weeknight.  Oh, yeah, and there's been a blizzard, too.  Everyone has had nice things to say about HSBC arena, and the few fans that have shown up are, by all accounts, great.  It's just tough to get excited about playing in a tournament when as a town, Buffalo does, in fact, suck.

Secondly, the many tiers of offense-taking that have stemmed from this tweet are quickly bordering on the ridiculous. The Buffalo media seem to be trying to make this into a news event, while the national media are attempting to make the Buffalo media's reaction into a news event.  Greg Wyshynski (whom I usually enjoy quite a bit) has the worst line in this whole thing.  I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that this was unintentional and just not thought out:

Whatever. When he comes to play the Sabres as a Duck, show up dressed as a ghost or something.

Really, Wysh?  You think that's a good plan?  Tell the Sabres fans to put on a white sheet and go to the game when the african-american hockey player comes to town? Like these guys?

Yeah, I'm going to list that in the hall of fame for bad ideas.

Hey, it's the offseason.  I was looking for something hockey related and entertaining and stumbled across these great montages of some of Randy Moller's best goal calls.  Moller is the radio play-by-play guy for the Florida Panthers.  He is known for screaming pop culture references after a Panthers goal (when he feels it appropriate).  This is done in conjunction with the Dan Le Batard show, a local sports radio show, wherein the callers and show staff leave suggestions for Moller.

I linked a few of the youtube vids down below. 

Make me a bicycle, clown.

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Troy Bodie somehow remains on the team.  Beleskey is headed back to Bakersfield after a stellar month with the big club.

From the Ducks website:

Beleskey, 21 (6/7/88), appeared in 34 games for the Ducks this season, collecting 5-4=9 points with 19 penalty minutes (PIM). Originally recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Oct. 23 and later recalled from Toronto (AHL) on Nov. 29, Beleskey finished the month of January tied for second among NHL rookies in goals (5-1=6). He has appeared in 15 AHL games with Toronto and San Antonio this season, collecting 2-5=7 points with a +5 rating and 21 PIM.

Earl Sleek linked this over at BoC yesterday and I saw it on Puck Daddy too.  I think it needs some love on Anaheim Calling as well.  It's a good non-hockey story and evidence as to why the aloof and disinterested Corey Perry is still a fan favorite for a lot of us (myself included).

Suzanne Broughton, who blogs for the OC Register has the story of her meeting with Perry at the "Disco Ducks" fundraiser.

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From the Ducks news section.

Terrible news everyone!

Following Tuesday’s practice at Honda Center before the team departed for Vancouver, Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said Lupul is a “candidate for surgery” to repair a back ailment that has caused problems off and on dating back to training camp. The latest flare-up has kept the 26-year-old out of the lineup since Dec. 8.

“We are not 100 percent sure, but it is a probability at this point,” said Carlyle on the chance Lupul will ultimately go under the knife to correct an injury that has limited him to 23 games played so far this season.

Though the pain originally sprouted near the end of camp, Lupul was not forced to miss any regular season action until he sat for seven games from Nov. 21-Dec. 3. When he returned, he was playing arguably his best hockey yet in his second tenure with the Ducks, scoring goals in three straight games (four overall) with a plus-four rating.

Prior to the start of the team’s current road trip, Lupul started to feel some numbness in his legs, possibly as a result of treatment for his back, and he was again taken out of the lineup. Now the forward with 10 goals and 14 points on the season must wait to see what his next options are to help alleviate the lingering issue for good.