You know that awkward moment when you have the first overall pick in the QMJHL Entry Draft, put the player’s name on the jersey, get on stage and make the selection only to have that prospect not even show up at the draft? Yeah, that happened to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Saturday.
“The choice now goes to the family,” Drakkar general manager Steve Ahern said to Metro Halifax just after announcing their selection of top prospect Nathan MacKinnon.
“We made the decision to take him with the first pick but after that the family has to take the right decision for the career of the kid.”
MacKinnon chose not to attend the draft and it is believed Baie-Comaeu is not one of his desired locations. TSN’s Bob McKenzie Tweeted later that afternoon that MacKinnon spent the morning skating with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League.
If MacKinnon chooses not to report to the QMJHL it’s obviously a big loss for the Drakkar. It’s also a big loss for the league who will have one of the best prospects to ever come out of the Maritimes playing elsewhere.
Baie-Comeau could still trade MacKinnon when the trade window reopens in August.
THE FIRST ROUND
Here is what the first round of the draft looked like:
1 - Baie-Comeau - Nathan MacKinnonA few notes:
2 - Halifax - Jonathan Drouin
3 - Rimouski - Guillaume Gauthier
4 - Rouyn-Noranda - Justin Guenette
5 - Val-D'or - Matt Murphy
6 - Chicoutimi - Jeremy Gregoire
7 - Rimouski - Samuel Morin
8 - Rimouski - Simon Boudreau
9 - Prince Edward Island - Ryan Graves
10 - Chicoutimi - Simon Desbiens
11 - Halifax - Zachary Fucale
12 - Cape Breton - Jean-Simon Deslauriers
13 - Moncton - Brandon Shea
14 - Victoriaville - Tommy Veilleux
15 - Victoriaville - Jacob Sweeney
16 - Val-D'or - Vincent Dunn
17 - Chicoutimi - Laurent Dauphin
18 - Rouyn-Noranda - Alexandre Belanger
- This year’s draft showed that teams like to trade first round draft picks. Only four selections in the 18-pick first round were not traded at some point.
- Only four non-Quebec players were selected. Two were from Nova Scotia, one from New Brunswick, and one from Massachusetts.
- Matt Murphy of the Fredericton Canadiens was the only New Brunswick player taken in the top round. He went fifth overall to the Val-d’Or Foreurs.
- Selected ninth overall by the PEI Rocket, Ryan Graves was one of the happiest players of the day after coming off stage.
- Rimouski and Chicoutimi both selected three times in the opening round.
- It was only the second time in Sea Dogs franchise history that they did not have a first round pick.
- Nine forwards, seven defenseman, and two goaltenders made up the top 18 selections.
With the Sea Dogs selecting Ryan Kelly in the 11th round of the draft, another Kelly has been added to the team. Saint John already has forward Aidan Kelly, hockey operations director Mike Kelly, athletic therapist Jeff Kelly, and equipment manager David Kelly.
That is an impressive amount of Kellys.
SWEET NAMES
In terms of awesome names, the Shawinigan Cataractes won the 2011 Entry Draft. The 2012 Memorial Cup hosts selected Bronson Beaton in the second round and Storm Phaneuf in the fourth round.
Honourable mention goes to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan who selected Jonah Coonishish-Coon in the ninth round. Coonishish-Coon was part of the Lewiston Maineiacs’ dispersal draft on Friday but was not selected, allowing him to reenter the entry draft.
THE NETWORK
It was the first draft for the CHL Online Network's version of the QMJHL website. The previous website was famous for its failure on draft day as it would crash throughout the event. But this year, the new network held up rather nicely.
The last two rounds of the draft weren’t posted until after the draft was complete for some reason. But other than that, draft day 2011 went rather smoothly.
TRADES
A lot of transactions were made Friday and Saturday as the QMJHL trade window opened up.
A few notables entering the Maritime Division: Jonathan Brunelle and David Rose to Cape Breton, Patrick Delisle-Houde to Moncton, Pier-Antoine Dion to PEI, Mirko Hoefflin to Bathurst, and Alexandre Grenier to Halifax.
And a few notables leaving the division: Vincent Arseneau was sent to Shawinigan, Jonathan Lessard and Olivier Roy to Baie-Comeau, and Steve Geleeson went to Val-d’Or.
NEXT YEAR
Looking ahead, the 2012 QMJHL Entry Draft will be held in Quebec City. Chicoutimi will play host in 2013.
"I would like to thank the Remparts organization, their President, Claude Rousseau, as well as their ownership group for choosing to submit their candidacy," said Commissioner Gilles Courteau in a release. "I am convinced that the 2012 Annual Session will be a huge success in Quebec City. Also, I am happy that Chicoutimi has opted to organize the 2013 event. With the success we had in 2005, it should be a great event. I would like to thank the administration council and the organization's President Guy Carbonneau."
Next year’s draft will be held on Saturday, June 9 at Pepsi Colisee.
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