First Round Recap

The first round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft is over. There was some drama as usual. Here’s a recap.

11:00: The VOX broadcast has shifted from the pre-draft show to the draft show. The drama is getting closer.

11:02: The news of Brandon Hynes being traded to Bathurst continues to circulate. The Titan top line would be a machine with Hynes added to the mix.

11:06: Hynes deal as announced by Titan Twitter - “Titan trade two 2nd round draft picks and a 5th round draft pick to the Victoriaville Tigres for foward Brandon Hynes.”

11:08: The giant screen behind the stage at Colisee Pepsi is now showing highlights and stuff. The lights are off. The drama is so close you can taste it.

11:10: QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau takes the stage.

11:13: The Sherbrooke Phoenix are taking to the stage to make their historic first pick.

11:15: The Pheonix are still speaking. They congratulate the Sea Dogs and Cataractes for their championship seasons.

11:15: Tweeted by Willy Palov – “To answer a reader question, talks with Saint John aren't totally dead but doesn't seem likely anything gets done.”

11:16: The Phoenix shock nobody and select Daniel Audette first overall. He’s the first draft pick in Phoenix history. He was ranked first by Central Scouting.

11:17: Sherbrooke’s jersey and logo look great. They gave Audette a fitted hat to put on though, which was a mistake. The young franchise will learn.

11:22: The Rocket shock nobody and select Alexis Pepin with the second overall pick. He was ranked third by Central Scouting.

11:28: The Screaming Eagles are on stage congratulating Jonathan Brunelle on his academic accomplishments. He comes on stage and gives a speech as well.

11:30: The Eagles shock nobody and select Newfoundlander Clark Bishop third overall. He was ranked second by Central Scouting. Now the fun begins.

11:33: Bunch of people are shown signing trade papers. Gatineau will now select fourth instead of Rouyn-Noranda.

11:36: Daniel Audette is trending on Twitter. What a moment.

11:38: The Olympiques select Alexandre Carrier fourth overall. Nickleback is played in the arena. Carrier, a defenseman, was ranked fifth by Central Scouting.

11:42: Impressive lighting system at le Colisee.

11:45: After a series of trades, Baie-Comeau selects fifth overall. They pick defenseman Loik Leveille who was ranked fourth by Central Scouting. It’s a nice change of pace for the Drakkar after the Nathan MacKinnon mess at last year’s draft.

11:49: The Rouyn-Noranda select Francis Perron sixth overall. The forward was ranked 12^th by Central Scouting.

11:54: The Val-d’Or Foreurs select Nicolas Aube-Kubel. More importantly, the Sea Dogs are now on the clock.

11:59: The Sea Dogs select forward Matthew Highmore 8^th overall. He was ranked 11^th overall by Central Scouting. He is from Dartmouth. (pictured above)

12:02: Val-d’Or picks Carl Neill 9^th overall. The defenseman was ranked 14^th by Central Scouting. That’s Neill with two Ls.

12:05: Baie-Comeau selects Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau 10^th overall. We are flying now.

12:12: After calling a time-out, the Sea Dogs select defenseman Olivier Leblanc 11^th overall. He was ranked 13^th by Central Scouting. Initial reaction on Twitter is that Leblanc is bit underrated and the Dogs got a good one.

12:15: The Rimouski Oceanic select Nicolas Hébert 12^th overall. He was ranked 18^th by Central Scouting.

12:19: The Drakkar are up once again. This time they select Alexis Vanier 13^th overall. The defenseman was ranked way down at 25^th by Central Scouting.

12:23: The Huskies select Cody Donaghey 14^th overall. There were rumours of him coming to Saint John. His brother will be attending Sea Dogs training camp.

12:27: The Mooseheads made a big time pick, selecting American Jack Eichel 15^th overall. He has been playing for the Boston Junior Bruins and was not even at the draft. This will give us all some drama to follow this summer, at least.

12:30: The Olympiques are up again and they select Anthony Richard 16^th overall. He was ranked 20^th by Central Scouting.

12:35: The Armada select Julien Bahl 17^th overall. The defenseman was ranked 23^rd by Central Scouting.

12:37: Gatineau ends the first round by selecting Charlottetown forward Kameron Kielly. He was ranked 19^th by Central Scouting.

12:40: No goalies selected in the first round.