"With Kessel, we’re friends off the ice but once that puck drops I’d have no problem running him and I’m sure that he would do the same to me."
>>Jason Gregoire, on fellow Isles 2007 pick Blake Kessel
Sometimes you gotta read all the way to the bottom to get to the best line. That line above is from the official site's story on the overlapping paths of LW Gregoire and D Kessel (2007 6th round, 166th), who faced off in the NCAA Northeast regional semifinal last spring.
That was the game where Kessel's U. of New Hampshire stunned Gregoire's North Dakota by erasing a 5-3 deficit in the last 10 minutes and winning just 45 seconds into overtime. It's a good read, with thoughts from each on their Draft Day, facing off in college and uniting on the same side at Islanders mini-camp.
Also worth a gander: Alan Bass at THN on how the draft-day projections for goalies are all over the map, which is why the same person can say they were surprised to see the Islanders pick Mikko Koskinen as the first goalie at 31st overall, yet they totally understand what the Isles were thinking. Some good scout quotes there about why North Americans Edward Pasquale and Olivier Roy dropped so far. Varying NHL team needs, combined with the fact a goalie prospect who's playing now might be blocking a better prospect on the bench, makes projecting goalies' draft slots the most thankless task of all.
Finally: Ex-NHL cementhead Chris Nilan, alleged shoplifter and participant in resulting "struggles," to the delight of Leafs fans, naturally. That is the kind of ingenuity required to nab 110 goals and a heap of PIMs in the NHL, right there. Stay classy -- and save a few bucks!