SHOOTING FROM THE HIP: RANDAM THOUGHTS

ITEM ONE:

NHL DRAFT:  Exciting times for a couple of Ice Dogs who are certain to be drafted in the Top 10. Both Ryan Strome and Dougie Hamilton likely have picked out their sharpest duds before heading out to Minnesota to fulfill a dream at the NHL Draft.   A lot of the mock drafts have Strome heading to the Winnipeg franchise, whereas Dougie Hamilton could go to anyone between 5-9, a group that includes the Islanders, Devils, Columbus, Boston.  I can see the Leafs making a move up in the draft and taking the stylish Strome, as the Leafs desperately needs some creativity on offense.  

Here's some video of both Strome and Dougie Hamilton

NBL Canada:


A little late, but I got a media release trumpeting five new pending franchises in the fold.  Oshawa, Barrie, Kingston, London and PEI. That brings the league up to eight.  Personally, adding 2-4 franchises would be ideal. 10-12 teams is manageable and you could have eight teams in the playoffs,  The league has maintained some visibility sponsoring the Air Canada Classic.

ABA CANADA

Interesting item in that Ken Murray, former Brock U boss has signed up to helm ABA Canada.  Checking the website, Murray will lead an ABA Canada Select team in the upcoming season.   The ABA, by the way, is a league in which teams and fans should call ahead  before going to games to see if the franchises playing have folded.

SABRES PLAY BY PLAY

Sabres incumbent Kevin Sylvester, a host  and occasional play by play guy has been promoted to fill Rick Jeanneret's spot when he is absent this year.  That should result in 25-30 games as Jeanneret likely eases into retirement in the foreseeable future.   Reviews for the announcement on a couple of fan-sites were mixed, and trended towards luke-warm for Sylverster.  RJ will be a hard guy to replace, as his style is so unique.