1988 NHL Entry Draft…

With Jeremy Roenick retiring today, let’s look back at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft and just marvel at how amazing it has turned out. As per usual, the New York teams did nothing exciting. The Rangers didn’t have a 1st round pick (trying to track down what happened to it with no avail) but chose Troy Mallette and Murray Duval (no NHL games) with picks 22 and 26 in the 2nd round. Keep in mind, only 21 teams in the league at the time meant only 21 picks in the 1st round. The Islanders took Kevin Cheveldayoff 16th overall. He was one of only 2 players in the 1st round to not ever play a game in the NHL (Joey’s cousin, Kory Kocur, went 17th to Detroit). So, how great was the first round? Look at this top 10… 1) Mike Modano 2) Trevor Linden 3) Curtis Leschyshyn 7) Martin Gelinas Jeremy Roenick 9) Rod Brind’Amour 10) Teemu Selanne So, who would you rather have? The greatest American-born player of all-time? A born-leader who played with heart and soul? A solid defenseman? A winger who played until he was 38 and made the finals with 4 different teams? A 500-plus goal scorer who drew fans to every building he was in, including remote locations like Phoenix and Los Angeles? The best faceoff man in league history who also is great on the power play and is still playing 21 years later? Or a guy who scored 76 goals in his rookie year, scored 48 three seasons ago, and is going to suit up one more time at age 39? Also that year… 2nd Round Tie Domi, 27th, Toronto Tim Taylor, 36th, Washington 4th Round Mark Recchi, 67th, Pittsburgh Tony Amonte, 68th, Rangers Rob Blake, 70th, Los Angeles (Can you imagine how different the history of the NHL – and Continue reading 1988 NHL Entry Draft…