It was through doing some research for my previous blog that I came to the conclusion that the 2003 Entry Draft was probably the best-ever NHL Entry Draft. No offense to Alexandre Daigle and the rest of the ’93 Draft Class, but there was just too much depth in the 2003 Draft to ignore.

In my last blog, I discussed building through drafting and the 2003 Draft serves as the perfect example. I stated that I couldn’t (and still can’t) believe that Zach Parise was still available for New Jersey to select with the 17th overall pick. Parise absolutely ripped it up at the World Juniors that year and anyone who couldn’t see that he was destined to be a franchise player was obviously dumber than Jessica Simpson.

After looking through the first round picks in 2003, it’s hard to argue with many of the picks. Here are some of the players picked from the first round in ’03:

1. Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT)
2. Eric Staal (CAR)
3. Nathan Horton (FLA)
4. Nikolai Zherdev (CLB)
5. Thomas Vanek (BUF)
6. Milan Michalek (SJ)
7. Ryan Suter (NSH)
8. Braydon Cobourn (ATL)
9. Dion Phaneuf (CGY)
10. Alexei Kostitsyn (MTL)
11. Jeff Carter (PHI)
12. Hugh Jessiman (NYR)
13. Dustin Brown (LA)
14. Brent Seabrook (CHI)
15. Robert Nilsson (NYI)
16. Steve Bernier (SJ)
17. Zach Parise (NJ)
18. Eric Fehr (WSH)
19. Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
20. Brent Burns (MIN)
21. Mark Stuart (BOS)
22. Marc-Antoine Pouliot (EDM)
23. Ryan Kesler (VAN)
24. Mike Richards (PHI)
25. Anthony Stewart (FLA)
26. Brian Boyle (LA)
27. Jeff Tambellini (LA)
28. Corey Perry (ANA)
29. Patrick Eaves (OTT)
30. Shawn Belle (DAL)

Every draft year is typically known for a few major busts. One of the biggest busts of all time was Brian Lawton, who was selected first overall in 1983. The real kicker is that Steve Yzerman, Pat LaFontaine, Cam Neely and Tom Barrasso were all picked after Lawton in the first round that year. 1993 saw Daigle as the ultimate bust… perhaps Pam Anderson would have something to say about that – Sorry Sens fans. The draft in 1999 saw Patrik Stefan get picked first overall by Atlanta but he never bloomed into the star he was supposed to be. His Wikipedia page even labels him as “one of the biggest draft busts in NHL history”. Ouch. Good thing Heatley and Kovalchuk worked out for the Thrashers, otherwise GM Don Waddell might be out of a job. Anyone who can trade Braydon Cobourg for an aging Alexei Zhitnik and keep their job must be invincible!

Anyway, back to the 2003 Draft. The thing about this draft year is that of the first 30 players picked, all but one have already played in the NHL (Jessiman, NYR). On top of that, many of these players played significant minutes the following season. Only 5 years later, many of the players drafted in the first round are leaders on their teams and have already seen significant success. Richards, Getzlaf, Parise and Staal all led their teams in scoring last season too. The success of this draft doesn’t stop after the first round.

In fact, there are a number of very skilled players who were drafted late in this draft, including: Loui Eriksson (DAL), Patrice Bergeron (BOS), Shea Weber (NSH), Kyle Quincey (DET), Joe Pavelski (SJ), Jaroslav Halak (MTL) and Brian Elliot (OTT).

Shea Weber is arguably one of the best players to come out of this draft and he was taken 49th overall. Every single team in the league had a chance to select him and some even had two cracks at it. Again, it all comes down to drafting and the strength of your scouting and development. Kyle Quincey could barely crack Detroit’s lineup this year but is now playing 24 minutes a game in Los Angeles. Brian Elliot was selected in the 9th round and was the second last player drafted in 2003, yet he’s won 9 straight games as a rookie, following the Senators win Saturday night against the lowly New York Islanders.

So there you have it folks, the draft class of 2003. Internet, I challenge you to find me a deeper and more skilled draft year than 2003. If you do, I’ll eat an entire wheel of cheese in one sitting! And I’ll do it faster than Baxter is rumored to have done it.

Your Reporter in the Field,

Brian Fantana

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So I was looking at flair on facebook (uhhh distractions) and i found this one about stupidity.

Stupidity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

I thought to myself- wow this is just like the Thrashers cough  Don Waddell cough

Thats all i got for now.

According to Craig Custance’s blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Alexei Zhitnik (3G, 5A, -8, age 35) didn’t make the trip north to Philadelphia for tomorrow’s game.  I wonder what thoughts go through Don Waddell’s head when he remembers trading Braydon Coburn (8G, 26A, +17, age 23) for Zhitnik?  Regardless of your opinions on John Stevens as an NHL coach, he at least has found a way to develop Coburn more effectively than Bob Hartley did in Atlanta.

newsobserver.com | The chemistry professors of the NHL

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/31/08

Wednesday night’s game kicked off the second half of the season, and a nice home stretch for the Thrashers. It also started the clock on the Marian Hossa contract talks.  Thrashers coach and general manager Don Waddell said he didn’t speak to Hossa’s agent, Ritch Winter, over the All-Star break, but Hossa said his talks with Winter were simple.  “I told Ritch, ‘You handle the contract, and I’ll do my best on the ice,’ ” Hossa said.Read Original Article

GM Waddell gives assistant a vote of confidence

Thrashers elevate McCrimmon to associate coach

globesports.com: Obscurity suits Waddell just fine

SI.com – Writers – Allan Muir: Smart moves in Atlanta and Chicago – Wednesday November 21, 2007 3:45PM