Okay, so as I have mentioned a couple of times this is the week of the NHL draft. The full Fansided network did a mock draft with the writers for each team making the picks in order when it became time for their team. So being a part of the Fansided team and on the team for Too Many Men on the Site, I participated and made the pick for Dallas. Here is that whole mock draft: Too Many Men on the Site draft. My full mock draft for my weekly section “The Buzz Between The Boards” is up here. Give it a look, as that is my feeling about how the draft may turn out.

For both picks I took Derek Forbort as who the Stars may take. He is young and may take a couple years to make it to the NHL level, but he has lots of talent and is still young and growing. He is currently listed at 6′4″ and about 200 pounds, and word is that he knows how to use his size. He can move players and uses his length & strength well in his zone, and is learning how to transition into the offensive zone well. And multiple sources say that he is agile and a smooth skater for his size and is becoming a good passer as well. A couple more years and a little more weight and conditioning, and this could be one of the top young defenseman in his early 20s. He may only be 18, but he is jumping up a lot of boards and I think he fits some of the needs Dallas has now and in the future. I think he could be a good pick for Dallas, and a prospect that could be a big hit if he continues to grow and learn like he did this year.

There you go, give some of the mock drafts a read and get prepared because this could be a big week around hockey.

Also, Richards had successful hip surgery today to clean up a minor problem. Report is that it is arthroscopic to work on a torn labrum, and that he should be back to his full offseason program in about 8 weeks. Wish him a quick recovery and can not wait to see if he and that top line can repeat or exceed what they did this season. Now if we can play some defense…..another time, we will save that for another time.

By now, if you have read any of my 1st round predictions or other posts and tweets in the last couple of weeks, you should know that the Chicago Blackhawks are my 2nd team and are the team I am rooting for in the playoffs. Saturday something happened that made it where I was not going in to work, so I sat down and got to watch game 5 between the Blackhawks and the Predators. Exciting game as Chicago lost the lead in the 3rd period and late were still down one. Marian Hossa is chasing a puck back behind the Nashville bench and this goes down:

This may be just me, but I do not think it was as bad as the Ovechkin hit on the Blackhawks Campbell. Ovechkin threw force into it and wanted to send Campbell into the boards, Hossa gives a type of shove that happens all the time in games with no result and Hamuis is off balance a bit and moving towards the boards already. Should it have been called, yes. I agree with the call, but I do not think he should be suspended and thus I agree with the NHL’s ruling. So Hossa goes and sits for 5 mins with only 1:03 left in the game. But the Blackhawks finally get the puck and pull the goalie to even the powerplay out and make it 5 on 5 play, leading to Patrick Kane scoring off a rebound with 13.6 seconds to go. Then the game goes to OT, B’hawks kill the rest of the major penalty and right after Hossa comes out of the penatly box he scores the game winner in OT as the puck bounces right to him in front of the net. Great game, crazy stuff, and lots of drama. Now Chicago has a 3-2 series lead and game 6 is tonight in Nashville.

Also over the weekend and last week we had a couple series wrap up. The Sharks finally figure out the Avalanche and win the series 4-2. San Jose had trouble in the series with the young and quick bunch, and many people are already speculating about if they may lose in the 2nd round again. Vancouver closes out the Kings to win the series 4-2. I had picked the Kings, but besides their powerplay, they were overall out played in the series and the #3 seed Canucks move on. I got to tune in yesterday and watch the Coyotes win 5-2 in Detroit to tie the series up at 3-3 and send it to a game 7 in Phoenix. Tuesday night is game 7 and is a must watch: the Coyote fans hopefully packing it out and making it hard on the Red Wings and the Coyote players getting a chance to prove to the hockey world what they can do. But we already know what the Red Wings can do and their track record in playoff situations. It should be intense and has to be a must watch!

More tomorrow on the playoffs and tonight’s action. Tonight we have game 6 in Nashville (Chicago up 3-2), game 6 in Boston with Buffalo up against it (Bruins lead 3-2) and Washington trying to close out in Montreal (Caps lead 3-2).