Fogghorn wrote:
Bosc wrote:
Kind of like the Jays with Escobar and Rasmus and their perceived character issues?
I can't remember...was Kopitar considered a risk taking him that high in the first round? Or was he seen as slipping? I seem to remember that some thought he might one of the top talents but thought that he hadn't played against enough elite competition.
exactly, the toughest competition he faced was the world junior B. He devoured them but made it difficult to assess him which could be seen as a greater risk in choosing him.
Kopitar had moved to Sweden his draft year and was playing in the top junior league with a 5 game call-up to the Elite league that year. He was a pretty normal Swedish draft prospect in that respect. He also did play in the men's World Championships Div 1 that year, where Slovenia won promotion to the main group, which is higher than Div B WJCs.
There was some talk about drafting a player with an nontraditional background, but Kopitar was considered right there with the big forwards heading into that draft. Pouliot, Brule and Kopitar were all seen as comparables, which is hilarious now. He slipped below them.
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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.
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