My Perspective on the Draft

The NHL Draft is one of the most exciting times of the year for everyone in hockey.  Personally, I love the Draft and the days/trades leading up to it.  I like to follow the young players rated and see their progress throughout the year.  For me, I was rated by Central Scouting my 17 year old year while playing for the Soo Indians in the NAHL.  I was first rated a C player, then given a number mid year at somewhere in the 90's for North American skaters.  By the end of the year I was rated as the top NAHL player for the draft, which isn't saying much because there were only two of us other than the USNTDP guys, who are all rated fairly high.  (Phil Kessel, Jack Johnson, Sidney Crosby were my draft year, 2005). By the time the draft came around I was rated pretty low, so I figured I wouldn't get drafted. My next year I played in Cedar Rapids (USHL) and again was rated low and again was passed over.  My freshman year at college (NMU in the CCHA) I was not rated at all and again passed over.  That was my 19 year old year and final year of draft eligibility.  To be honest no team in their right mind would pick a 19 year old bum with 3 points all year in college.  At that point, I figured I didn't have a chance at pro and just focused on my school.  Then my senior year came and I somehow found a way to the net and ended up with 18 goals and 32 points, with a very strong playoff run.  This is where my free agency comes in.  I was very fortunate to be passed up in the draft at this time because I could choose between a few different teams in the NHL to sign with as a free agent, instead of being locked up in one team and possibly getting a lower end contract.  I chose the Los Angeles Kings as the NHL team I wanted to be a part of and I am very happy I did so.  They have great development strategies and hopefully I will get a chance to play with the Kings at some point in the next couple years.

Vancouver/Draft

I have been up in Vancouver/Burnaby area for the past week visiting Gillian's family and getting ready for the wedding.  There is a lot more to weddings than I ever expected but its all going well so far.

I've been glued to the TV in the basement with Brian Stewart, my future brother-in-law, watching the trades happen in the NHL.  Brian was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers last season and is looking to get re-signed in the next couple of days.  He spent most of last season in Adirondack in the AHL.  It has been pretty crazy with the trades between LA and the Flyers, with those teams being the NHL teams that we are under contract with.  Richards coming to the Kings and Schenn and Simmonds going to the Flyers is a big trade that surprised the both of us, but is very exciting at the same time.  I'm keeping a close eye on Twitter today as the trades go on to see who else will be dealt.

My first 5 picks of the draft tomorrow
1. Nugent-Hopkins
2. Landeskog
3. Larsson
4. Huberdeau
5. Strome

Base Hockey

Per request, I am going to explain some things about my sticks and what I like.  This post goes out to Ryan Atkins aka @RJAtkins on Twitter.

First of all here is a link to a video shot of me taking a slap shot at the Base Hockey shooting studio in Burnaby, British Columbia with a Base Hockey stick in slow motion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPFGP70y108

Its a funny story how I ended up getting hooked up with Cliff Ronning, owner of Base Hockey, in the first place.  I was at a bagel shop in Burnaby and I saw a kid with a hockey hat on and asked what it was and he said his dad was Cliff and owned a new company.  I said I was a prospect with the Kings and he called his dad and they asked if I wanted to come in to test some sticks.  It worked out that the building was just around the corner from my fiancees house so we stopped by.  There are a few other guys in the NHL that use these sticks now that I have heard of.

My sticks specs: and not necessarily the same company all the time, I use Reebok in AHL and NHL I would use BASE or Bauer Total One

Left handed
105 Flex
Sakic curve with a little bit thinner of a blade/H-11 in RBK with more of a curve at the end opening up more
Textile Grip with Snake Skin grip also over top
4 inch extension - not wood plug, all graphite or whatever they are made of nowadays
Depending on how strong I am mid season or lack of strength, I usually drop down to 95 flex since my upper body loses alot of strength each season

Golf Game

This is a picture of me, my Dad (right side), and my brother Kory (middle), who plays D1 college hockey at NMU.  We were golfing at a course a little ways out of town called Hessel Ridge.  Lately I have been in the mood to golf a lot for some reason.  I usually hate the sport because I will make a bad shot or two and start throwing clubs around and just leave the course.  I think as I am getting older I have settled down quite a bit in the flip-out department.

I have been consistently been shooting in the mid to low 40's on 9 holes, which is good for me since I expected at the start of the year I would be in the 60's for sure.  My greatest asset is my ability to drive the ball.  The main reason why I'll never be a good golfer is because I love to practice drives and not my short game.  You know the old saying "Drive for show, putt for dough".

This weekend me, my cousin Jordy, my brother Kory, and my Dad are entered into a 4 man scramble at Bay Mills Wild Bluff course.  The tournament is to raise money for the Sault High Blue Devils hockey team, and my cousin Jordy used to play there so it's a good way to help a hockey team and have fun at the same time.  My aunt is helping run it so she asked me to donate a stick or something for auction so we'll see how much a Kaunisto signed stick goes for.  I'm guessing nothing over 20 bucks, at least thats the most I'd pay for it.