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Luckily for Canadians travelling to the 1998 NHL Expansion and Entry Draft, their road trip didn't start from the south. Since they didn't have to travel the same roads most North Americans did to get to the draft, they missed out on an ironic roadside sign.

As cars entered Buffalo on I-90 from the south, they were greeted by a sign that read "Buffalo: An All-American City".

In an era when it seems the NHL is expanding everywhere but north of the border, hosting this year's draft festivities in an all-American city was only fitting. Perhaps NHL commissioner Gary Bettman chose the location for a reason. Perhaps he wanted to make a statement to the people of Canada, telling them that hockey is now an American sport and that Canadians should focus on curling.

Or perhaps I'm just overanalyzing things. That's a good possibility. The Entry Draft was so boring, I needed to spice up the lead in this story with something to keep you from falling asleep.

Vincent Lecavalier by Meredith Martini

The draft went as followed - the Tampa Bay Lightning, as expected, selected Vincent Lecavalier with the No. 1 pick of the draft. Yawn.

The San Jose Sharks, as expected, traded the second pick of the draft - for more picks, not players - to the Nashville Predators, who, as expected, selected David Legwand. Someone wake me up.

The Sharks picked Brad Stuart, the Canucks took Bryan Allen and so on and so on... The draft came and went, but little happened that was worth talking about. There were no big blockbuster trades. There weren't many minor deals. All in all, the 1998 Entry Draft was a bust.

David Legwand by Meredith Martini

LCS Hockey wasn't the only ones getting a shaft at the draft this year. Everyone in attendance must have felt the same way. As each pick was made, there was much anticipation for a major deal to go down. Several general managers were on the phone, but apparently no one was on the other end.

The most promise of a trade came when the Rangers were on the clock in the first round. GM Neil Smith was on the horn for quite some time trying to work out a deal. When time was up for the Rangers to make a pick, Smith took a time out to talk some more. When their time was up again, Bettman said in his whiney voice, "Rangers, either make your pick or take another timeout."

Wha? Huh? Another timeout? So you're telling me that if you run out of time after already taking a time out, you can take another timeout? What in the hell's the point of that? Do you really need timeouts then? Makes no sense to me, but that's the NHL for ya.

The Rangers ended up not taking another timeout, but they didn't make a trade, either. The Blueshirts ended up taking Manny Malhotra with the seventh pick. Malhotra, by the way, looks like a big-time talent.

Other than that, the draft was boring. Since there were no trades to talk about between picks, the arena was usually filled with silence. It was kind of an eerie feeling. At least Bettman could have done a little dance on stage or something. A stunning rendition of Fame or Stomp would have done wonders for the excitement level in the arena.

So the fans got shafted at the draft. Let's see if good ol' LCS Hockey can spice things up with a story or two from our experiences in Buffalo.

First, a couple celebrity spottings. After returning from lunch on Friday after the expansion draft, Zippy and I were wandering the streets of Buffalo when we spotted Oilers GM Glen Sather enjoying some beverages outside a local establishment. That was pretty cool, considering Sather's one of the best GMs in the league.

On that same return trip from the local shopping mall, we walked past several men in suits who were slowly making their way in the same direction. Figuring that any men in suits in the area were a part of the NHL, we decided to take a closer look. And sure enough, they were. Several of the men were speaking French, an obvious giveaway. But there was one man out of the group who was walking by himself. As we got closer, we saw that it was former NHL great and newly appointed Colorado Avalanche assistant coach Bryan Trottier.

First, a little background on our connection with Trotts. Way back when Trottier was an assistant with the Pens, a company he owned was trying to sell stuff on our site. In return, we'd receive a column on the NHL from Trotts every two weeks or so to put on the site. After the first column, which was filled with nothing but plugs for his company, Trottier was apparently too busy to send any more. Soon thereafter, we nixed the deal with his company.

So when we walked by Trottier, he happened to look at us. Zippy, who was wearing a bright gold LCS Hockey T- shirt, swears that Trottier looked at Zip's shirt, then turned back around and hung his head in shame. Personally, I didn't notice if he really looked at Zip's shirt, but he swears by it. Could Trottier be ashamed of dissing LCS Hockey? I doubt it, but Zip thinks so.

After the expansion draft on Friday, Zip and I wanted to cruise the town and see some exciting sites. Zip read in this Triple A magazine that there was a good street to shop on at the other side of town. So we got in the car and started driving. Pretty soon, I noticed that we weren't in Kansas anymore, if you know what I mean. The further we drove, the less apt we were to stop at red lights. As soon as we thought that we should turn around and head back downtown, we saw them.

There they were, as plain as day...pimps. First, one pulled out in front of us in a Buick. You could tell he was a pimp by the feathers in his fedora. Then, as we drove by a gas station, another pimp was getting out of his phat ride to pump some juice into his Grand Marquis. His car was smoov...all shiny and silver and gold...damn, was it smoov. And his threads were nothing to laugh at, either. I mean, I'd never laugh at a pimp to begin with. He'd probably put a cap in my ass. But this pimp was supa-smoov. He had the tan suit jacket and pants with the white trim and the white and tan wingtips to match. And don't forget the feathered hat.

Right then and there, I knew my true calling.

After spotting the pimps, we figured the area couldn't be all that bad, so we continued for a few more streets. We passed a classy restaurant on the right called Meals 4 Steals, then turned onto Main Street. Eventually, we decided that we weren't going to find the place we were looking for, so we turned around and headed back downtown.

Later that evening, we were in search for something else to do. The Buffalo Bisons, the city's minor league baseball team, were in town so we decided to check out the action. Thanks to the kind folks at the Buffalo Police Department we received two free tickets to the game. Upon entering the stadium, the first thing we noticed was how close we were to the field. Coming from Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, we've never really been to a real baseball stadium. It was cool to just go and be close to the action. The game was a blowout as the Bisons tore up the Durham Bulls (yep, the team from the movie), 15-4.

Because we weren't really big baseball fans, we decided to roam around the seats and check out all the views. When we got to the bleacher seats in the outfield, we noticed something very odd. The people in the bleachers were being attacked - by dead bugs. It seems the bleachers are right below the outfield lights. As the bugs flew into the lights on this warm, humid night, they would die, then fall straight down onto the fans below. It was really quite creepy. We sat there for about a minute or so, then when a dragonfly dropped onto Zip's head, we had enough.

Other than the bugs, the ballgame was a swell time. If you're in the area, go to a game. The tickets are cheap...or if you know the right police officer, they're free.

Besides that, our trip was quite boring. Zip said the entire draft experience was better the year before in Pittsburgh. The players were available more for autographs and photo opportunities in the Burgh than they were in Buffalo. The card show in Buffalo was pretty lame, although I did get a cool Toe Blake card for four bucks. And the draft itself, which of course was the main attraction, was one of the tamest in years.

At least in Hartford you could walk out into the mall and buy some socks.

Here's all of the minor deals that went down during the Entry Draft:

The Dallas Stars traded a ninth-round (258th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to Philadelphia for the Flyers' ninth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.

The Boston Bruins traded a ninth-round (250th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to the New York Islanders for their ninth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.

The San Jose Sharks traded a ninth-round (240th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations.

The San Jose Sharks traded an eighth-round (223rd overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to Ottawa for the Senators' eighth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.

The Colorado Avalanche traded seventh-round (194th overall), eighth-round (221st overall) and ninth-round (252nd overall) selections in the 1998 Entry Draft to Tampa Bay for the Lightning's sixth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.

The Colorado Avalanche traded a fifth-round (138th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

The San Jose Sharks traded a fifth-round (116th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to Phoenix for the Coyotes' fifth-round pick in the 1999 Entry Draft.

The Washington Capitals traded a second-round (79th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to the Colorado Avalanche for two fourth-round (106th & 107th overall) picks in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The Detroit Red Wings traded a second-round (41st overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to the St. Louis Blues for second-round (55th overall) and fourth-round (111th overall) picks in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The Dallas Stars traded a first-round (27th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft to the New Jersey Devils for two second-round (39th and 57th overall).

The Toronto Maple Leafs traded first-round (eighth overall) and fourth-round (94th overall) selections in the 1998 Entry Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks for first-round (10th overall), third-round (69th overall) and fifth-round (126th overall) picks in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The San Jose Sharks traded first-round (second overall) and third-round (85th overall) selections in the 1998 Entry Draft to the Nashville Predators for first-round (third overall) and second-round (29th overall) picks in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The Philadelphia Flyers traded Paul Coffey to the Chicago Blackhawks for a fifth-round (124th overall) selection in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The St. Louis Blues traded Darren Turcotte and a future conditional draft pick to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

The Chicago Blackhawks traded Sergei Krivokrasov to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

The Los Angeles Kings traded Jan Vopat and Kimmo Timonen to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

The San Jose Sharks traded Ville Peltonen to Nashville for the Predators fifth-round pick in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The Montreal Canadiens traded Sebastien Bordeleau to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

The Philadelphia Flyers traded Dominic Roussel and Jeff Staples to Nashville for the Predators seventh-round pick in the 1998 Entry Draft.

The Calgary Flames traded Jim Dowd to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

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