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The entire Central Scouting Bureau must be feeling like Maytag repairmen - based on the results, none of the teams paid any attention whatsoever to all the work the CSB did. After the first four picks, nothing matched up as top ten rated players barely stayed in the first round and second round ratees went in the seventh and eighth rounds. If you see any people in Toronto out on a ledge this week, they probably scout for CSB.

The big thing to watch in the 1998 Entry Draft was supposed to be the re-entries - players drafted in 1996 who didn't come to terms with the team that drafted them, or 1997 draftees who never received a basic contract offer. The list of re-entering players included four of the Devils' first five 1996 draft picks, including first rounder Lance Ward, and a whole host of second, third and fourth round picks, most of whom remain genuine prospects. As it turned out, eight of these players were re-drafted, two by the same team which drafted them in the first place. Ward dropped to the third round and the Florida Panthers, while New Jersey's 1996 third-rounder Scott Parker went up to the first round and the Colorado Avalanche. The Devils re-drafted second-rounder Pierre Dagenais in the fourth round. Montreal took former St. Louis third-rounder Gordie Dwyer in the sixth round, while Phoenix took 1997 Islanders third round pick Robert Schnabel in the fifth round. The Islanders failed to sign eighth rounder Evgeny Korolev the first time through, so they drafted him again a little higher, in the seventh. Last but not least, in the ninth round the Islanders also took former Boston third round pick Jason Doyle and the Rangers took former Penguins third rounder Boyd Kane. The rest? Look for them on the free agent market, where they could become hot commodities.

Scott Gomez by Meredith Martini

Have to wonder if New Jersey will sign their 1998 first rounder, Scott Gomez. Gomez has a reputation as a free spirit and sure enough, he is. At least, after posing for a photograph, Gomez then requested I open packets of mustard for him. Gomez may have a little too much personality for the Devils organization.

Also bringing personality to the party is top-rated European goaltender Alexei Volkov, selected by the Kings in the third round. Volkov, who speaks and writes no English, spent the rest of the day actively seeking people who wanted his autograph because he wanted to show off the first thing he had learned to write in English - "LOS ANGELES!" Guess we shouldn't tell him that's Spanish.

Nashville Predators' fifth rounder Martin Beauchesne also does not speak English, but fortunately brought his girlfriend along to translate. Fortunately because Beauchesne was the first Nashville pick I found in the stands and I had hoped he would model the new franchise's jersey for the camera, but he didn't understand the request until she explained it to him. She also advised me he was a good choice for the photo, because "he has a really good body." Too much information there.

The Biron Brothers by Meredith Martini

Family was one of the words of the day, as quite a few prospects had a family history in the NHL. Colorado second-rounder Phillippe Sauve is the son of former Sabre Bob Sauve, who also happens to be Vincent Lecavalier's agent. Small conflict of interest. Also a conflict of interest and there is yet another Sutter in the building, as Calgary obliged coach Brian Sutter and drafted his son, Shaun. Montreal first-rounder Eric Chouinard is the son of former Flame Guy Chouinard, and a cousin of Anaheim prospect Marc, whom Eric says is recovering well from a severed Achilles tendon. For the second year in a row, a Hershey Bear was in attendance to see his brother selected - this time it was Nic Beaudoin to see Eric chosen by Tampa Bay. Mike Pandolfo, selected by Buffalo, is a dead ringer for older brother Jay, who saw time with the Devils last year. Buffalo also chose Andrew Peters, younger brother of Blackhawks prospect Geoff. And of course, there were the Birons - Buffalo prospect Martin was dwarfed by 'little' brother Mathieu, a first round pick of the Kings. In fact, all of the 'little' brothers were considerably larger than their 'big' brothers, usually by at least four inches. Hmm.

The 1997 Entry Draft in Pittsburgh seemed to go on interminably, largely due to the perpetual stalling of host Penguins and the Rangers. Well, the Penguins made up their minds this time around but the Rangers once again drew several time warnings. So did Toronto. And in Pittsburgh, the draft lasted eight hours; this time it lasted ten hours and by the eighth round, I was sort of asleep. Some people in the stands were literally asleep. And the Avalanche were out partying, having finished their jobs in the sixth round. Lucky guys. But seriously, it's time to enforce the time restrictions.

The busiest spot in the Marine Midland Arena other than the podium was the ice cream stand. The MMA may have moved more ice cream than soda. They also get credit for giving me a refund - rather unexpectedly from my standpoint - when the cone just given to me met my white shirt. Anyone know how to get chocolate custard out of clothing? So far I haven't. Anyone know what this custard stuff is, other than very good and very fattening?

Unlike Pittsburgh, this draft was not amenable to people seeking autographs, photographs, or hoping to meet their team's draft picks. The picks weren't sent to any central location in the building for photos and interviews, and were plunked back into the stands willy nilly, making it impossible to keep track of them (or the draft itself, for that matter.) So, puhLEEZE patronize the forthcoming photo gallery - I logged at least ten miles inside the building to get them. And I still didn't find all of MY team's players - and considering the Capitals didn't have too many picks to start with, that's not good.

Kent Huskins and Donald Smith by Meredith Martini

For the longest time it seemed no matter where I went in the building, I kept running into the same two prospects and their buddies, all from Clarkson University. Half the time they were standing in front of me, so after a bit I gave up trying to see anything from that half of the arena and moved. Both players were drafted within minutes of my leaving, as Kent Huskins was selected by the Blackhawks in the sixth round and Donald Smith by the Hurricanes in the seventh. See guys, it was me the whole time.

Many of the players on the gold medal winning Czech Republic Olympic team are not currently playing in the NHL, and many of them were subject to the draft. The only one taken, however, was defenseman Jiri Dopita, picked up by the Islanders in the fifth round. Dopita was one of the best players in the Olympics, but has expressed little interest in leaving his home country for the NHL.

Did anyone at the draft manage to be in more places at more times signing more autographs than Gilbert Perrault?

As long as we're questioning things...why was Adam Graves there?

Vincent Lecavalier may have been the big name of the draft, but getting people to pronounce it, well, that was something else. Lecavalier spent some three minutes repeating his name over and over for one mentally downsized TV reporter before giving up in frustration and letting the guy mangle it.

Jonathan Cheechoo by Meredith Martini

The Ontario town of Moose Factory, which has no roads or rinks, also has fewer than 500 people living in it. About 100 of them showed up in Buffalo. Heck, some of them showed up at the official LCS host hotel in beautiful downtown Blasdell, New York. The town came to cheer on favorite son Jonathan Cheechoo, who was taken in the second round by San Jose, and found themselves rounded up by television crews into one section to be filmed and interviewed.

Andrei Bashkirov excelled two seasons ago with the ECHL's Huntington Blizzard and the IHL's Las Vegas Thunder, but wasn't drafted in Pittsburgh. As a European player, the 28-year-old Bashkirov couldn't play in the NHL until he was drafted. However, another fine season with the IHL's Fort Wayne Komets did the trick as Montreal drafted him in the fifth round this time.

Not all players are picked, and sadly some players sat in the stands for nearly 11 hours but were never chosen. Some left in disgust earlier; others stayed hoping until the bitter end. First rounders Dmitri Kalinin and Christian Backman both stayed through the eighth round waiting for their friends to be chosen; finally, they were. Slovak Roman Talias waited out the entire draft without hearing his name; his countryman Miroslav Zalesak, picked in the fourth round by San Jose waited it out with him. Regina's Dean Arsene arrived in Buffalo on Friday rated in the middle rounds and fully pumped for a battery of interviews with scouts; by the eighth round he was slumped in his seat and silent. He was never picked.

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