It's been a while since a truly unpredictable draft, by which I mean the battle was not between the top 2 players or the 1st overall pick was clear-cut and the rest could go either way. No, Season 61 has hit very rare territory, where 3-4 players at the top could go in any order and that is about as good as it can get. Ironically, this criteria does in fact ignore some of the best drafts in the VHL's history (S18, S33, S40, etc.) but alas, it is what it is.
With draft hype taking place in the next few hours, I thought I'd post the bare bones of this now to ride the wave and turn it into a proper Media Spot tomorrow. Therefore, without further ado:
From back in the day:
S5
1. Vasteras: Jochen Walser
2. Helsinki: Branden Snelheid
3. Avangard: McLovin
4. Calgary: Devon Marlow-Marta
S6
1. Avangard: Josh Vestiquan
2. Helsinki: Dominik Stryker
3. Toronto: Kevin Brooks
4. Hamilton: Alexander Beketov - not @Beketov's last appearance on this list
Possibly the most archetypal example:
S12
1. Helsinki: Matt Bailey
2. New York: Devon De La Soul
3. Toronto: Geoff Gartner
Something a bit more recent and again featuring Beketov:
S25
1. Riga: Ansgar Snijider
2. Seattle: Kasey Braun
3. New York: Jason White
4. Vasteras: Tukka Reikkinen
A few which didn't come to mind but having looked at them I can recall some uncertainty:
S30
1. Helsinki: Ethan Osborne
2. Calgary: Yuri Grigorenko
3. Riga: Alexander Valiq
S32
1. Toronto: Jack Sound
2. Quebec: Tomas Valiq
3. Helsinki: Anatoli Zhumbayev
4. Cologne: Evgeni Chekhov
S36
1. Seattle: Godavari Yumalatopinto
2. Riga: Robin Gow
3. New York: Xin Xie Xiao
4. Riga: Damon Tyrael
And the last one I can remember, with a cautionary tale about passing on a goalie:
S43
1. New York: E'Twaun Delicious
2. Riga: Bronson Faux
3. Calgary: Hans Wingate
The ones which first came to my mind were S12 and S25, but I look forward to delving into all of these fine drafts and hopefully S61 can live up to the drama. I suppose the only question I have is for the time I missed - were S54 and/or S58 quite unpredictable?
To be continued....