Joining the league meant staying up until 5 AM in order to participate in the live draft (held at 3 PM Eastern Time). It wasn't a terrible ordeal - though I do wish I had stopped drinking - but overall staying up that late wasn't too much of a pain. But nowhere near as easy as it used to be.
Going into the draft I decided I wanted Claude Giroux. I absolutely had to have him. I loathe words like man-crush or any of that bullshit. I just had a good feeling about Giroux particularly because he's been so good in any situation he's been in. I am not just talking about this year either; from junior to the AHL to the NHL, Giroux has been consistently a good, if not a great, player. He's getting points at even strength, while shorthanded, on the powerplay and in overtime. I wasn't going to draft him before Steven Stamkos, but I wanted to draft him sometime in the first three rounds. I figured since it was November most people interested in fantasy hockey would be wise to the fact that Giroux is having a breakout regular season after a tremendous playoffs. Apparently most folks think Briere is the unquestioned offensive leader of the Flyers.
Draft comes along and I draft him. Since I was drafting 13th out of a 13 team league, I made the zany move of drafting him first. My logic was that after picking 14th, I wouldn't be picking again until 39th, so I might as well make sure I get Giroux.
Here are the rest of my picks:
| 1. | (13) | Claude Giroux | RW | ||
| 2. | (14) | Henrik Lundqvist | G | ||
| 3. | (39) | Jonathan Quick | G | ||
| 4. | (40) | Loui Eriksson | RW | ||
| 5. | (65) | Nicklas Lidstrom | D | ||
| 6. | (66) | Dustin Byfuglien | RW,D | ||
| 7. | (91) | Brandon Dubinsky | C | ||
| 8. | (92) | Mikko Koivu | C | ||
| 9. | (117) | Erik Johnson | D | ||
| 10. | (118) | Jeff Skinner | RW | ||
| 11. | (143) | R.J. Umberger | C | ||
| 12. | (144) | Derick Brassard | C | ||
| 13. | (169) | John-Michael Liles | D | ||
| 14. | (170) | Taylor Hall | LW | ||
| 15. | (195) | David Perron | LW | ||
| 16. | (196) | Paul Martin | D | ||
| 17. | (221) | Cody Franson | D | ||
| 18. | (222) | Anders Lindback | G | ||
| 19. | (247) | Chris Kunitz | LW | ||
| 20. | (248) | Logan Couture | C | ||
| 21. | (273) | Saku Koivu | C | ||
| 22. | (274) | Ian White | D |
I am pretty happy with the first 13 picks. Not everyone was as I was almost universally shit on
for picking what was considered at best a fourth round talent, some called him a sixth round guy. These guys really hate Giroux.
Right now I'm in first. We'll see how long that lasts.
