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Brendan Shanahan answers questions, reflects on 2011 All-Star Game Fantasy Draft

oldmanahanasg

James O’Brien

In the simplest way, the selection process during the 2011 NHL All-Star Game’s Fantasy Draft will feature Team Eric Staal and Team Nicklas Lidstrom rattling off players in a fashion very similar to school kids choosing sides during gym class.

Of course, there are some things that complicate matters, which Brendan Shanahan discussed with Puck Daddy in a story that was published this morning. We’ll cover some of the highlights from that interview in a second, but it might be important to discuss some of the caveats first.


  • Each team will have three alternate captains which include two forwards and one defenseman.
  • There will be a 36-player pool to choose from during an 18-round draft.
  • Each sides’ three goalies must be taken by the 10th round.
  • All defensemen must be chosen by the 15th round.
  • There will be a “Mr. Irrelevant” in the draft, something Shanahan hopes will be treated in a “tongue-in-cheek” way.

OK, now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s get to some of the most interesting comments from Shanahan in that PD article.

After discussing how the restrictions will make the draft most interesting, Shanahan discussed the way goalie selections can leave you rattled in a mock draft:

SHANAHAN: Originally, we were going to tell them to draft who they wanted, when they wanted. But when we started doing mock drafts in the office, you realize [poop]: If I’m drafting against you, and you took your goalies in the first few rounds, because you’re a goalie freak, then the reality is that I’m not going to draft a goalie [until late] because you’ve essentially picked mine. I’m not going to waste a pick on a goalie because I can just wait until the end to draft them. The last six guys standing could have been predetermined; totally bad, dead TV.

(snip)

That’s what was fun. It’s like that old saying in boxing: Everyone’s got a plan before they get hit. That’s how it was: Regardless of you many times you did the mock draft with a plan, the other guy would do something you weren’t expecting and you’d have to change it.


On how being picked last might motivate that guy to win the MVP:

Everyone keeps focusing on the guy going last, but the reality of it is that if you go 10th, then you think you should have gone 7th. If you go fifth, you think you’re better than the four guys who went in front of you. If you go second, you’re mad at the guy who didn’t take you first, and you want to beat him.

I ran it past some perennial all-stars, and Luc Robitaille told me that if he had been taken last, he’d go home, get some sleep and then win the MVP.


***

Click here to read more from Shanahan, including the fact that players might find some “perverse pleasure” in splitting up the Sedin twins.