NHL Draft June 27-28: Los Angeles

[Hacketts]

So no zoom?...

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[red devil]

 

[Voight]

We knew this already; guess its official.

Still absolutely hate that they changed the way they run it. Could've stayed unique instead of following suit with other leagues.

 

[Quack Shot]

Crypto or Intuit?

 

[Brodeur]

We knew this already; guess its official.

Still absolutely hate that they changed the way they run it. Could've stayed unique instead of following suit with other leagues.

It’s a bummer but understandable from the teams’ perspective. Bit of a pain to fly 20+ people out plus hotels and meals for a week.

The other factor is the calendar. The SCF is getting pushed back further into June to avoid conflicts with the NBA. Some teams opted to stay in Vegas after last year’s draft to do free agency on July 1. It can be a mad dash to the airport after the draft. I thought I made pretty good time leaving the arena in 2019 and getting to the airport. I was in security with Colorado’s group while LA/Arizona were already at adjacent gates.

Crypto or Intuit?

Peacock Theater across the street from Crypto.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I liked the way we did it but if it increases activity around the draft, that'll be fun too.

 

[JPeeper]

Logistically I don't know if the NHL could get it every year, but I'd be down for them to hold the draft at the Sphere in Vegas for the end of time. The venue is awesome and the draft was awesome last year.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Logistically I don't know if the NHL could get it every year, but I'd be down for them to hold the draft at the Sphere in Vegas for the end of time. The venue is awesome and the draft was awesome last year.

Did it make that much a difference in the televised product, or just as an attendee? Didn’t watch last year

 

[JPeeper]

Did it make that much a difference in the televised product, or just as an attendee? Didn’t watch last year

I'd say it improved the televised product, but it's still the draft so it went from like a 2/10 to a 3.5/10.

 

[Brodeur]

Logistically I don't know if the NHL could get it every year, but I'd be down for them to hold the draft at the Sphere in Vegas for the end of time. The venue is awesome and the draft was awesome last year.

I went last year and it was fantastic. The logistical problem might be that it’s not a financial money maker for the venue. I paid $130 for the first round which was exorbitant for the draft but typically they’d run a concert on a Friday night where people would pay $500+ for a seat. Last I heard, the Sphere was losing a lot of money.

The other annoying thing was that Day 2 started at 8:30am. Typically it’d be 10am at past drafts. It had to start early because the Sphere staff needed to clean up in time for a 4pm movie showing. Definitely felt weird to force myself to go to sleep at midnight on a perfectly good Friday night in Vegas.

We'll see how well the theater setup works. It won’t be as much fun to attend since half the fun was photo/autograph pops with the team personnel, but LA is an easy enough destination for me.