LIVE DRAFT
The Drakkar are at the Pepsi Colisée for the draft. There is tons of excitement in the air, and the place is packed. The Drakkar are expected to make their selection very soon.*
When commissioner Gilles Courteau calls upon the Drakkar, Lecavlier, Briere, St. Louis, Brisebois, and Robitaille all take to the stage. Lecavlier goes to the mic and says, "First off, I would like to thank the Québec Remparts for their great hospitality and it is a great city to host the draft in. I would know like to call upon head coach Luc Robitaille to make our pick." Robitaille goes up and makes the pick. "The Baie-Comeau Drakkar are very excited to select, from College Esther-Blondin, Daniel Audette." The crowd goes crazy while the cameras are all on Audette and the Drakkar unveil the jersey. He gets his picture taken and then he and the staff walk off stage. "I'm going to be honest, before the new owners, I wasn't going to report to Baie-Comeau. They don't have a great track record of developing players but as soon as I heard my childhood idol Vincent Lecavlier bought the team, I was all for it. I can't wait to get started!" said Audette. Audette is 5'7" and 165 lbs. "Daniel has a very high hockey IQ and he brings tons of energy to the table. He plays a lot like his father and will wear the same number (28) as him as well. We are very excited to have him!" said Brisebois.
The next four picks belonged to the PEI Rocket, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Gatineau Olympiques, and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in that order. Alexis Pépin, Clark Bishop, Alexandre Carrier, and Francis Perron were selected respectively. When Gilles Courteau called upon the Drakkar again, the same five guys went up. Patrice Brisebois made the selection. "The Baie-Comeau Drakkar are so, very proud to select, from the St-Eustache Vikings, Loik Levéille." Levéille went up on stage to recieve his jersey and get a picture. "I had a great feeling that Baie-Comeau was going to take me," said Loik, "And as soon as Robitaille had been named head coach I knew I was going here. My father is a friend of his so it's really exciting!" Loik is 5'11" and 200 lbs. GM Patrice Brisebois had this to say about the youngster, "Loik is a very strong defenceman, who is great offensively and isn't afraid to take risks. He has a solid chance of being in our top four next year, but will for sure play on the team."
There was another 4 players picked in between but the Drakkar had their next pick now. Gilles called them up yet again, but this time Robitaille did not go up and the assistant coaches did. Stéphane Matteau was to make the pick. "The Baie Comeau Drakkar are proud to select, 11th overall, from the St-Eustache Vikings, Carl Neill." Neill went on stage to recieve his jersey and get a photo. "I was not expecting to go in the first round, yet alone 11th overall. Words can't explain how excited I am to go this high, and to this team. I hope to crack the roster and get the season underway." said Neill. Brisebois had this to say about the kid, "Carl is a good solid two-way defenseman. He was on our target for awhile now and we are excited to have him. He will be on the team next year, but he may be a 7th or 8th dman. He definetly could play on the bottom pairing though. Training camp will be interesting for this kid."
This time the Drakkar had to wait 6 picks until they were up again. This time Fabian Joseph would make the pick. "The Drakkar are proud to select, with the last pick of the first round, from the Boston Junior Bruins, Jack Eichel." Eichel is comitted to an NCAA school and didn't bother showing up to the draft. Brisebois said, "Jack we think, is just as good as Daniel and if we can convince him to report it will be a steal of a pick. He brings a lot to the table and we think our NHL type staff and management will at least make him think twice about reporting. We will know more at the Import Draft."
"Overall, we had a great draft and we expect all players to make the team out of camp. Daniel, Loik, Carl and Jack are integral pieces to our future. Assuming all players play, Daniel will wear No. 28, Loik will wear No. 7, Carl No. 4, and Jack No. 11." said coach Luc Robitaille.