CFL Drafts of the past

With just over a week to go until the CFL Canadian College Draft, the eight teams around the league are finalizing their draft boards and preparing for the draft itself after months of scouting and evaluating. The video highlights and testing numbers have been looked at, the interviews conducted, and the teams will now be putting together their lists of what they need and who fits into what they’re looking for.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders hold the first overall pick, and the consensus is that they’ll likely select offensive lineman Ben Heenan with the selection. With the retirement of offensive guard Gene Makowsky in the off-season, the Riders might find a good replacement in Heenan. Another positive for the Riders here is that Heenan played his university football in the province, with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

The CFL draft is unique wherein anyone in the draft can make an impact, whether they be a first-round pick or a sixth-round pick. As readers might remember from my column “Ode to the Sleepers and Stinkers” from March, I love a good sleeper pick as well as a good bust, and the CFL draft is always full of them.

Here are lists, going backwards in time, of the best sleeper picks in CFL draft history, followed by some of the biggest draft busts, as well as some of the surprise picks in the last fifteen years of the draft.

Sleepers

What is a sleeper? A sleeper here shall be defined as a player taken in one of the last two rounds of the draft, who earned a regular spot on a roster or made a significant impact with the team who drafted him, or a team he was traded to. Others could be added to this list, but they were released from the team who drafted them, therefore nullifying their status as a sleeper (ex: Mathieu Bertrand).

Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, OL, 6^th round, 48^th pick overall by Montreal in 2008

Brodeur-Jourdain, a prospect from Laval, was 2008’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” the nickname provided to the last person chosen in a draft. He has since proven to be anything but irrelevant, stepping in at centre and filling the void left when longtime Alouette centre Bryan Chiu retired the day before training camp began in 2010. LBJ helped the Alouettes to a Grey Cup victory in his first year as the starter, and has become the anchor in arguably the league’s best offensive line, who produced the league’s leading rusher in Brandon Whitaker in 2011.

Chris Getzlaf, WR, 5^th round, 33^rd pick overall by Hamilton in 2007

The University of Regina receiver has seen his production increase steadily over his four-year career, since arriving in Saskatchewan in an August 2007 trade. Getzlaf helped the Riders to back-to-back Western Division championships, and in 2011 earned his first career 1,000-yard receiving season while also being named his team’s Most Outstanding Canadian. Getzlaf formed ¼ of the Riders’ “Canadian Air Force” with Rob Bagg, Andy Fantuz, and Jason Clermont, but with Fantuz now a Tiger-Cat and Clermont retired, Getzlaf should once again see his production increase in 2012.

Bryan Crawford, RB, 5^th round, 44^th pick overall by Toronto in 2005

While his offensive numbers are nothing spectacular, Crawford’s value was found on special teams, where he played seven seasons for the Argonauts. He was one of the mainstays on an Argo team which has seen massive personnel turnover over the past four or five years, and is one of the reasons why the Argos special teams have been so successful along with the emergence of Chad Owens over the past two seasons. Crawford retired this off-season, but his value to the Argonauts’ franchise is not one to be frowned upon.

Dave Stala, WR, 6^th round, 50^th pick overall by Montreal in 2003

Stala spent six years among a myriad of star receivers in Montreal before signing with Hamilton, where he has spent the last three seasons. During his time in Montreal, Stala played in three Grey Cups, and accumulated 1,037 yards in his third season, while in Hamilton he has become a fan favourite not just for his production on the field, but for his creative touchdown celebrations as well (His hackey sack celebration might be one of the best of all time). In 2010, Stala was the East Division nominee for Most Oustanding Canadian, and led the Ticats in receiving last season. With Andy Fantuz’s signing in the off-season, he will play a more complementary role, but one he will no doubt embrace.

Chris Hardy, DB, 6^th round, 47^th pick overall by Edmonton in 1997

Hardy, like Crawford, was a player who was able to find a niche on special teams in the CFL. A quarterback with University of Manitoba in college, Hardy made the switch to free safety, where he played limited time, but showed his true versatility on special teams. During six-year stints with each Edmonton and Toronto, Hardy played time on the coverage teams, as well as displayed his skill at punting and placekicking at various points in his career. Hardy was a team captain in the later years of his career with the Argonauts, and was an important cog on their special teams wheel while providing veteran leadership in the locker room.

Busts

It should be noted that this list of “busts” does not include draft picks who pursued an NFL career instead, but rather a group who tried the CFL route and became busts. Also, busts have to be someone who had some pre-draft buzz around them, or someone who people might remember. Even the most hardcore CFL fan can look at the first two rounds of the 2005 draft and go “Huh?” at many of the names.

Saleem Borhot, DB, 2^nd round, 12^th pick overall by Edmonton in 2010

This was a pick that surprised many who felt that Borhot’s lack of strength and size would see him at the best being a later-round pick or free agency pickup. Borhot didn’t last too long in Edmonton, as he was put on the injured reserve before the season ended, and had been the recipient of a few highlight-reel hits delivered by the ball carriers in five appearances.

Dylan Barker, DB, 1^st round, 1^st pick overall by Hamilton in 2008

Barker being on this list is in no way a reflection on Barker’s talent level. He was very deserving of the #1-selection, but just ran into too many injury troubles, including a broken leg which ended his rookie season before it started, and a back injury which caused him to miss the entire 2011 season. While he never amounted to being the hard-hitting safety which the Ticats drafted him to be, he did set a record with 37 special teams tackles in 2009. However, the back injury forced him into retirement this January, meaning Barker’s short career puts him on this list.

Chris Bauman, WR, 1^st round, 1^st pick overall by Hamilton in 2007

Is Hamilton cursed with drafting busts? Or is Bauman cursed with being a bust? Bauman, a 6-foot-4 receiver, showed flashes of his potential during four seasons with Hamilton, but only accumulated a total of 1,511 yards for the Ticats before signing a very lucrative contract with Edmonton last off-season. Bauman continued to underachieve, however, with only 11 catches in only seven games as an Eskimo. Bauman has since moved on to his third team, after being signed by Calgary post-release from Edmonton, meaning that not only was Bauman the bust of the draft in 2007, but also the bust of the free agency class in 2011.

Adam Braidwood, DL, 1^st round, 1^st pick overall by Edmonton in 2006

Braidwood would be named the Eskimos’ rookie of the year in 2006, but things quickly went downhill after that. He played only three more years of CFL football before being let go by Edmonton for a variety of reasons. Mixed Martial Arts became a more interesting career to Braidwood, while he also wound up in severe legal troubles after being charged with aggravated assault and forcible confinement, along with several firearm offences. While, like Bauman, showing flashes of his potential, it was the off-field distractions which led Braidwood to being named a bust.

Dave Miller-Johnston, K, 1^st round, 2^nd pick overall by Toronto in 1998

Miller-Johnston is the highest kicker ever selected in the CFL draft, but the Concordia product never attempted a kick in the CFL. How bad is it? Tie Domi has more attempted kicks in the CFL than Miller-Johnston. Also, if you try Googling “Dave Miller-Johnston CFL,” Google says “Did you mean: Dave Miller-Johnson CFL?” Yeah, pretty easy to say this guy was a bust.

Surprise Picks

The surprise picks are players who leapt onto the draft radar essentially at the draft, or who were taken perhaps unexpectedly high.

Akwasi Antwi, LB, 4^th round, 26^th pick overall by Calgary in 2011

Antwi wasn’t on many teams’ radars because a lot of teams might not have known he was draft-eligible. Even Antwi himself didn’t even know he was draft eligible, nor did a lot of people at Mount Allison, who were all pleasantly surprised when Antwi’s name was called at the ’11 draft. After only three years in the CIS, Antwi played in all eighteen games for the Stampeders, mainly on special teams, but Calgary’s draft board was likely the only one he was on due to defensive coordinator Chris Jones’s connections out east.

Marco Brouillette, LB, 3^rd round, 23^rd pick overall by Montreal in 2010

A quarterback at Universite de Montreal, Brouillette was on some people’s draft boards, but not as high as 23^rd overall. The Alouettes snapped him up early because of his freak athletic ability, and versatility on the field. Moved to the defensive side of the ball, Brouillette showed his versatility in an injury-decimated Montreal defence in 2011, appearing at all three linebacker spots as well as halfback and free safety. He also scored his first CFL touchdown on an electrifying fake punt, where he showed off his speed and running ability which made him a successful CIS quarterback and put him on the draft radar to begin with.

Samuel Giguere, WR, 1^st round, 8^th pick overall by Hamilton in 2008

Giguere was on the NFL scene by the time the 2008 CFL draft rolled around, but much like Vaughn Martin (drafted 39^th overall by Montreal in 2011), it was expected that Giguere would fall down to the later rounds because of his NFL potential. Hamilton was quick on the draw however, snatching him up with the hopes that his NFL career wouldn’t work out. Well, unfortunately for Hamilton, it did somewhat work out, and the Sherbrook graduate is still south of the border. Just because he hasn’t yet had a CFL career doesn’t mean he won’t, but it does mean he is one of the surprise picks.

Warren Kean, K, 1^st round, 2^nd pick overall by Edmonton in 2007

With Sean Fleming still the Eskimos’ number one guy (although ironically he would retire after the 2007 season), some found it strange that Edmonton would pick a kicker so high. With little demand for kickers at the time, and only one other kicker drafted (35^th overall), Kean going 2^nd overall surprised some around the league. Consider this too: current CFL regulars JP Bekasiak, Justin Phillips and Jabari Arthur were all first-round selections that year as well, as the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th selections. With Derek Schiavone, Grant Shaw and Burke Dales now Eskimos, Kean’s career was short-lived, although he did sign short-term contracts with Calgary and Saskatchewan over the past couple of seasons. Miller-Johnston is still the biggest bust at kicker, but Kean being selected so early is still one of the all-time surprises.

Philippe Girard, DB, 1^st round, 5^th pick overall by Edmonton in 1998

The second Mount Allison player in this category, Girard is a surprise pick not only because of where he was drafted, but where he played on the field. Girard, an All-Canadian at defensive halfback, played the majority of his CFL career as a defensive end; an abrupt change for sure. Drafted ahead of future superstars Ben Cahoon and Scott Flory, Girard was likely on the draft radars of many teams, but perhaps not as high as 5^th overall; in an NCAA-heavy first three rounds, the focus was clearly south of the border and certainly not on Atlantic Canada. Girard remains the highest-drafted player out of Mount Allison, and was the highest-drafted player out of the AUS until 2003.

Best Draft team-by-team

Keeping in mind that this is only taking into consideration the last fifteen years, here are the best draft years each team has had in that time.

BC Lions: 2010: Shawn Gore (WR), Hamid Mahmoudi (DB), Akeem Foster (WR), Cauchy Muamba (DB)

Calgary Stampeders: 2005: Miguel Robede (DL), Godfrey Ellis (OL), John Comiskey (OL), Brett Ralph (WR)

Edmonton Eskimos: 2008: Greg Wojt (OL), Tim St-Pierre (LB/FB/LS), Justin Cooper (DL)

Saskatchewan Roughriders: 2006: Andy Fantuz (WR), Luca Congi (K)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 2008: Brendon Labette (OL), Aaron Hargreaves (WR), Don Oramasionwu (DL), Pierre-Luc Labbe (LB/LS)

Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 2003: Julian Radlein (FB), Kevin Scott (LS), Agustin Barrenechea (LB/FB)

Toronto Argonauts: 2008: Mike Bradwell (WR), Mark Dewit (OL), Tyler Scott (WR), Matt Black (DB)

Montreal Alouettes: 2008: Shea Emry (LB), Andrew Woodruff (OL), Paul Woldu (DB), Luc Brodeur-Jourdain (OL)

The 2012 CFL Draft will take place Thursday, May 3^rd in Toronto and will be broadcast on TSN. It is an exciting time for college players around Canada, and is the first sign that training camps are right around the corner. Who will be the next Marco Brouillette, Dava Stala, and Dave Miller-Johnston? Only time will tell, but be sure to tune in to TSN next Thursday to start finding out!

Ode to the Sleepers and Stinkers

There’s nothing I love more than watching sports analysts be proven wrong. I don’t know why, and it’s strange considering I am a budding sports journalist who one day hopes to be one of these analysts. There’s just some weird, undiscovered pleasure to be found when a team proves one of these guys wrong.

Going into every NHL season, the so-called “experts” make their picks and predictions as to who will win each division, and who will qualify in a playoff spot, and so on and so forth. And every year there’s a few teams who just screw everything up, whether it’s by being a feel-good story taking everyone by surprise, or a team who just manages to stink it up. This week I salute those sleepers and call out the stinkers, and thank them for disrupting the experts since, well, as long as there’s been experts to disrupt.

Eastern Conference

Sleepers

Florida Panthers – who would have picked this group to be leading the Southeast division right now? For the past few years it’s almost been a gimme pick to have Washington atop the divisional standings as a pre-season prediction, but led offensively by Kris Versteeg and helped by Brian Campbell from the blueline, it seems as though Florida is set to take the division. It doesn’t hurt that Jose Theodore has managed to re-discover what it’s like to be an adequate goaltender, and he’s been in net for 19 of the Panthers’ 32 wins this season. A no-name group of players for sure, but one which is ready to de-throne Washington as perennial division champions.

New Jersey Devils – Every year the Devils are picked to be out of the playoff picture, and every year they make playoffs. This year will be no different, as once again the Devils give the metaphorical middle finger to all those doubters. They won’t win the Atlantic division (Rangers, Penguins and Flyers are all ahead of them in the standings), but they’ll still provide an interesting playoff matchup for whoever they play. Ilya Kovalchuk is maintaining his superstar status, while the ageless wonder Martin Brodeur is still, yes still backstopping Jersey to a respectable playoff position. In all likelihood, they’ll finish sixth, but there is a chance they could catch Philadelphia for fifth place in the East. Take that, doubters!

Ottawa Senators – Rank these kids right up there with Florida as surprise team of the year. Not many could have seen the Sens in any type of playoff position in September, with such a young team on the ice every night. However this group of kids has had the right type of veteran leadership provided by Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, and Erik Karlsson could very well be the next great NHL superstar defenceman. Craig Anderson has been steady all season, and Robin Lehner and Ben Bishop have stepped up well in his relief recently. A balanced offensive outburst aided by players like Chris Neil and Zack Smith has allowed Ottawa to find themselves comfortably in sixth place in the East, where they will likely end up. And don’t even try and tell me Paul MacLean’s moustache has nothing to do with their success this year…

Winnipeg Jets – So I know right now the Jets are in tenth in the East, four points behind Washington; but did anyone predict they would be anywhere near this spot? None of the experts did, but I bet the city of Winnipeg saw this coming. Ok, maybe not even they saw it coming, but that’s beside the point, which is that Winnipeg is still realistically in the playoff race. Right in the middle of it. Andrew Ladd’s leadership and the fanbase of Winnipeg have spurred the Jets on all season long, and while they’ve stumbled recently it isn’t because of goaltending. Ondrej Pavelec has been outstanding recently, allowing the former Atlanta Thrashers, who had only made playoffs once in their franchise’s history, to find themselves with a shot. A team essentially ignored by the experts at the beginning of the season has proven they have what it takes to prove these experts wrong, so I salute you Winnipeg!

Stinkers

Washington Capitals – At times this season it seems like the Capitals can’t buy a goal. Which brings me to this thought, which is that they’re paying Alexander Semin way too much money. A coaching change mid-season hasn’t brought about a change in their success, although they do now find themselves in the eighth playoff spot. Still, in a division with teams like Florida and Tampa Bay, you’d think Alexander Ovechkin’s Caps would be able to run away with the division. You would think.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Again, a team making a late-season charge at a playoff spot, but it might be too little, too late for the Lightning, who seemed destined to be a playoff team after making it all the way to the Conference Final  a year ago. Dwayne Roloson hasn’t been the same goalie, and Steven Stamkos has only recently turned on the little goal light in his head that makes him score on a regular basis. Too bad really, they seemed like they were about to challenge for the Southeast division title…

Toronto Maple Leafs – As if you thought they were actually going to make playoffs. Shame on you if you did.

Western Conference

Sleepers

St Louis Blues – Can you believe that the Blues are first overall in the NHL? Can you believe that nobody would have thought that at the beginning of the year? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you’re definitely not alone. Incredible goaltending from Jaro Halak and Brian Elliott has boosted the Blues in the standings all season long, and now they find themselves on top. They don’t have a point-per-game player, but they do have eight players with double-digit goals, showing that any player can contribute offensively on any given night. They’re sure giving these experts the Blues now.

Dallas Stars – Yes, Dallas, the team of the NHL’s best players you’ve never heard of. In the media vacuum that is hockey in Texas, players like Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson provide the offensive spark, while Michael Ryder has scored 30 goals for the first time in five years. Kari Lehtonen has been rock-solid in net for the Pacific-leading Stars, who only lead the division by two points, yet are 9-0-1 in their last ten. If they stay on this roll, playoff hockey will be coming to Texas once again. Not that anybody there really cares.

Phoenix Coyotes – it is truly amazing how this ragtag team of rejects does it year after year. They’re in seventh in the West right now, only two points back of the Pacific Division lead, and they’re doing it with players like Radim Vrbata and Ray Whitney leading the charge. Vrbata, who went through five teams in nine years before finding a home in the desert, Whitney, who had played for six different teams and is now 39 years old. Up and down the roster, you can find players who you remember scoring goals for some other team five years ago, and who you hadn’t heard from in a couple of seasons. Well, they’re emerging (sort of) now in Phoenix, and thriving under Dave Tippett’s coaching. When all is said and done, the team will likely make playoffs for the third year in a row, once again likely amidst rumours of relocation and ownership changes. Take that, experts!

Colorado Avalanche – Oh, those pesky Avalanche, always screwing things up in the Northwest division. Experts tend to take the sexier picks like Calgary, or even this year Edmonton (good one), but the Avs are showing they can never be counted out. Or maybe they should always be counted out, because that’s when they’ve thrived recently. Winners of seven of their last ten, and winners of seventeen games in 2012, the Avalanche are currently holding down eighth spot in the Western playoff picture, ahead of perennial playoff teams like San Jose and Anaheim. A playoff spot would look good on this group, led offensively by a young man named Ryan O’Reilly (sure he’s no Burnaby Joe, but the kid’s got talent).

Stinkers

Los Angeles Kings – I remember one of TSN’s “experts” prior to the season commenting how the Kings were going to have no problem finding offence this season, and the only question mark would be their goaltending. Well, the Kings can now laugh heartily in this “expert’s” egg-covered face, because you guessed it, the opposite has happened! LA has had no luck offensively this season, and goalie Jonathan Quick has single-handedly been what has kept them in the playoff race for so long. They’re not completely out of it (yet), but they desperately need to find that lost offence really soon if they want to have a chance. Nobody knows how to take an expert’s prediction to heart like the LA Kings, they really showed that guy!

San Jose Sharks – Again, a team not completely out of it, sitting only one game back of Colorado with three games in hand. But the Sharks, on paper, should be division leaders, no? Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe, a Cup-winning goaltender in Antti Niemi. No? This doesn’t sound like a perennial division champion to you? Ok good, me either, I was just trying to appease the hungry Sharks. But they should definitely be a playoff team, and the fact they are in ninth is somewhat surprising. Maybe the only good news for the Sharks is that if they make the playoffs, it wouldn’t be very likely at all that they’d play their playoff-nemesis Nashville Predators until the third round at least.

Calgary Flames – Oh, those pesky Flames, always screwing things up in the Northwest division. Sound familiar? It seems like when the consensus is for the Flames to do well, they suck, and when the consensus is for the Flames to do poorly, they do well. This year I don’t think there really was a consensus either way, which explains why the Flames are now floundering in the middle of a tight group racing for the final two playoff spots in the West. Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff, as always, lead the Flames’ charge, which is starting to heat up a bit, as is Curtis Glencross. Still, the Flames should be doing better than tenth in the West, especially in the same division as perennial stinkers Colorado, Minnesota, and Edmonton.

Anaheim Ducks – While I do take great pleasure in watching the Ducks fail this season (they just haven’t been the same in my eyes since they ditched the “Mighty”), it is with some surprise. On paper they look like more than a sleeper team, but they’ve turned into a bit of a stinker this year. I guess that’s what can happen when a 41-year old leads your team in scoring, and the guy who’s supposedly the best power forward in hockey (hey Ryan Getzlaf, ever heard of Jarome Iginla?) only scores nine goals. Jonas Hiller has been missing in action as well, with a personal record far below .500.