There are a lot of ways to play the ‘no respect' card in the NHL, and here's one for the St. Louis Blues.
In Alberta, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) runs an annual hockey pool for residents of the province, all proceeds going to their foundation. They call it the World's Richest Hockey Draft, with a $50,000 first prize and entry forms were made available back on Mar. 21, online and in a local Edmonton newspaper.
Problem was, the playoff race in the Western Conference was so close in the third week of March that the organizers left a couple of long-shot playoff contenders off the list of eligible teams – the Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings and yes, those surging, pesky Blues.
Since there is no provision for any write-in candidates, either there are simply no St. Louis players eligible for selection. If the Blues win the Stanley Cup and Brad Boyes leads the playoffs in scoring, no one will be able to take advantage.
In effect, the Western Conference choices are limited to the other seven teams that qualified for the playoffs, unless one feels the need to pick a player from Edmonton or Dallas or Minnesota – all of whom are eligible for selection, even though their teams were all leapfrogged by the Blues in the final three weeks.
Another curious bit of prognosticating over in the Eastern Conference – nine Toronto Maple Leaf players were put up for grabs, but none from the Ottawa Senators. Must still be a lot of Leaf fans up Edmonton way.
