Nothing was going to stop former Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke from leaving the 1999 NHL Draft with both Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
Burke has credited former player and current scout Thomas Gradin for pushing for the Sedins, two players he watched play in Sweden. But liking the players was not enough. Burke needed to do some creative manoeuvring to get them both.
Burke knew that Atlanta, who had the second overall pick, wanted Patrik Stefan. But if Tampa Bay, who had the first pick, selected a Sedin, the plan would fall apart.
The Canucks had the third overall pick, but a flurry of trades by Burke allowed him to draft both Sedins. It began the night before the draft in Boston, with Burke completing a deal with Chicago for the fourth overall pick.
Bryan McCabe and a 2000 first-round pick to Chicago for the fourth overall pick
Flip fourth overall pick plus two third-round picks to Tampa Bay for the first overall pick
Flip the first overall pick to Atlanta for second overall pick and 2000 third-round pick
The result was the Atlanta Thrashers foolishly picking Stefan first overall, leaving Daniel and Henrik Sedin to be picked second and third overall by Vancouver.
Clearly that took a lot of work from Burke, who apparently had to leave his own daughter’s birthday to make it happen.
Katie Burke spilled the beans in this hilarious tweet:
Fun fact: my dad left our birthday celebrations to make this trade and at the time I said something like “how will you remember this decision.” Fondly, it turns out. Hall of fame return on investment. https://t.co/C9ZAzK9DrS
However it happened, Canucks fans are eternally grateful for it. Henrik and Daniel Sedin went on to become the best players in franchise history, each scoring over 1,000 points.
The other two highly rated players in that draft were Patrik Stefan, who went on to score 188 NHL points, and Pavel Brendl, who scored just 22 points.
OTTAWA – American receiver Justin Hardy will miss the Ottawa Redblacks’ regular-season finale Friday.
Hardy, who leads the CFL in receptions (97) and is second in receiving yards (1,343), was listed off Ottawa’s depth chart Thursday. Hardy was named Wednesday as the Redblacks’ nominee for the league’s outstanding player award.
American Andrew Miller will start in Hardy’s place.
Ottawa (8-7-1) concludes its regular season hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-10). The Redblacks have already clinched third in the East and will visit the Toronto Argonauts (10-7) in the division semifinal Nov. 2.
Hamilton has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Incumbent Dru Brown is listed as Ottawa’s starting quarterback.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — AC Milan’s weekend match at Bologna in Italy’s top soccer league has been postponed, Bologna officials announced Thursday following extensive flooding in the central Italian city.
The Serie A match had been scheduled for Saturday.
Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, large parts of which have been hard hit by torrential rains and bad weather for days.
The game was not immediately rescheduled.
“Following the flood that affected Bologna, intense work is underway to clean up the situation,” the city of Bologna said while announcing the game postponement on X.
BASEL, Switzerland – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov advanced to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday.
Shapovalov used a strong service game to overcome the Spanish veteran for the win at the ATP 500 event in just under one hour 40 minutes.
The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., fired 18 aces, including one to set up match point in the second-set tiebreaker, and won 79 per cent of first-serves and 63 per cent of second-serve points.
Shapovalov, a former top-10 player on the ATP Tour, entered this year’s Swiss Indoors ranked 95th and will appear in just his second quarterfinal of the season.
He improved to 3-0 against Bautista Agut, who he beat in July en route to a quarterfinal appearance in Washington.
Shapovalov will next face the winner of a match scheduled for later Thursday between defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
