IIHF – Celebrini highlights NHL draft

The NHL Entry Draft kicked off with a bang at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday night when legendary Joe Thornton took the stage to call the first overall choice for his old team, San Jose Sharks.  As expected, Canadian Macklin Celebrini got the call. The 18-year-old from North Vancouver, British Columbia, scored the bronze-medal-winning goal against Slovakia at the 2023 Men’s U18 World Championship and played on Canada’s World Junior Championship team this past January.
 
But perhaps the biggest news of Friday’s first round was the drafting of Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Stian Solberg. These two became the first Norwegians ever selected in the opening round, Brandsegg-Nygard going 15^th and his compatriot 23^rd. In all, there were four Norwegians drafted, the most ever. And although Latvia didn’t have a first-rounder, they also saw a record four players selected in the 2024 draft.
 
In all, Europeans were taken in 98 of 225 picks, or 43.6 per cent, the most since 2003. Leading the way was Russia with 27, followed by Sweden (22), Finland (18), Czechia (13, the most since 2005), Norway, Switzerland, and Latvia (4), Belarus (3), and one each for Austria, Germany, and Slovakia. Overall, Canada led the way with 88 choices (up from 86 a year ago), followed by the U.S. with 39 (down from 50 in 2023).
 
The first round announcements also featured two celebrities of very differing fame. For Montreal’s fifth overall pick, the one and only Celine Dion made the call, and for Philadelphia’s 13^th selection, Michael Buffer, famous for his bass boxing match tagline, “Are you ready to rumble?” made the selection.
 
For the third year in a row the first round came and went without so much as one goalie selected.  Teams made up for it in round two, however, selecting five goalies, and over seven rounds a total of 24 ‘tenders were chosen.
 
That inaugural round on Friday was dominated by Canadians who filled 18 of the 32 selections. Next was the U.S. with four while, shockingly, not a single Swede was chosen in the first round. But over the course of 225 selections, many stories played out.
 
Going 6^th overall to Utah was Tij Iginla. The first name might not ring a bell, but the last name certainly does. Jarome Iginla was one of the marquee players of his era, a player with a perpetual smile on his face and a nose for the net (625 career goals). His son now will try to follow in his footsteps. Tij had 12 points with Canada at the…