First Pick vs Best Pick From Every NHL Draft of the 1970s

The first name called at an NHL draft is not always the best player who comes out of it. This countdown runs from tenth to first through all ten drafts from 1970 to 1979, setting each year's first pick beside its best pick and comparing them using the games, goals, points and trophies each player actually recorded. Along the way it covers Denis Potvin's twelve-win Islanders, the 1972 draft that ran three hours and fifty-two minutes, Dave Taylor's path from a nickel-mining town north of Sudbury to the Kings' Triple Crown Line, and the 1974 draft in which Montreal held five first-round picks. It is a warm look back at a time when draft day meant a hotel ballroom or a conference call, for viewers who remember the game as it was played. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:35 10. First and Best 4:07 9. The Wheel 7:45 8. The Million-Dollar Pick 11:00 7. Harris or Barber 14:07 6. Pick Two Hundred and Ten 17:18 5. Lafleur or Dionne 20:30 4. McCourt or Bossy 23:46 3. Green or Federko 26:54 2. Forty-Seven Names 30:19 1. Joly or Trottier TAGS nhl draft 1970s, first pick vs best pick, best pick nhl draft history, denis potvin 1973 draft, bobby smith 1978 nhl draft, dave taylor 1975 draft, greg joly first pick 1974, bryan trottier draft, gilbert perreault 1970 draft, mike bossy 1977 draft, marcel dionne guy lafleur draft, nhl entry draft 1979, nhl draft history, old nhl draft, hockey draft history