More photos » by Paul Chiasson - AP

4 months ago: NHL teams are gathered on the floor of the Bell Centre for day two of the 2009 NHL entry draft Saturday, June 27, 2009 in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

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What an exciting run it was to be part of this year's NHL Draft up in Montreal.  Having spent years watching from the confines of a raggedy couch in my mother's basement, wearing my favorite pair of underwear and washing down mounds of Doritos with a can of Mountain Dew, it was a real privilege to find myself on press row with the likes of so many media professionals.  But if you ever thought the wall between blogger and mainstream media has since faced the same fate as the Berlin Wall, you'd be mistaken.  Some of my constituents hardly made an effort to BS while waiting for draft picks, while others were as friendly as they come.  Yet in light of all those stereotypes that bloggers can't be trusted and we are the root of all rumors (see also: Eklund) I will refrain from naming names of those who utterly hate what SBN is trying to do.  Not to mention a meeting I accidentally slipped into discussing the exact same thing - bloggers.

The first round was a long, drawn out debacle obviously structured for TV.  It took almost four hours to get through 30 picks.  Yet when rounds two through seven kicked off Saturday morning, 181 picks went by in the same span of time.  It's amazing what you can do when cameras and TV breaks aren't around.

I have some great audio on the way with prospects Philip Samuelsson and Ben Hanowski.  Also have a quick interview from former Pen Ulf Samuelsson and director of scouting Jay Heinbuck.  All of that to come by tomorrow morning.

First, I have a nice long car ride ahead of me. 

Au revoir Montreal.

PENSBURGH DRAFT COVERAGE

• Simon Despres (30th overall) with audio
• Philip Samuelsson (61st overall)
• Ben Hanowski (63rd overall)
• Andy Bathgate (151 overall)
• Other picks: Nick Petersen (121), Alex Velischek (123), Viktor Ekbom (181)

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