NHL Mock Draft Part 1 PIcks 1-10

1. Edmonton Oilers- Ryan Nugent Hopkins
   
2. Colorado Avalanche- Johnathan Huberdeau
   
3. Florida Panthers- Gabriel Landeskog
   
4. New Jersey Devils-Adam Larrson
   
5. New York Islanders- Dougie Hamilton
   
6. Ottawa Senators- Sean Couturier
   
7. Winnipeg- Ryan Strome
   
8. Columbus Blue Jackets- Mika Zibanejad
   
9. Boston Bruins (from Toronto)- Ryan Murphy
   
10. Minnesota Wild- Nathan Beaulieu
    

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This Day in Sports History

1958 - Racing jockey Eddie Arcaro got win number 4,000, as he rode the winner at Santa Anita race track in Southern California.

1971 - Phil Esposito (Boston Bruins) became the quickest NHL player to reach 50 goals in a season.

1974 - Gordie Howe came out of retirement to play for the Houston Aeros with his two sons.

1993 - The New York Islanders retired Billy Smith's #31.

1993 - The Florida Marlins opened their first spring training camp.

1997 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) signed a contract worth $22.9 million over 2 years.

This information was taken from: http://www.on-this-day.com/cgi-bin/otd/sportsotd/sportsotd.pl

Dale Earnhardt Remembering a Legend

Before I delve into this post, let me preface it by saying that in no way shape or form do I follow NASCAR, nor do I watch it, however I believe that somebody of this magnitude needs to be written about and remembered. It was 10 years ago at the Daytona International Speedway, on the final lap of NASCAR's super bowl the unthinkable happened. Earnhardt was sitting in third place behind good friend Michael Waltrip who was in the lead, and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt was blocking other drivers so Waltrip and Jr could finish first and second respectively. As they entered turn 4 Earnhardt's car was bumped and he went careening into the wall in excess of 100 MPH. When the first responders reached Earnhardt's car to rescue him, things looked bleak and their worst fears were confirmed. Earnhardt suffered at fractured skull, eight broken ribs, a broken ankle, and a fractured sternum. Two hours after the accident NASCAR president Mike Helton told the world what they did not want to hear, "Undoubtedly this is one of the toughest announcements I've ever personally had to make. After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt." Dale Earnhardt did more for NASCAR than I will ever know. What a tribute it would be for Dale Sr if Dale Jr can somehow pull of the victory of NASCAR's hallmark race.

This Day in Sports History

1983 - The Indiana Pacers began a 28 game road losing streak.

1984 - Bill Bradley had his New York Knickerbocker number 24 retired at Madison Square Garden.

1995 - John Stockton (Utah Jazz) became the first player to register 10,000 assists.

1996 - Frankie Fredericks of Namibia became the first man to run 200 meters under 20 seconds indoors. He set the record at 19.92 seconds.

2001 - NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the Daytona 500 race.

This information was taken from http://www.on-this-day.com/cgi-bin/otd/sportsotd/sportsotd.pl