It's hard to argue about the Canes pick last night. They could have selected a potential French-Canadian superstar who has a questionable attitude. They could have selected a potential Russian superstar with a questionable work ethic. Instead they chose the closest thing to a sure bet that they could, Brandon Sutter. Is this an exciting pick? Probably not, but is anyone in their right mind going to complain about choosing someone from the Sutter family? Brandon has solid numbers in the juniors so far, but they aren't eye-popping like some of the forwards picked before him. During his 2 seasons with Red Deer he had 22 goals in his first year and 20 last year. He's a tall and lanky kid, but he needs to put on some more muscle before he can be effective in the NHL.
There are plenty of articles out about Brandon right now, just check the news feed links for information in the Carolina Hurricanes links and Lord Stanley's Blog links. He's friends with Cam Ward who also played in Red Deer and seems very happy to be picked by Carolina! Here is some personal information listed about him on the Red Deer Rebels Homepage.
personal info: Nickname � Suttsy, Brando, lil� sutts; hobbies: playing poker and golf and eating food; if he wasn�t playing hockey, he would be sleeping and eating; favourite music � country; favourite TV show � Family Guy; favourite food � chicken enchilada, ribs and steak; favourite NHL team � Calgary Flames; favourite NHL player � Jarome Iginla; plays like � Steve Yzerman. If he was stranded on an island he would want food, a laptop and a boat with him.
It's good he likes to eat food, that will help him to beef up a bit! Jim Rutherford said that Brandon will be invited to camp this fall, but they expect that he will be returned to the juniors for another year. You never know though, the kid could surprise people.
In reviewing some of the other picks, I think I would have picked Turris number one if I had to make the choice. Kane seems too small to me. I have no idea how Hickey got up to the 4rth pick! It was pretty funny listening to Pierre McGuire spitting over himself, complaining about the Russian kid not being picked until later. I felt a bit sorry for Esposito, but there had to be a good reason so many teams passed on him. It seems to be a good fit for him in Pittsburgh though. Looks like Mario has another house guest!
Bottom line about tonight, Rutherford and the scouting staff seem to have made a decent decision here. There's no wondering about how long Sutter will want to stay in college. There's no extra money or influence needed to bribe Russian officials to get him to come to the states. There's no potential worrying here about anything. Brandon will want to play in the NHL as soon as he is able, or as soon as the Canes want him to. No doubt about that!
Good luck to you Brandon, and welcome to Carolina! You're part of the Hurricanes family now!
Sly and the Family Stone