The NHL's 2009 Entry draft will be held in Montreal on June 26th and 27th and several of our hockey blogs actually managed to swing press credentials - Pensburgh, Blueshirt Banter, Pension Plan Puppets, Die by the Blade, Defending Big D, Bird Watchers Anonymous and Habs Eyes on the Prize will all be giving you first hand accounts of the draft which should lead to an epic two-days for this network. 

Guess who else will be in Montreal that weekend?  That's right, yours truly.  Only - I'm not actually attending the draft.  I promised my girlfriend that we'd go on vacation after hockey season ended and it just so happens that she picked Montreal as the destination the same weekend as the draft.  Honestly, I had no part in this plan - just dumb luck on my part.  So while all the other bloggers are hard at work getting you up-to-the-minute info.. I'll be eating Poutine, speaking in my horrible French-Canadian accent and probably getting drunk.  

That doesn't mean we aren't going to be doing anything for the draft though.  Today sees the launch of the first ever SBN NHL Mock Draft.  Mirtle is using his blog to serve as Draft Central.  We'll be drafting three teams per day and Mirtle will be updating his chart with a brief statement from each team and a link to a fuller explanation.

Starting today, the blogs representing each team will pick who they want their team to take in the draft.  So first up are Lighthouse Hockey (Islanders), Raw Charge (Lightning) and Mile High Hockey (Avalanche).  No surprises here as Tavares, Hedman and Duchene go 1-2-3.

Next up for tomorrow are Thrashers, Kings and Coyotes.  We'll be drafting on the last day of the Mock Draft on the 26th.  Check out the full schedule here - we'll have more as we get closer to our draft day.