All Habs Hockey Magazine is proud to provide a platform for guest writers to express their views on current issues. Today, we present a fan piece by Dan Bennett on his experience in attending the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal as part of the Rocket Sports Media Draft Event.

If you would like to share your fan experiences or have an opinion to contribute, contact us.

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ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — I could not have picked a better draft to attend as my first.  The excitement and intrigue of multiple trades, implications of a few more seasons of flat salary cap, and then the biggest surprise of the weekend, the first-overall selection, are forever ingrained in my fan memory.

After seeing at least 10 fans outside the Bell Centre wearing brand new or home-modified Habs jerseys with “Wright – 51” on them, watching him sign tons of autographs on the red carpet of Habs souvenirs and gear, along with the few times I’ve been privileged to see Shane Wright play in Kingston, I assumed his selection at number one was a done deal.

Then came the reaction in the stadium as soon as “from the Slovak National League” was said, ranging from a few boos, lots of surprised shock, and then tumultuous applause and cheering. That has to be the best memory from this trip.

Finally, combining that with the anger to the announcement that Alexander Romanov had been traded, followed by immediate relief and appreciation of Kirby Dach coming back was almost a bigger surprise reaction.  All that said, as a Leafs fan, the Canadiens capitalized on the home draft fantastically.

Attending the Draft with two of my closest friends, Rocket Sports Media (RSM) staff writer Mike Raschle and his guest, Shane Anderson, made this experience all the more special. I don’t get to see either of them enough due to my occupation moving me around the world and country every couple years. We had a great time exploring some Montreal hot spots for food and drink, almost always accompanied by Rocket Sports team members Michael Spinella and Sam Gerber.

Before this week, I had never consistently listened to RSM’s Canadiens Connection podcast, or carefully followed all of the articles published by anyone other than Mike on All Habs Hockey Magazine. I can honestly say I’m now a follower.  I actually just turned on the 200th episode of Canadiens Connection in my office this morning, while banging away through my Wednesday morning routine before all of the meetings start.

Coming from a former junior and collegiate player, you’ve got some awesome young people on your team who clearly know the game of hockey very well, and who truly did a spectacular job representing the Rocket Sports brand as what I will call ambassadors at the event.