|
The 1979 NHL Entry Draft took place on August 9, 1979, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 126 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the reverse order of the 1978–79 NHL season and playoff standings. The draft was the first to be conducted after the NHL-WHA merger. As part of the terms of the merger, the four former WHA teams had joined the NHL on the condition that they be placed at the bottom of the draft order, as opposed to the top of the order as is usually the case for expansion teams. In addition, the minimum draft age was lowered from 20 to 18. The NHL had been considering lowering the draft age for some time (the WHA did not have a minimum age), and timed the decision to lower the draft age at least in part to coincide with the merger. The lowering of the draft age caused three years' worth of draft picks to go in the same draft, resulting in what is generally considered one of the best draft classes in NHL Entry Draft history, which included future hall-of-famers Ray Bourque, Mike Gartner and Michel Goulet in the first round alone. Hall-of-famers Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson would be drafted in later rounds. 12 of the 21 players selected in the first round would play in at least one All-Star game, 19 of the 21 would play at least 450 career NHL games, and all 21 had NHL careers of at least 235 games. The year 1979 was Wayne Gretzky's 18-year-old NHL Draft, whereas 1981 was his 20-year-old NHL Draft. The 1979 Draft had 108 fewer selections than the previous draft and was the shortest draft since 1971. As of 2013, it is the last Entry Draft to have fewer than 200 selections. Due to the strength of the class and fewer selections, there are many undrafted players who were eligible to be drafted who went on to have notable NHL careers, including Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli, five-time Stanley Cup champion Charlie Huddy and four-time 50-goal scorer Tim Kerr. ==Wayne Gretzky== Rising superstar Wayne Gretzky had played for the Edmonton Oilers in the WHA's final season. As per the terms of the NHL-WHA merger, Gretzky was to have become eligible for the 1979 draft due to the lowering of the draft age. However, Gretzky had a personal services contract with Oilers owner Peter Pocklington. The NHL had originally expected that Gretzky's personal services contract would be voided. But Gretzky, faced with the likelihood having to play for the struggling Colorado Rockies if he were to enter the draft, refused to void his contract with Pocklington. As a result, a compromise was reached in which the Oilers were allowed to keep Gretzky in exchange for being placed at the bottom of the draft order in the Entry Draft. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1979 NHL Entry Draft」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|