tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999!!

Since I wrote a tiny blurb about the Sedin twins the other day, and I'd always wondered how Vancouver got the #2 AND #3 overall picks (which they used to take the Sedins) in the 1999 draft, I did a little bit of research.

The 1999 NHL Draft was a bit wacky with lots of trades so that Vancouver could arrange to pick the twins together. I think the entire world was all freaked out about the turn of the millennium, or the apocalypse, because there were wacky drafts in the NFL and NBA that year too. I'll try to recap as clearly as possible.

NBA DRAFT
I'm not aware of any blockbuster trades or any draft day maneuvering, but there was definitely some weird stuff. For the first time, maybe ever, there was no player from the University of North Carolina selected in the first round. Four players from Duke were selected with the first 14 picks, including three underclassmen. Never before had a player left Duke early, but three left that year.

Elton Brand (Sophomore) was selected with the first pick by Chicago

Trajan Langdon (graduate) was selected with the eleventh pick by Cleveland

Corey Maggette (Freshman) was selected with the thirteenth pick by Seattle

William Avery (Sophomore) was selected with the fourteenth pick by Minnesota

Actually, there was some drama with the Magette pick. The Sonics turned around and traded his rights, plus Dale Ellis, Billy Owens, and Don ("Miss American Pie") MacLean to Orlando in exchange for Horace Grant and two future draft picks.

NFL DRAFT
The New Orleans Saints traded their first round (#12 overall), plus their next five picks AND their first two picks from the 2000 draft to the Redskins, who had the #5 overall pick. All so they could draft Ricky Williams. That one didn't quite work out.

NHL DRAFT
Brian Burke, who was then GM of the Canucks knew that the Sedins wanted to play together, and he knew that they wouldn't come to the NHL unless they could. He figured a way to make it happen. His Canucks had the third overall pick in the draft, and needed a way to get the two pick as well, as the Sedins were rated the #1 and #2 European skaters. It was very complicated, and he paid a steep price, but he made it happen. here's how it went down:

1. Vancouver traded Bryan McCabe and a first round pick in 2000 to Chicago for the #4 overall pick
   
2. Vancouver traded the newly acquired #4 pick AND the #75 and #88 picks to Tampa for the #1 overall pick
   
3. Vancouver traded the newly acquired #1 pick AND a conditional second round pick in 2000 to Atlanta for the #2 overall pick.(EDIT -- and a third round pick in 2000)

If you're following closely, you'll see that so far, three teams have had the right to the #4 pick. That saga wasn't over, though. Tampa Dealt the 4 pick to the Rangers for Dan Cloutier, Nik Sundstrum and a first and third round pick in the 2000 draft.

All that fuss so the Sedins could play together.

You might ask why I went to such pains to point out that the #4 pick changed hands so many times. The Rangers used that pick to select Pavel "Krispy" Brendl, who eventually landed with the Hurricanes. He was a phenom in junior hockey, and even played well in the AHL, but he never has and never will amount to anything in the NHL.