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Draft has grown in pomp and pageantry

SUNRISE, Fla. – Pomp and pageantry was definitely not part of the NHL’s inaugural draft when six general managers sat around a hotel room in Montreal to divvy up 21 player prospects.

There were no calls to the podium. They weren’t greeted on stage by the league commissioner. Nobody slipped on a team jersey and cap while smiling uncontrollably as countless cameras and smart phones chronicled the moment of a lifetime.

Peter Mahovlich was part of the league’s first draft in 1963, though he didn’t know about it until the next day when a Red Wings scout called the house.