One of the Québécois claimed in the ninth round (of the 2000 entry draft) was defenseman Jean-Philippe Côté, 265th by Toronto. He is the son of Alain Côté, the ex-Nordique who scored the most famous disallowed goal in the history of québécois hockey.
"I think I know a little about hockey", said the father, a calm and thoughtful man if ever there was one, after the selection of his son.
"What I have trouble understanding, is that he was ranked very high last year, in the first few rounds, and so suddenly he fell so far.
"A concussion didn't help him, and then he was traded by the Remparts to Cape-Breton, to a low profile team.
"The trend is to Europeans and to American college players, who one can keep for four or five years without a contract."
Frustration Jean-Philippe, who seems to be the spitting image of his father, both as man and athlete, declared without pretense: "I am not mistaken that I was better than many players drafted before me. I don't think I'm the 265th best junior in the world."
He doesn't understand why so many Europeans with inferior statistics were drafted.
In the sixth round, while awaiting his turn, he went outside for a walk.
"I was frustrated", he admitted.
The day before he wasn't at the Saddledome because he knew that his chances of being drafted in the first three rounds were slim.
"I was afraid of being disappointed. I am a poor loser..." At the bottom of the first 96 choices was where he saw himself.
His father had been drafted in 1977: "It was a closed draft and one learned the news by telephone. I had been selected in the third or fourth round. There were no Europeans at that time..."
The son, already a solid bit of man at 6'2 " and 210 pounds, was at least happy to be chosen by the Leafs.
"It would have been marvellous anywhere, but I am quite glad to be in Toronto. It's not very far and I have an aunt over there."
Côté is a defensive defenseman.
"He's a little like me, he works hard", affirms his father, who sees that as his principal quality. "He is a player who will continually improve because he works very hard."
One can also say that he's expert in giving out solid body-checks, without being dirty... like his father was. He received only 36 penalty minutes last season.
His challenge now is to show all those hockey men that they were wrong to neglect the Quebec players as much as they did.
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www.rds.ca/hockey/fr.hock.lnh.repechage00.html
