The Draft: The Penguins got shafted, Florida won the lottery!

Here's the draft order:

1. Florida
2. Atlanta
3. Columbus
4. Tampa Bay
5. Pittsburgh
6. Nashville
7. Anaheim
8. Minnesota
9. Calgary
10. Florida (from NY Rangers)
11. Buffalo
12. Washington
13. Dallas
14. Edmonton

The remaining positions will be determined after the playoffs.

The draft will be held June 22 and 23 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Wild sticks!: Oh, those crazy Minnesota Wild fans. They just can't seem to get enough of their team, even though it's, well…not very good.

The Wild is hosting an online auction of the team's sticks. While the auction does cut into the amount of memorabilia that the locker room attendants can take home with them after the season, at least they are going to a good cause. Proceeds from the event go to a local charity. So here's your chance to bid on your favorite Wild player's twig. Just think of how many goals still are nestled in those blades...

Be forewarned, however: the bidding is rather pricey. The Manny Fernandez goalie stick is going for more than $450. And the bidding doesn't end until April 29. (LCS HOCKEY)

Minnesota Stadium Madness: Eager to blow their tax dollars, Minnesotans are considering another publicly funded stadium boondoggle.

Team USA shaping up for World Championships: Forwards: Steve Konowalchuk of the Washington Capitals; Marty Reasoner of the Edmonton Oilers; Chris Clark of the Calgary Flames; Dan LaCouture of the Pittsburgh Penguins; Mark Mowers of the Nashville Predators; Richard Park of the Minnesota Wild; Erik Rasmussen of the Buffalo Sabres; and Joe Sacco of the Capitals.

Defensemen: Mark Eaton of the Predators; Todd Rohloff of the Capitals; and Chris Tamer of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Goal: Dieter Kochan of the Tampa Bay Lightning; and Sabres prospect Ryan Miller of Michigan State.

Andy Hilbert of the AHL's Providence Bruins, Mark Murphy of the AHL's Portland Pirates and Derek Plante of the German League's Munich Barons were the other forwards chosen.

The other defensemen selected were Jordan Leopold from the University of Minnesota, Josh DeWolf of the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and Chris O'Sullivan of the Swiss League's Kloten Flyers.

Playoffs begin in two hours: My favorites, the Penguins, are sitting this year out. So are my other faves, the Capitals. But there will be plenty of hockey to see nonetheless. I'm too busy, but go to LCS Hockey (finally back online with a new server) to get prepped for all the fun.

Trivia: The Edmonton Journal has compiled some great NHL playoff trivia.

Cue the horror flick music: Colorado Avalanche center Peter Forsberg has been cleared to play for the playoffs.

Forsberg, a six-time All-Star, was expected to miss four months after having foot surgery on Jan. 10. But he has been skating with the team for more than two weeks and was cleared to play on Tuesday.

"The leg has felt great and there was a lot of progress made last week," said Forsberg, who is expected to be in the lineup against Los Angeles on Thursday. "I am really healthy now and I feel great. It will be great to get back."

Forsberg has had four foot surgeries and his spleen removed in the past 11 months. (AP)

Relive past glory and past shame: with ESPN Classic puck

1980 STANLEY CUP FINALS, GAME 6
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS VS. NEW YORK ISLANDERS
NASSAU COLISEUM HEMPSTEAD, NY USA
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Wednesday

NHL PATRICK DIVISION SEMIFINALS, GAME 6
NEW YORK ISLANDERS VS. NEW JERSEY DEVILS
CONTINENTAL ARENA EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ USA
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Thursday

1986 STANLEY CUP FINALS, GAME 5
MONTREAL CANADIENS VS. CALGARY FLAMES
OLYMPIC SADDLEDOME CALGARY, CANADA
8 am to 9:30 am on Friday

1994 WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS, GAME 5
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS VS. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
MAPLE LEAF GARDENS TORONTO, CANADA
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Saturday

1997 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS, GAME 4
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
CIVIC ARENA PITTSBURGH, PA USA
1pm to 3pm on Tuesday Apr. 23

SPORTSCENTURY: WAYNE GRETZKY
8:00 pm to 9:00 pm and 11pm to midnight on Wednesday Apr. 24

Wings-Kings, date unknown
DETROIT RED WINGS AT LOS ANGELES KINGS
CLASSIC'S NHL GAME
DETROIT RED WINGS VS. LOS ANGELES KINGS
GREAT WESTERN FORUM INGLEWOOD, CA USA
I don't know which game this is, but I presume it is the game last year in the first round in which the Kings came back from an early deficit to pummel the Wings, before ousting them from the playoffs...
7pm to 9pm on Saturday Apr. 27

SPORTSCENTURY: WAYNE GRETZKY
again
9 am to 10am Sunday Apr. 28

1989 SMYTHE DIVISION SEMIFINALS, GAME 7
VANCOUVER CANUCKS VS. CALGARY FLAMES
OLYMPIC SADDLEDOME CALGARY, CANADA
7:30 am to 9:30 am on Tuesday Apr. 30

1994 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, GAME 6
NEW YORK RANGERS VS. NEW JERSEY DEVILS
MEADOWLANDS ARENA EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ USA
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Thursday May 2

Hmm... a playoff game in October? Classic needs better web editors
LOS ANGELES KINGS AT EDMONTON OILERS
CLASSIC'S NHL PLAYOFF GAME
10/15/89
NORTHLANDS COLISEUM EDMONTON, CANADA
7:30 pm to 9pm on Saturday May 4

NY Rangers coach gets the big boot out of the big apple: The New York Rangers' NHL-high payroll no longer includes coach Ron Low. The Rangers fired Low on Monday after two losing seasons and zero postseason appearances despite base salaries totaling about $70 million in 2001-02. The team went 36-38-4-3 this season and finished 11th in the Eastern Conference. It was the fifth straight year New York failed to make the playoffs. (ESPN)

Robert Lang might remain in Pittsburgh?: Pittsburgh Penguins center Robert Lang has fired his agent, three months before he will become an unrestricted free agent. Lang gave no reason for firing his agent, Paul Kraus, although he says he wants to remain in Pittsburgh, where he's been for the past five years.

Kraus and Penguins general manager Craig Patrick apparently didn't get along. (That might be because Kraus is reknowned in NHL circles as a big jackass).

Penguins right winger Alexei Kovalev says the Penguins likely want to keep Lang or they would have traded him last month. Lang was one of the Penguins' top scorers the season before last and broke his left hand in March, missing the rest of last season.

Initial playoff schedule: See it at ESPN

NHL Scoring Leaders at the end of the regular season:
Rank - Player - Team - Games Played - Goals - Assists - Points
1 Jarome Iginla, CGY 82 52 44 96
2 M. Naslund, VAN 81 40 50 90
3 Todd Bertuzzi, VAN 72 36 49 85
4 Mats Sundin, TOR 82 41 39 80
5 Jaromir Jagr, WAS 69 31 48 79
Joe Sakic, COL 81 26 53 79
7 Adam Oates, PHI 79 14 64 78
8 Pavol Demitra, STL 81 34 43 77
Ron Francis, CAR 80 27 50 77
10 Mike Modano, DAL 77 34 42 76
A. Kovalev, PIT 67 32 44 76
12 B. Shanahan, DET 79 37 38 75
Alexei Yashin, NYI 78 32 43 75
Craig Conroy, CGY 81 27 48 75
15 Keith Tkachuk, STL 72 38 35 73
Eric Lindros, NYR 72 37 36 73
M. Satan, BUF 82 37 36 73
Jason Allison, LOS 72 19 54 73
19 Glen Murray, BOS 82 41 30 71
D. Alfredsson, OTT 78 37 34 71

Canadians want more amateur sport funding, less pro bullshit: Environics survey suggests 65% of Canadians would like more government money spent on local arenas, playgrounds and swimming pools, as well as on sports for women, the poor, the disabled and aboriginals. But people are evenly split on whether more funding should go to high-performance athletes. Half think funding should be reduced or kept the same, while half think it should be increased. (National Post)

This day in history: April 15, 1952

With Terry Sawchuk tying a playoff record with his fourth shutout, the Red Wings complete their four-game sweep of the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final.