More photos » by Ryan Remiorz - AP

The backstage area at the Bell Centre where draftees would come to speak with the media following their selection.

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The weekend in Montreal began with a bang on Friday night as the Flyers acquired Chris Pronger. From that moment on, before the draft had technically even begun, the climax was over for fans of the orange and black. The splash was made -- the message was sent, you could say. It was all down hill from there.

But there were a lot of other goings on in Montreal this weekend that deserve comment.

• The first night of the draft is like night and day compared with the second, but they each have very strong pros and cons. It's painfully clear that the first round of the draft is WAY too long. It took the same amount of time to complete the first thirty picks as it did to complete the final 181, thanks to all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the first round. The crowd, the lights, the attention, the hype. That all has it's place and it's all good, but when it takes so long to finish because of all those things, day one of the draft certainly loses it's luster. Let's be real, how many of you watched the entire thing?
• Day two, on the other hand, might go a little too fast. I walked to the press interview area following one of the Flyers picks and when I got back to my seat on the draft floor, almost 30 picks had been made. I was only gone for a half hour, tops. It's hard to feel comfortable roaming around talking to people when you feel like you're missing so much. The second day has a feel like the front office guys all have flights to catch at 5 PM or something.
  
• Eklund makes all bloggers look bad -- physically and professionally.
• Besides the actual draft, the best part of the weekend was putting names to all of the faces we read around the web everyday. I was fortunate enough to meet eight different SBN bloggers -- Robert of Habs Eyes on the Prize, Brandon of Defending Big D, Dave of Die By The Blade, Matt of Bird Watchers Anonymous, Julian and Chemmy of Pension Plan Puppets, Jim of Blueshirt Banter, and Frank of Pensburgh. Each and every one of them were entertaining, respectful, funny, and most of all, they know their hockey. Side note: Frank set a world land speed record on the way home from Montreal. You'll be hearing the legend from your grandkids when you're 80. I also had the chance to meet several other great, non-SBN people -- too many to name. But it reaffirmed my belief that hockey people are some of the nicest, most open people on Earth.
  
• On that same note, us bloggers were treated very cordially by most members of the traditional media. Sure, there are always a few jerks, but I didn't have any negative run-ins with any of the press. At the same time, however, the wall between new and traditional media is still made of solid concrete. Many of them -- and again, not all of them -- simply do not appreciate what we do. That's fine, and even understandable to a degree from their perspective. But as the media world continues to expand onto the screen and away from print, the wall will come crumbling down. Our inclusion in this weekend's events is just the first step.
  
• I was also shocked at how many newspaper writers seemingly hate their lives. Seriously -- I witnessed some of the most grumpy people in the world this weekend. Many of them realize that they have jobs that millions of people would kill to hold and seem very appreciative, but others just seemed like the life had been sucked out of them. I couldn't tell you why so many journalists gave off that vibe, but I was floored by it. 
• If you've ever been to Boston, you know how crazy they are for the Red Sox. Take that obsession, multiply it by 100, and you have an idea of how hockey-crazy Montreal is. It was an unbelievable atmosphere for a draft; I can't imagine what it'd be like for a game. The back and forth between the Leaf fans and Hab fans was fantastic cinema, and Leafs GM Brian Burke went up several notches in my book for his participation. I've never liked Montreal fans because they come off as arrogant and elitist, but his weekend completely changed my opinion.  Of course, being insane about hockey has it's downfalls. When you're chanting "Louis, Louis!" for draft pick Louis Leblanc before he even gets selected, the kid has to feel some pressure.
  

All in all, it was an excellent weekend in a beautiful Canadian city. I'm already looking forward to next year's draft.

I'm just settling into the Bell Centre here on Saturday morning, and seven minutes into the second round, we're already six picks into the draft. It will surely be a much faster event this afternoon as we complete the remainder of the event, rounds two through seven. You can watch today's events on the NHL Network.

Here is your open thread.

The Flyers selections today:

• Round 2: no pick
• Round 3: 81st overall, 87th overall
• Round 4: no pick
• Round 5: 142nd overall
• Round 6: 153rd overall, 172nd overall
• Round 7: 196th overall

1:27 PM - The Flyers select another gigantic defenseman, Oliver Lauridsen, with their final pick in the draft. That's three huge defensemen that the Flyers have added to the organization -- Pronger, Bertilsson, and now Lauridsen -- in less than 24 hours.

12:54 PM - Kyle Wellwood's brother Eric is selected by the Flyers with the 172nd pick.

12:43 PM - With the 153rd overall pick, the Flyers select center Dave Labrecque.

12:26 PM - Flyers select Nicola Riopel, a goaltender from the QMJHL, with the 142nd pick.

11:50 AM - Paul Holmgren speaks with the media on the draft floor, says that he hasn't spoken with Martin Biron's agent, and that Pronger "plays within the rules more often than not." He also shot down a rumor that had the Flyers going after Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

11:09 AM - Flyers select Simon Bertilsson, a Swedish defenseman, with the 87th pick.

11:04 AM - Flyers select Adam Morrison, a goaltender, with the 81st overall selection.

10:56 AM - Minnesota selects Matt Hackett, a goalie that could've been on the Flyers list.

10:40 AM - The Islanders open up the third round.

10:04 AM - The Panthers have traded Jay Bouwmeester to Calgary.

The theme of the weekend for the Philadelphia Flyers is clearly "big defenseman," as they draft another one with their final pick in the draft. Oliver Lauridsen, a 6-5 defenseman from St. Cloud State University, is just absolultely gigantic.

Here is what Hockey's Future has to say about Laurdisen...

Lauridsen is a huge defenseman from Denmark with great size and reach. A team player with a good work ethic. Is aggressive and physical with the potential to become a very capable stay-at-home defenseman in the future. Mobility, in terms of skating, agility and acceleration, needs improvement.

The Flyers have selected Eric Wellwood, a winger from the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, with the172nd overall pick. The brother of Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood, he scored 16 goals and 18 assists in 61 games this past season with the Memorial Cup Champion Spitfires.

Video of his first OHL goal...

With the 153rd pick, the Flyers have selected Dave Labrecque, a center from the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL. He registered 61 points, including 13 goals, in 59 games in 2008/09.

The Philadelphia Flyers have selected another goalie with the 142nd pick -- Nicola Riopel from the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL. He won two awards in the Q this past season: the Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy for the league's lowest GAA and the Michel Briere Memorial Trophy for player of the year.

Riopel compiled a 2.05 GAA and a .930 save percentage in 59 games with Moncton this past season.

Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn told Sportsnet the following early in the 08/09 season.

"From what I've seen my last few years at camp, he's right there with all the goalies I've played against and played with at NHL camps. There's no doubt in my mind he has what it takes to be an NHL goalie or an NHL prospect. He's very focused, he's very dedicated, he's very committed to being the best he can be and it's great to see someone who puts so much into something get his just rewards. If Nic continues to improve, and I know how committed he is, I think he has a chance (of playing in the NHL)."

Sure, he's no Victor Hedman, but he is a Swedish defenseman. The Flyers have selected Simon Bertilsson with the 87th overall selection. He was ranked at 71st by the International Scouting Service.

According to Hockey's Future, Bertilsson might have received more attention from other teams if he were drafted in a year without so many strong Swedes ahead of him. He was a stay at home defenseman with his team in Sweden, but apparently he can also contribute on the offensive end.

From NHL.com...

Played for Team Sweden at the 2009 Under-18 World Championships and was often paired with [first round pick] Oliver-Ekman Larsson on the top defensive pairing – the two have played on the national team together for five years and are good friends off the ice. Bertilsson, a defensive minded defenseman, had a plus-five rating at the tournament.

The Philadelphia Flyers have selected a goaltender with the 81st overall selection in the 2009 NHL Draft: Adam Morrison of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades.

Here's what Hockey's Future has to say about him...

He didn't get to play very much because of his second seeding behind starter Braden Holtby (WAS). Limited viewings may hurt his draft stock but Saskatoon coach Lorne Molleken is a big believer and Holtby also speaks very highly of Morrison. He will assume the lead role next season for the Blades.

In the limited games that he played, Morrison was 9-1-1. That's impressive, sure, but it's such a small sample size that it's tough to gauge. The Flyers look to be taking a chance on this guy, and apparently very few scouts have seen him play.