HOCKEY / NHL DRAFT : Not Big Names Now, They Could Be Great Some Day

There will be no David Robinson or Danny Manning to parade before the fans.

There will be no Jeff George or Troy Aikman to grab the headlines or the big bucks. Nor will there be any elaborate lottery to turn the commissioner into a game-show host.

Today is the NHL draft, not that of the NBA or the NFL.

To all but the most knowledgeable American fans, today’s picks won’t be so much a Who’s Who as a Who’s He?

Rather than proving their worth in the American spotlight, in packed college stadiums and arenas before national television audiences, most hockey players draw the scouts’ attention in small towns, mainly on foreign soil, in places such as Cornwall, Litvinov and Peterborough.

Even Wayne Gretzky was hardly a household name when he started in Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League at 16.

It doesn’t take long, though. Some of the names that will have fans scratching their heads in confusion today could have those same fans shaking their heads in awe in a few years.

Today’s draft, beginning at 10 a.m. in Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium, is considered deep if not spectacular, with perhaps four or five players worthy of being the top choice.

The Quebec Nordiques, owners of the No. 1 pick, will choose from among right wing Owen Nolan and centers Petr Nedved, Mike Ricci and Keith Primeau. Also rated in that class by some is Czech left wing Jaromir Jagr.

Following Quebec will be Vancouver, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders, before the Kings go seventh.

In that position, the Kings are looking, in order, at defenseman Darryl Sydor, center Scott Scissons, Jagr and defenseman Drake Berehowsky.

All the plotting and planning, of course, could turn dramatically with a trade. Veteran Winnipeg center Dale Hawerchuk, Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall and Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr might be available for the right combination.

Rogie Vachon, the Kings’ general manager, is impressed with both Nolan and Nedved.

The 18-year-old Nolan, 6 feet 1 and 194 pounds, had 51 goals and 59 assists for a total of 110 points in 58 games for the Cornwall Royals of the OHL last season.

“If you need somebody who can step in right away,” Vachon said, “that’s Nolan. He’s a prototype. He’s big, strong and tough. He’ll fight anybody. He fought every tough guy in the league.”

And he had the penalty minutes--240--to prove it.

Nedved, also 18, stands 6-2 1/2 and weighs 178. A native Czech, he spent last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, getting 65 goals and 80 assists in 71 games.

“He looks like Wayne (Gretzky),” Vachon said, “but he’s taller. I like the way he handles the puck and sees the ice.”