Av’s Duchene may still get a new home

There’s still a lot of buzz circulating about where Colorado’s Matt Duchene might end up. The Islanders and Predators continue to be mentioned as potential landing spots … Seeing Florida front office exec Shawn Thornton and Department of Player Safety’s George Parros sharing a laugh, one thought came to mind: This was a much more amicable moment than all those times they found themselves standing face to face on the ice. No gloves dropped on this day … The two-day draft festivities attracted a record crowd exceeding 47,500 fans. “It’s been an incredible weekend here,” Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said. “I’ve gone to a lot of drafts, and I’ve never seen something like this. There was a lot of energy. It was really neat.” … Normally national anthems aren’t played before a draft begins. But this is Chicago. And this is the United Center. Friday’s rendition was spine tingling, as is always the case here … Former Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff is expected to be hired as an assistant by the New York Rangers under the watch of head bench boss Alain Vigneault. Ruff’s 736 coaching wins are fifth in NHL history behind Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Al Arbour and Ken Hitchcock, who succeeded him in Dallas.

FINN-TASTIC

It was a banner draft for Finland as a record six players born in Finland were selected in the first round, surpassing the five from 2002. The list includes HIFK defenceman Miro Heiskanen (No. 3 Dallas Stars), Tri-City defenceman Juuso Valimaki (No. 16, Calgary Flames), JYP defenceman Urho Vaakanainen (No. 18, Boston Bruins), Frolunda forward Kristian Vesalainen (No. 24, Winnipeg Jets), Portland defenceman Henri Jokiharju (No. 29, Chicago Blackhawks) and Sioux City forward Eeli Tolvanen (No. 30, Nashville Predators). In the end, 23 Finns in all were taken in the draft.

DRAFT BREAKDOWN: BY COUNTRY

Canada 77 United States 50, Sweden 27, Finland 23, Russia 18, Czech Republic 9, Switzerland 3, Belarus 2, Denmark 2, Slovakia 2, France 1, Germany 1, Norway 1, Slovenia 1.

DRAFT BREAKDOWN: BY LEAGUE

OHL 42, WHL 33, USHL 20, Sweden-Jr. 17, QMJHL 14, High School – U.S. 12, Sweden 12, NCAA 9, USNTDP Under-18 9, Finland-Jr. 7, Finland 6, Russia-Jr. 6, Czech Republic 4, AJHL 3, Russia-2 3, Czech Republic-Jr. 2, High School – Canada 2, NAHL 2, OJHL 2, Russia 2, Sweden-2 2, BCHL 1, Czech Republic-2 1, Finland-2 1, France 1, Sweden-3 1, Switzerland 1, Switzerland-2 1, USPHL 1