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By Aaron Bell

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Taylor Hall said that even though he is becoming a sports celebrity, he doesn’t expect anyone to recognize him when he attends the World Premiere of the movie Eclipse tonight in Los Angeles.

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Hall, one of the top rated prospects for the 2010 NHL Draft, which kicks off here on Friday night, was one of five prospects invited to walk the red carpet ahead of the stars from the movie and other celebrities.

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“They’re not even going to know who we are,” said Hall, who said that he hasn’t seen the first two movies of the highly popular series that targets his age group. “There’s going to be five Canadian kids walking down the red carpet. They’ll wonder who these guys are that don’t belong here at all.

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“It’s going to be a good experience – this whole thing has. There were a lot of unique things that I’ve never done before. It’s been a lot of fun.”

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Hall and other top prospects like Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers, Cam Fowler of the Windsor Spitfires and Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers took a tour through Hollywood on Wednesday and took batting practice with the Anaheim Angels since arriving in Southern California earlier this week.

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“Probably the Hollywood Walk of Fame (was his favourite) – that was pretty cool,” Hall said. “There were a few Canadians there which I thought was pretty cool. It’s really nice to be here. I think this whole city is really awesome.”

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Brandon Gormley competed against Hall a month ago in the MasterCard Memorial Cup but the Moncton Wildcats’ defenceman agrees with Hall about how enjoyable being in L.A. has been for the draft prospects.

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“California’s been great,” said Gormley, the top rated prospect from the QMJHL this season. “It’s quite a place. It’s my first time being here but I could definitely get used to this lifestyle.”

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Mark Pysyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings was also at a media function to kick off the draft festivities on Thursday. He said that he is just trying to take in the whole experience.

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“It’s incredible,” said Pysyk, who was rated seventh in the NHL Central Scouting final ratings. “It’s always sunny. It’s perfect out here. We’ve just walked a few blocks but I think we’re going to go to the beach tonight and hopefully get in the water.”

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The 2010 NHL Entry Draft starts with the first round on Friday (7:00 p.m. Eastern on TSN) and continues on Saturday with rounds 2-7. Follow all of the action from the draft online at www.chl.ca.

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