In the 47-year history of the franchise, 29 Kitchener Rangers have been selected in the first round of the NHL entry draft. Three of those first round picks have come in the past three years: Mikkel Boedker (8th, to Phoenix in 2008), John Moore (21st, to Columbus in 2009) and Jeff Skinner (7th, to Carolina in 2010). But never has a Kitchener Ranger been the first overall pick. The highest NHL draft pick in Kitchener Rangers history was Brian Bellows, who went 2nd overall to Minnesota in 1982. Bellows was OK — 485 goals and 1022 points in an 18-year NHL career. According to NHL Central Scouting, Gabriel Landeskog is currently the #1 ranked skater in North America heading into this June’s NHL Entry Draft. No pressure, Gabe.

Of course, being an OHL captain and the top-ranked skater in North America according to Central Scouting and going to school and getting treatment for your bum ankle makes you a pretty busy guy. We’re going to catch up with Landeskog, though (the bum anke should help slow him down just enough). And as soon as we do, we’re going to sit him down for a RangersVision chat to find out how he feels after a whirlwind month.

Hear and there: The Aud was a busy place at practice today. There was a new recruit on the ice with the team. Turns out he was a contest winner who had won a day with the Rangers. Everyone posed for a picture at centre ice at the end of the session.

Got a chance to talk to Tobias Rieder about his interview with Guy Flaming from The Pipeline Show on The Team 1260 in Edmonton. It’s a really good piece. If you haven’t heard it, you’ll find it archived at www.thepipelineshow.com.

Dan Girard, sports reporter with the Toronto Star, was in the building today, too. He had a chat with Jason Akeson before heading into the office to see Spotter. Really friendly guy but I didn’t get to talk to him about what he was writing and when. We’ll watch for something in The Star soon. If you see it first, let me know!

I love the casual atmosphere at practice and the chance to chat with the guys. Most of the talk today was about our upcoming trip north. As the road trip rookie, I’ve only been told about the joys of driving through the night to Saginaw and the Soo. Sounds enticing, doesn’t it? Ben Thomson told me that on the trip last year, he and Andrew Crescenzi were seatmates on the bus. Yikes! That’s two big bodies in a really small space. Can’t be comfortable. Sometimes there are real advantages to being my size.

Keep checking back here for updates from the road this weekend!