He watched two buddies from his hometown of Welland, Ont. get chosen. Daniel Paille was taken early, in the first round as the 20th overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres. Andre Deveaux was selected later in the sixth round by the Montreal Canadiens. After the Detroit Red Wings snatched Jonathan Ericsson with the 291st and final selection, Girardi was left out in the cold.

“There were probably a number of factors why that was the case,” Girardi said. “I didn’t play much my first year of junior [six games with the Barrie Colts], and then I was injured for most of my second year. After that, nobody was willing take a chance on me as a 19 year old in the next draft.

“There was no reason to get down. I knew there were other ways to make the NHL, so I decided to finish my junior career and then see what happens.”

The serious injury Girardi suffered was a ruptured spleen when he was smacked into the boards in a preseason game. He missed half of the 2001-02 season. Eventually Girardi overcame the slow start to his junior career. By the end of the 2003-04 season scouts began to notice his play when he moved onto the Guelph Storm. Particularly Rich Brown, the Rangers’ Ontario-based scout who in Girardi’s draft year scouted the U.S. college and U.S. junior loops for the Rangers, but had moved over the Ontario junior ranks in 2003-04.

“He came onto my radar that season,” Brown recalled. “They won the OHL title that year and in order to get to the final he had to go up against the London Knights and shut down Corey Perry. The next year when he was an overager in the Memorial Cup, I invited [Rangers director of player personnel] Gordie Clark to have a look at him.”