Hall Anxious to Start his Next Chapter

By Aaron Bell

The debate about who would be the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft went right down to the wire according to the man who made the decision.

Edmonton Oilers’ GM Steve Tambellini had the coveted first pick and admitted that his staff was torn between Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires and Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers. The Oilers ultimately selected Hall and the Kingston, ON native was thrilled to become the fourth straight OHL player to be drafted first overall in the NHL draft.

"I was so shocked," Hall admitted. "I was shaking in my seat. I got up to the podium, or whatever it is, and I was shaking so much I couldn’t even put my jersey on. I’m just so happy. My whole family’s so happy. It means a lot to us."

It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.

Hall is one of the most decorated players that has ever played in the Canadian Hockey League. After winning OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year honours, Hall later helped the Spitfires win back-to-back OHL and Memorial Cup championships and became the first player to ever win the Memorial Cup MVP award twice.  He also became just the sixth player ever to win the Memorial Cup before being selected first overall in the same season, and the first since 1981 when Dale Hawerchuk won the title with the Cornwall Royals before being selected first overall by the Winnipeg Jets. 

But Seguin came on strong as a sophomore with the Whalers and earned the top rating in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings. He also won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s most outstanding player and tied with Hall for the OHL scoring lead.

Seguin had the Oilers questioning who their top pick was going to be right down to the wire.

"There was so much anticipation from a staff standpoint," Tambellini on Saturday from the draft in Los Angeles. "We really didn’t formally finalize our decision until yesterday. The excitement that was in the room after we acknowledged that we were going to take Taylor Hall – it was a great moment. It was kind of like the reward for all the hard work and they know that they’re going to step up there and they’re going to get Taylor Hall. It was pretty special."

Hall said that going first or second in the draft was out of his control but he had set being the top pick in the draft as a personal goal.

"There is a lot of significance," said Hall, who became the first Spitfire to be drafted first overall since Ed Jovanovski in 1994. "I feel honoured with all the players that have gone number one. I came into this year, that was one of my goals was to go number one. In saying that, there is still a lot of work to do out here. "

Tambellini said that the ultimate decision came down to the success that Hall enjoyed in the post-season.

"The one thing that stands out more than anything else is that he’s a winner," Tambellini said. "That’s all he wants to do. We need more of that and he’s going to bring that to our locker room. Taylor’s been that guy for a number of years where the pressure and the tension has been on him. It’s not like this just came like a month ago. He’s prepared."