Hockey Pools were not legal at one time.  We secretly had to organize and keep the news of the draft even existing on the down low.

We've had many locations for the Draft

• Upstairs in the Arena
• Ranchers Basement
• Legion.

Every year we arrived and wondered if anyone would die from a disease they contracted while attending and 'eating' (believe it or not) in the basement at the Ranchers Inn.   But there was plenty of space and no worries that we could wreck anything and it was cheap.   It did have its perks .. right upstairs were people getting drunker than we were and at the end of the night we would find out who was the drunkest .. but thats another story.

 Cause and Affect ..  Lefty Hart wins the draft and Gretzky scores 213 points .. thats more points than most teams finishing in 30th .. total points..  in our current draft era.  It was after this glorious victory back in the Gretzky days and from the acts of drafting wizardry by those picking him that the Gretzky rule came to be.  Goals and Assists were split and other equalization techniques were discussed but in the end a 130 point cap, on any player, was implemented.   This rule is still in affect today.

 Keeping the stats has not always been this easy .. oh did I say that outloud .. Officepools pretty much takes all the pain out of this 'tasking role on the Walter Mitty executive' .. that sounds better.  Before officepools anyone who knew what a spreadsheet was, was immediately penciled in as the stats guy.  Updated stats were sent out to the membership once or twice a year and it was truely a surprise to most where you had finished when you arrived at the windup.  Live stats .. not at all... and then came Officepools.

Walter Mitty is going into year 39.  38 years of drafting history.  The protection round has been part of the Walter Mitty since day one.  37 times, someone has submitted a motion to abolish this crazy rule.   Thankfully the year of the strike we missed having to vote.   The motion is a tradition as long as the Walter Mitty.   Each year someone takes their turn trying to break tradition and be the winner.   I jest .. but you LOVE it when you have a good protection and you HATE it when you don't .. the never ending story.

The Walter Mitty has always been a serious event without many distractions but things have changed over the years.  There is no digital proof (photo) but it is thought that porn at the Walter Mitty got its early beginnings from a particular member dancing prime time in his tighty whities and bow tie t-shirt on draft night.  Pretty large t-shirt if I recall.   In the years following that fracas and with the introduction of the internet, printed material surfaced and was distributed by another member in attempts to distract membership during the draft.   Again in recent years, in our attempt to move the Walter Mitty towards the digital revolution with a big screen, porn once again reared its ugly head.   

 This Walter Mitty rule has been around since the beginning of time.   Its surprising how often we still have to define the rule and remind teams what qualifies a player as a rookie.  Is he a rookie?  One year there was even controversy about the status of the rookie right till the end of the year .. on the winning team.

With 10th pick overall in our pocket in the 1988/1989 Walter Mitty draft, we entered the draft room and were greeted with rookie jeers, banter and sarcasm.   We remained unscathed and waited patiently to shout out our first pick to the astute membership at the Walter Mitty.  Our first year and our first pick ever.   1..2..  ..7..8..9... we could hardly believe the guy next on our list was still available .. these idiots .. they know nothing .. its our turn .. we'll take Dennis Savard! .. huge laughter .. he's taken!.    3 time Walter Mitty Champions - Buss/Grant

In years gone by the Walter Mitty wind up hasn't always been golf and supper .. nope not by a long shot .. we've had a number of alternative forms of entertainment.   We always invited our wives and they came believe it or not.   We had a glorious 20th year windup (25th?) at the legion that was attended by Walter Mitty members and wives, past members, guests and their wives.   A huge turn out!  Fun was had by all.  Then we tried other forms of entertainment .. Karaoke and Hypnotists and then .. yep .. you guessed it .. a Lingerie Fashion Show at the Walter Mitty windup with the wives .. shortly there after the wives stopped coming .. coincidence? .. we then resorted to golf and supper .. by ourselves.  Who knew.

 As we all know every year at the Walter Mitty .. the bar is open!  Hey bartender .. filler up.  This luxury has not gone without incident over the years and has led to a number of .. incidents.   One particular year nearing the end of the drafting session with multiple teams picked that were assured of winning ..  we were all celebrating this fact.   One member raced up to the bar to get a refill and much to his dismay the bartender hadn't been keeping the bar as clean as it should have been.  Yep .. lets blame the bartender.  An arrant lemon peel had fallen on the floor .. missed by the bartender but not by his customer .. banana peel .. lemon peel .. i think you get the idea.. wipeout .. crack .. all ended up good though.   The next year was the start of the Hockey Helmet bylaw and he was presented with his trophy.   We won that year .. thanks partner.  

 The Kenaston Super Draft was introduced to the membership a number of years back.  The idea sounded great .. we enter some teams .. maybe we win something.   Well two years of trying this resulted in a cost of $1780 and a profit of $0 .. a big fat goose egg ..   The membership was up in arms at the next general meeting and a motion was floored to quit this nonsense.   Marginally, by one or two votes the motion failed and it was decided that we would try one... more... time.   That next year we ended up tied for first place in the Kenaston, earning $15,000 big ones .. hmm... maybe this is not such a bad idea.  The year after that we had teams finish second and forth for a total $13,000 buckaroos.   It was so easy..  Kenaston we thank you.

 If you are ever wondering how we all have been assigned and represent the NHL franchise of our choices .. we had an auction.   Franchises were auctioned off and went for any where between fifty and six or seven hundred dollars with all monies going to the Walter Mitty efforts (booze and food)  

 Its only been recent years that laptops have started to arrive at the Walter Mitty.  The first laptops started to arrive around 2013 ish.   Before that it was paper or nothing to track your list.. you'd be surprised how often nothing was the solution and still is.

The penalty shot was a new addition to the Walter Mitty in 2014.  This popular penalty is given to a team that picks a player already taken.  A shot of Walter Mitty's finest.  Teams taking 5 or 6 penalty shots in one evening find it difficult to score.  5 buck infraction.

The "Victims" ..................Krossa/Ravnsborg

The "Perps"  .....................Huysman/Norn

The "Weapon" .....................Demon Alcohol 

The Plan....A slow influx of alcoholic beverages due to the purposeful inability of Huysman/Norn to draft unselected players eventually had the treasurer and secretary completely overwhelmed with a blood alcohol level far exceeding their comfort zone.  

The Outcome..... both members overcome .... disorientation, memory loss, speech impediment. Inability to function on any level, an underhanded and evil attack on two of our most honored members.  Revenge could be ugly. 

Social Distance - Wear your mask - We're in this together 

The NHL suspends play with a month to go in the season and then after a 2 month delay declares it to be an official shortened season.  After some controversy settles, stirred up by none other than the 'Bull'shit disturber himself .. the legal team representing Buss/Grant prevail and Buss/Grant win their 4th** championship ring.    
 

"Staying Home Saves Lives"

(and could win you the pool)

** Corona Assisted

2020 - The team of Krossa/Ravnsborg retire from the WMD.  Their camaraderie, leadership, influence and ALL their contributions to the WMD will be greatly missed.

WMD expands to 32 teams and Rookie franchises Bonnett/Tabler & Pritchard/Staldeker take 2 of 5 money spots.   Both have been quoted as saying "Easy Money here" ..   we will see...  bring your cheque books in the fall.

I guess its true when you fire the management the team does better .. GM's Ravnsburg, Krossa, Bottger, Lauinger were all dismissed (retired) at the end of last season and the new managment made some changes.

A few Famous Quotes 
 

“I don’t need no stinking clock ..  “     .. Draft Master Staffy

“Hey the Pizza guy is here.” ... "Who ordered the Pizza?".. "Keegan your Pizza is Here"

As the clock expires “Oh? .. it’s OUR turn!” ..   Team Philly makes their pick. 

“Which way are we going?!?”   ... unknown drafter.

It was found to be unanimous .. that Kuzmenko is not a rookie .. even with 2.5 attempts to persuade the WMD crowd by selecting him as a rookie. 

There was a legendary appearance by legacy WMD member Nick Ravnsborg  but Ken Krossa  could not make it.  Both were inducted into the WMD Hall of Fame.

Eddy pulled his own token for the Team Calcutta draw and asked who won.   

There were a record  number of Penalty Shots ,  a record Calcutta Pool  and a record Para Mutual Pool.     

 the untold story.