from Bill Roose of DetroitRedWings.com,

Pomp and pageantry was definitely not part of the NHL’s inaugural draft when six general managers sat around a hotel room in Montreal to divvy up 21 player prospects.

There were no calls to the podium. They weren’t greeted on stage by the league commissioner. Nobody slipped on a team jersey and cap while smiling uncontrollably as countless cameras and smart phones chronicled the moment of a lifetime.

Peter Mahovlich was part of the league’s first draft in 1963, though he didn’t know about it until the next day when a Red Wings scout called the house.

It was June 5, 1963 inside the Queen Elizabeth Hotel where the Red Wings, with the second overall pick, behind the Montreal Canadiens, selected a 16-year-old Mahovlich, who was finishing his sophomore year at St. Michael’s in Toronto.

“I was playing Junior B hockey at the time and we didn’t ever know there was going to be a draft,” said Mahovlich, now a pro scout for the Florida Panthers. “I found out the next that I was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings.

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