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TIM WHARNSBY
HOCKEY REPORTER
June 18, 2007

When the hockey community assembles this week in Columbus for the annual National Hockey League entry draft, the focus will be on which player the Chicago Blackhawks choose No. 1, which team selects top prospects such as Patrick Kane, Kyle Turris and Karl Alzner, and which club can pull off a big trade.

But behind the scenes, there's always a lighter side to draft week. It's a time when the true characters among the scouting fraternity shine.

In a hotel lobby or bar, maybe in a local restaurant or even behind closed doors of hotel suites, you will see or hear the likes of personable Peter Mahovlich of the Atlanta Thrashers yucking it up, Minnesota Wild scout Guy Lapointe pulling off one of his favourite pranks or raconteur Tom McVie of the Boston Bruins performing his stand-up act.

Another character who has a keenness for the camaraderie of the draft is San Jose Sharks special consultant John Ferguson Sr. The 68-year-old Ferguson and McVie, the former Winnipeg Jets coach who turned 72 this month, grew up together as teenagers in Vancouver and cavorted together at past drafts.

But McVie won't have his old buddy around this week. Ferguson has a fight on his hands - a second bout with an aggressive form of prostate cancer - so he will stay at home in Windsor, Ont.

"It won't be the same," McVie said. "How many times at the drafts we would be together with a group and Fergie and I would have people laughing so hard they looked like they were going to be sick. That's what hockey is all about. Being with the guys and talking about all the bull."

McVie will be thinking about his buddy in Columbus and no doubt will be retelling more than a few stories about their exploits together. The latest came a few months ago when McVie, former Jets coach Barry Long, Montreal Canadiens' Hall of Fame defenceman Serge Savard, Ferguson's friend Mike Murphy and Winnipegger Ted Foreman congregated in Windsor to visit with Ferguson and his wife, Joan, at their home.

"Ted Foreman was the guy who organized it," McVie said. "It's sad when you see a friend get sick. But we thought we'd get together and lift his spirits.

"It was such a fun four days. It was the most emotional time being with these guys and my best friend. You know me, when I tell a story I'm the king of exaggeration. Every story I would tell, we would have him laughing so hard. It was just a wonderful time."

They swapped stories and traded insults, and the laughter rarely stopped. The group went to the Windsor Raceway one evening, where Ferguson still is loved because of his past work there as the horse track's manager 15 years ago. They also went for dinner one day at Ferguson's country club and spent a night at the Ferguson home watching a video from the 1979 Avco Cup final, when the Jets won the World Hockey Association championship in the league's final year.

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