Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/Buffalo Sabres draft picks

Buffalo Sabres draft picks
This is an extensive list of every draft pick made by the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres since the team's inception in 1970, including selections in supplemental drafts. Statistics are included for every player who achieved NHL status.Skudrafan1 16:39, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Did no one from the 2005 or 2006 drafts play in the 06-07 season? --Golbez 08:19, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * No one the Sabres chose in those drafts has made the NHL yet. Hockey players often do not ascend to NHL level for several years after being drafted.  In fact, the six players from the 2004 draft who have made the NHL all debuted in the 2006-07 season. Skudrafan1 14:38, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Interesting. Thanks. You should mention that, since if it confused me it will definitely confuse others. --Golbez 21:57, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * CommentCould you find any free images of the players? Also, there are too many sections. I'd suggest to rename them to 1970s, 1980s...that way there would be four sections instead.-- Crzycheetah 08:24, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I can certainly look for free images. As for the sections issue, I'll work on it. Skudrafan1 14:38, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I have added a half-dozen photos to the list. Skudrafan1 16:48, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I've been thinking about the "too many sections" issue. I think it is important to have each draft in its own section, so that one can easily see who was the first pick in each draft, what late-round selections panned out particularly well, etc.  If they were bunched by decade, seeing the results of each draft (the main point of having the article in the first place) would be difficult. Skudrafan1 16:29, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't know if he meant combine the tables, just combine the sections. --Golbez 21:57, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment According to discussions held at WikiProject Ice Hockey, I note a couple things about the article:
 * First off, it should be called Buffalo Sabres draft history, to match both other sports, as well as Calgary Flames draft history, which is the template we are using.
 * No discussions were held regarding the Supplemental Draft, though I see no problem with including them.
 * The major point, however, is that to avoid incredible lengths in some articles, especially for the older, more established clubs (Montreal, et al), the page would only include players who actually made it to the NHL. See the Calgary page for how to accomplish this: the draft history page includes only NHL players, while the link to the individual season article has every player drafted that year, whether they played in the NHL or not.  This way, the draft history page isn't cluttered with 7th-rounders who never played after college and don't have articles.  Also take a look at my sandbox page for a similar page with the Devils currently under construction (we still have to create several season articles before transferring the draft history over, hence its non-completion).
 * I'm not taking anything away from the list; it's a fantastic list and you did a great job with it. It's just that there's a template for how these pages are to be done, and hopefully we can get all 30 NHL teams to get their draft histories to this level.  So here's what I'll do: conditional support for now, and then we'll work on creating the season pages and shifting the draftees over so that it looks more like the other draft histories.  This way it's still a featured list (because again, you did a great job), and then we can tweak it.  Sound like a plan? Anthony Hit me up... 11:03, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the great comments. The reason I included all the draft picks is because, well, the page is titled Buffalo Sabres draft picks, not Buffalo Sabres draft picks who played in the NHL.  It doesn't make sense to me not to include everyone.  If the page did not include players who didn't make the NHL, it would not show (among other things) first-round busts (Jiri Dudacek, Artem Kryukov) or invalid claims (Taro Tsujimoto).  Those are interesting parts of the Sabres' draft history. Skudrafan1 14:10, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * See Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Ice_Hockey/Archive12 for the discussion on the draft history pages; that should explain how the pages should be formatted and the reasoning behind it. Anthony Hit me up... 14:18, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the link to the discussion, Anthony. I missed it when it originally occurred, and I do not agree with its conclusion about not including non-NHLers.  As I mentioned above, it takes away from some of the rich history of Sabres draft choices.  In my list of non-NHL-player history above, I neglected to mention that, in 1985, the Sabres drafted Wayne Gretzky's brother, Keith.  However, since Keith never played in the NHL, he should not (per the discussion) be included in the "draft history".  Anyway, it pained me to do so, but I have removed non-NHL players from the list. Skudrafan1 17:16, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I understand your point, but for the sake of article length that was the compromise that was reached. When individual articles are created on each Sabres season, you can include all draft picks, whether they played in the NHL or not (see 1988-89 Calgary Flames season for a guide).  Also, as a suggestion, bold the names of players who are currently on the Sabres; this helps readers identify who's still on the team, and who they let get away.  Finally, like I said above, I think it should be moved to Buffalo Sabres draft history.  Just fix those two minor issues and I'll give a full support. Anthony Hit me up... 18:00, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * The page has been moved and the appropriate players bolded. Skudrafan1 21:38, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 *  Weak Object Neutral Taro Tsujimoto should be included in the list in some form.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 16:50, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment I guess I would like to see a notable non-NHL player section for this list. Any player who has a wikipedia entry could possibly be included.  I am not sure what other objective measure to use for inclusion.  Maybe having spent the last week in Buffalo beefing up  The French Connection (hockey) for WP:GA status and doing the best I can with  Gilbert Perreault (a current WP:GAC) and Taro Tsujimoto, make me a little bit partial for Taro.  I feel remiss that he is not included in the article.  Is there a way that non-NHLers could reasonably be included that would set a good precedent for the league draft lists and possibly for other major sports.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 16:55, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
 * See my discussion above, Tony. Several players with Wikipedia articles had to be removed, because the consensus said that only NHL players were to be included on such lists.  Perhaps other notable picks could be included in prose form somewhere? Skudrafan1 20:55, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
 * O.K. Is there a way to add prose of notable non-NHL draft pics that is no WP:OR? I kind of think Gretzky and Tsujimoto should be in the article some how.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 21:22, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Similar to Skudrafan1 and TonyTheTiger, I'd like to see a blurb under the year or a footnote somewhere noting these exceptions like Gretzky and Tsujimoto. --maclean 04:04, 12 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Comment I think they should all be in one table rarther than sepperated by year. #1 overall picks and hall of famers should be highlighted. Lead is too shot and shouldn't really have anything about the list itself. Notes should be in the form of footnotes. Browns first-round picks should help give you an idea. Also should this list be called "List of Buffalo Sabres draft picks". Buc 08:30, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
 * The lead should be expanded, I agree. I will work on that when I get the chance.  The page is titled as it is per a consensus reached at WP:HOCKEY.  And I vehemently disagree with placing all draftees in a single table; it eliminates the entire purpose of the list, which is  a year-by-year listing of draftees.  Bunching everyone together would make it confusing. Skudrafan1 00:59, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * If you add the draft year into the table it wouldn't be confusing. Buc 19:12, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 *  Weak support  but echoing the above about Taso Tsujimoto - 'he' needs to be included in some fashion. --Golbez 22:21, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree Tsujimoto (and, possibly even more importantly, Keith Gretzky and Jiri Dudacek) should be included, even if only in prose form. Skudrafan1 00:59, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment Quickly looking at the NFL draft WP:FLCs at Featured_lists the lists are generally comprehensive. I don't believe they exclude players who never played in the pros.  Why don't we keep that strategy here and include all draftees.  Thus, all wikipedia bio subjects will be included regardless of professional success and original research regarding who is notable would not be necessary.  Some sort of legend feature could quickly demonstrate those who played at the pro level.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 23:28, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment (addendum) A comprehensive listing would eliminate the need to monitor minor league progress of players to see who has gotten called up to the NHL.
 * You know I agree with you on this, Tony. I just need the approval of others before I can re-add them. Skudrafan1 00:59, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Responding to Tony, the only featured lists that are draft related are three pages devoted to NFL first-round picks. For starters, a first-round pick is almost virtually guaranteed a spot on an NFL team's roster, because there is no minor league/farm system.  Therefore, they're all notable.  Secondly, limiting those lists to first-rounders only prevents incredibly long lists filled with no-name 8th rounders.  The same principle applies here.  Furthermore, the Sabres franchise has only been around since the 1970s.  Imagine if we were to create a full and complete draft history for each Original Six team.  The pages would be over 200-300 kb apiece.  The Wikiproject Ice Hockey group came to a consensus on these pages because we deal with them first & foremost, and it was our opinion that for the sake of length, we would keep the pages ONLY focused on those players that actually made it to the NHL.  If you will look at my sandbox page above (which I admittedly haven't worked on in a while), you will see that each draft table links to the article on the draft year, plus that team's season article.  Each team's season article, in turn, lists the FULL draft results.  This way, it keeps the draft history page uncluttered.  In addition, limiting the draft history page to actual NHLers gives an interesting view into a team's ability to draft well.  If a draft year contains no players who made it to the bigs, then we know the management did a poor job of selecting viable talent for the long-term success of the team.  In short, that's why NHL players and NHL players ONLY should be on the draft page.  If you want to include Taro in the prose lead, feel free.  But not even as a footnote does he belong in the table, nor Gretzky or Dudacek. Anthony Hit me up... 19:38, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Changing to neutral not because I dislike the list, but to echo that it shouldn't be promoted until the list can be made comprehensive. Personally, I completely missed that it was only for players who actually played; I figure draft lists should include everyone who was officially drafted, whether or not they actually played... --Golbez 18:33, 15 August 2007 (UTC)