Sign Language at the NHL Draft

I watched the NHL draft last night, as I am a hockey fan. The first round was on TV last night, and the rest of the rounds are going to be conducted today. The NHL draft consists of teams choosing from 18-year-old players in juniors, college, or in European leagues.

When we don't have the freaking plague shutting everything down, the draft is held in a hockey arena, with players and their families sitting in the stands, along with hockey fans, and the teams go and announce their draft choices, one by one. Cameras turn to the players and their families, then the kid goes up and puts on the jersey of the team that selected him and poses for pics with the team's GM and staff. They know which players they want to choose because they have spent time with their scouts going to games, and watching videos and looking at the stats of the young guys. They talk to players and their families, too. They do their homework.

This year, we have restrictions against travel and convening in large groups, so it was handled differently. Teams had their general managers and staff all in one place, and cameras where there when they went up to announce who they chose. There were also cameras in the players' living rooms, where friends and family were gathered around televisions waiting to see who was chosen by which team. They must have had a lot cameras set up in a lot of houses, knowing which of the very top players were most likely to be selected in the first round.

So, fast-forward to the last selection of the first round of the draft. The San Jose Sharks director of scouting goes up to the microphone, and says, "The San Jose Sharks select", pauses to fingerspell OZZY, then resumes, "Ozzy Weisblatt."

Ozzy's mother is Deaf. His family signs.

Cut to the camera in Ozzy's house, as they are all jumping up and down and cheering in a massive family hug. Then they started turning to the camera in their house and making ILY signs into the camera.

It was great! I am a Flyers fan, but I will keep an eye out for Ozzy as he makes his way from juniors, to the minors, to the NHL. And kudos to the SJ Sharks for adding a touch of consideration to the selection process. That was a classy gesture on their part, making sure his mom was fully involved in enjoying the sight of her son being chosen by an NHL team.

This article provides both text and video: https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2020/10/07/sharks-use-sign-language-to-draft-ozzy-wiesblatt-in-touching-moment/