Japers' Rink: Dinner With This Year's Top Draft Prospects

Thanks to Jes for forwarding me a copy of the NHL Entry Draft Media Guide for 2007 (which apparently anyone can download here - warning: PDF). Rather than go all Mel Kiper on you (at this point, at least), I figured I'd help you get to know some of these kids, and what better way to get to know them than to see which three people they'd most like to have dinner with?

If you want some raw data, skip to the bottom. Otherwise, here they are, by prospect, in alphabetical order (with a little added info, where appropriate):

Akim Aliu - nicknamed "Dream," Akim is trying to become the first Nigerian-born NHLer. Hopefully he finds the same success in North America as another similarly-named African-born gent (him or him - take your pick). As for his dinner guests, Bobby Orr, Steve Yzerman and Gordie Howe.
Jean-Simon Allard - Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and President George Bush. Does he mean Bush 41 or Bush 43? Because if it's the former, yeah, that would be an awesome dinner, but the latter? Not sure they'd have a lot to talk about.)
Aaron Alphonso - Sacha Baron Cohen, Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali
Karl Alzner - Scott Niedermayer, Owen Wilson, Taylor Swift.
Keith Aulie - Gretzky, Jessica Simpson and Sidney Crosby because "they are all amazing people." Indeed.
Roman Bashkirov - Maria Sharapova (pictured). That's it. Well played.
Ruslan Bashkirov - Roman's twin brother, he would see his brother's Sharapova and raise him a Gretzky and a Vladimir Putin for dinner.
Jamie Benn - Joe Sakic, Gretzky, Babe Ruth
Ben Blood - Orr, Vince Vaughn, Herb Brooks
Jon Blum - Woods, Lance Armstrong, Simpson
Nick Bonino - Larry David, Bush, Brendan Shanahan
Robert Bortuzzo - Orr, Armstrong, Bob Probert
Drayson Bowman - Armstrong, Lemieux, Kiefer Sutherland
T.J. Brennan - his dad, Dion Phaneuf, Woods
Bryan Cameron - Yzerman, Andrew Raycroft ("to learn how to
score more goals"), Will Ferrell
Max Campbell - Pavel Bure, Gretzky, Adam Sandler
Trevor Cann - Gretzky, Yzerman, Armstrong
Luca Caputi - Richard Simmons (pictured), Simpson, Freddie Mercury. Best answer yet, by far (and I see where you're going with your invites, Luca... crafty).
Paul Carey - Armstrong, Bono, Al Gore. Apparently we're into the tree hugger portion of the alphabet.
Jordy Christian - Woods, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Andrew Clark - Yzerman
Colby Cohen - Donovan McNabb, Chris Pronger, John LeClair. Cohen is Je remy Bloom's cousin and, as you can probably tell from his dinner guests, a Philly guy.
Ian Cole - Woods, Keith Magnuson, Ali
Logan Couture - Willis McGahee, Barry Bonds, Evangeline Lilly
Tommy Cross - Nicklas Lidstrom, Bush, his mom (Cross's, not Bush's)
Jeff Desjardins - his dad, his junior coach, Rod Brind'Amour
Jack Downing - Kate Beckinsale (pictured), Pavel Datsyuk, LeBron James
Eric Doyle - Orr, Ferrell, Terry Fox
Keaton Ellerby (Shane Doan's cousin) - Orr, Ray Bourque
Reid Ellingson - Brooks, Gretzky, Martin Brodeur
Taylor Ellington - Elvis Presley, Ferrell, Lemieux
Travis Erstad - Gretzky, Sakic, Armstrong
Angelo Esposito - Sutherland, Phil Esposito (no relation), Armstrong
Mitch Fadden - Sakic, Yzerman, Gretzky
Justin Falk - Woods, Orr, Bourque
Matt Fillier - Yzerman, Kenny Chesney, Woods
Olivier Fortier - Gretzky, Armstrong, Yzerman
Sam Gagner - Gretzky, Orr, Yzerman
T.J. Galiardi - Gretzky, Armstrong, Donovan Bailey
Colton Gillies (Clark's nephew) - Armstrong, Mel Gibson, Halle Berry
Andrew Glass - Orr, Gretzky, Kiera Knightley
Maxim Gratchev - Sergei Fedorov, Jim Carrey (the actor, though spelled incorrectly in the Guide), Vince Lombardi
Jake Hansen - Peter Forsberg, Brodeur, Crosby
Thomas Hickey - Armstrong, Don Cherry, Rachel McAdams
Mike Hoeffel - Zach Parise, Roger Federer, Brittany Snow
Patrick Kane - his grandpa, Gretzky, Woods
Mark Katic - his grandpa, Orr, Bill Barilko
Daniel Kelly - Scott Stevens, Vaughn, Simpson
Mario Kempe - his grandmother, Sandler, Lemieux
Blake Kessel - his brother Phil, Lidstrom, Orr
Josh Kidd - Woods, Orr, Michael Jordan
Alexander Killorn - Gretzky, Ferrell, Ali
Dwight King - Armstrong, Gretzky, Jessica Alba (pictured)
Jordan Knackstedt - Gretzky, Pamela Anderson, Chesney
Antoine LaFleur - Lemieux, Roberto Luongo, Crosby (at a French restaurant, no doubt)
Matt Lahey - Carey (again, sic... I assume), Vaughn, Ferrell
Nick Larson - Woods, Armstrong, Yzerman
Drew LeBlanc - Gretzky, Sylvester Stallone ("because of the character he portrayed in the Rocky Series," so presumably he'd have to be in character throughout the meal,) Kennedy
John Lee - Gretzky, Orr, Chris Chelios
Brett Leffler - Woods, Chris Farley, Eva Longoria
Stefan Legein - Gretzky, Armstrong, Harry Houdini (pictured)
Spencer Machacek - Gretzky, Doug Gilmour, Carrie Underwood
Drew Mackenzie - Mark Messier, Gretzky, Howe
Brett MacLean - Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux
LoganMacMillan - Wahsontiio Stacey, Jordan, Mike Tyson
Brad Malone (Ryan's cousin) - Woods, Bill Gates, Tom Brady
Kevin Marshall - Maurice Richard, Chelios
Matt Marshall - Federer, Jordan, Lemiuex
Justin McCrae - Armstrong, Gretzky, Woods
Ryan McDonagh - Gretzky, Bush, Jordan
Radek Meidl - Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Lemieux
Charles-Antoine Messier - Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Federer
Dale Mitchell - Paul Kariya, Wayne Rooney, Denzel Washington
Riley Nash - Yzerman, Bush, Orr
John Negrin - Woods, Orr, Yzerman
James O'Brien - Yzerman, Woods, Gretzky
Max Pacioretty - Jeremey Shockey, Jordan, Messier
Nick Palmierei - Sakic, Gretzky, Ali
Aaron Palushaj - Lemieux, Armstrong, Lombardi
David Perron - Alexei Kovalev, Orr, Gretzky
Nicholas Petrecki - Messier, Pronger, Woods
Brad Phillips - Gretzky, Sandler, Brady
Casey Pierro-Zabotel - Gretzky, Yzerman, Lemieux
Alex Plante - Cherry, Ferrell, Larry the Cable Guy
Paul Postma - Orr, David Beckham (pictured), Jesus
Brent Regner - Niedermayer, Carey (for the love of Pete, the actor has two r's in his name, the flash-in-the-pan goalie has one), Woods
Mickey Renaud - Mats Sundin, Carmen Electra, Anderson
Michael Repik - Jagr, Gretzky, Paris Hilton
Nick Ross - Gretzky, Terrell Owens, Chuck Liddell (did you know that T.O.'s middle name is Eldorado? Wonder where he was conceived...)
Linden Rowat - his grandfather, Gretzky, Ferrell
Ted Ruth - George Washington ("the first President" - thanks), Alexander the Great (unclear whether he means this one or this one), Orr
Ben Ryan - his brother, Jordan, Scotty Bowman
Nico Sacchetti - Vaughn, Sandler, Dane Cook
Colton Sceviour - Yzerman, Gretzky, Swift
C.J. Severyn - his grandfather, Gretzky, Bush
Tyson Sexsmith - Armstrong, Simpson (pictured), Andy Roddick
Kevin Shattenkirk - Achilles, Albert Einstein, Jordan
David Skokan - Gretzky, Sakic
Brendan Smith - Shanahan, Ferrell, Gore
Jeremy Smith - his grandfather, Einstein, Kennedy
Brett Sonne - Yzerman, Simpson, God
Nick Spaling - Gretzky, Yzerman, Alexander Ovechkin
Joe Stejskal - Federer, John McEnroe, Zdeno Chara
David Stich - Gretzky, Armstrong
P.K. Subban - Orr, Jordan, Bowman
Brandon Sutter (Brent's son) - Orr, McAdams, Chesney
Bill Sweatt - Gretzky, Woods, Derrek Lee
Eric Tangratti - G. Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Bush
Maxime Tanguay (Alex's brother) - Gretzky, Armstrong (pictured), Woods
Paul Thompson - his grandmother, Gretzky, Sandler
Corey Tropp - Bowman, Datsyuk, Darren McCarty (guess who he's hoping drafts him)
Kyle Turris - Ali, Armstrong (wait, Neil, not Lance), Yzerman
Dana Tyrell - his grandfather, Orr, Cherry
James vanRiemsdyk - Gretzky, Colin Wilson and Brennan Vargas (JvR's roommates)
Kevin Veilleux - Joe Thornton, Gretzky, Sakic
Jakub Voracek - Alba, Ronaldhino, Gates
Yannick Weber - Woods, Heidi Klum, Federer
Patrick White - Brooks, Donald Trump, L. Armstrong
Ben Winnett - Darcy Tucker, Charles Barkley, Gretzky