WRAL Sports Fan

Hurricanes

Video assisting Canes draft plans

Jun 11, 2012

Raleigh, N.C. — The NHL draft starts next Friday in Pittsburgh and that means the Hurricanes are busy sorting through the talent of the future as they get ready to make their 2012 picks.

"Professional and amateur games it's over 300 games a year, well over 300 games a year," said Hurricanes video scout Darren Yorke. "I watch a lot of hockey."

Yorke spends countless hours cutting down video of the draft's top prospects. The canes' road scouts can only be in so many places to see so many games in person, and Yorke uses technology to fill in those gaps.

"Darren is another one of those sort of balance and checks in the process where, if you're not sure on something you can back it up by watching it on video," said Hurricanes Vice President of Hockey Operations Ron Francis. "If you can't be some place, you can't be all of the same places at the same time, you get to watch more guys through video here at the office." More Info     More Hurricanes Stories

"What the video does, it allows our live scouts to get as much feel on the guy as possible and then the guys in the office can then get a lot of looks on players," said Yorke.

Yorke's first draft with the Canes came back in 2010 and so far, that's turning out to be on of the team's best ever. With the Canes selecting defenseman Justin Faulk in the second round and Jeff Skinner with the first.

"The guys on the road really started wanting to get more information on Jeff, they felt very strongly of him, so Jason Ronnie and Jim, when that came across we just heard require more video, and then as soon as you watch him obviously his skills jump out," Yorke said.

The NHL Draft is now less than two weeks away and Yorke's handiwork will play a large part in the Canes' next pick.