Every night that Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin do the play-by-play of Caps games is a joy. Thursday night against the Florida Panthers was no different.

While Joe B. and Locker talked about the Caps trivia answer of the night, the former 30-goal scorer with the Caps revealed a funny story about how he found he was drafted. You see, kids, before cable and ESPN, the draft was covered a whole lot different.

I’ll let Locker explain.

Joe Beninati: Who is the last active player in the NHL drafted by the Quebec Nordiques? And it was right in front of me the whole day.

Answer: Tim Thomas 9th Round (217th Overall) in 1994

Craig Laughlin: He’s between the pipes for the Florida Panthers. There he is, Tim Thomas. The interesting thing about that draft in ’94, he was a ninth rounder, number one as you mentioned in the first was Jovocop who plays for the Panthers. [The] goalies around [Thomas that year]: he was 217, Hedberg was 218, Nabovkov was 219. 226 was Tomas Vokoun.

Joe Beninati: All that late in the draft… My favorite part of the conversation with Tim Thomas being drafted? “I never got a Quebec jersey.” [laughter] He never got a jersey!

Craig Laughlin: I never even knew I got drafted!

Joe Beninati: You didn’t?

Craig Laughlin: No, by the Montreal Canadiens. My dad sits at the kitchen table every morning and he would read the newspaper. And there’s a small little thing in the back that has a list of the draft picks. So he yells up to me, “Hey, Craig. You got drafted.” And I said, “To the army?” He said, “No!! To the Montreal Canadiens.” A little blurb in the back of the Toronto Star. That’s how I found out I was drafted back in 1976.

Joe Beninati: Tim Thomas was surprised too. He filled out the paperwork for the University of Vermont and goes, “I was drafted??” And he never got a sweater from the Nordiques.