"I've been with professional teams that weren't as well organized as the Marlboros," said Mark Howe, now a scout with the Red Wings who pays close attention to the work of the NHL Scouting Service.

It was that kind of attention to detail and his ability to judge young talent that landed Bonello his current job in 1988. Bonello's evaluation of the then 17-year-old Joe Thornton read:

"He has a good opportunity of being classed as a franchise player. I don't think he's going to be quite like a (Mario) Lemieux. In my mind, guys like Lemieux and (Wayne) Gretzky are in a class of their own. But he'd certainly be in the class of, say, a (Joe) Sakic or a (Eric) Lindros. He is the total package."

It would be four more years before Thornton showed the kind of talent in the NHL that Bonello predicted but he seems right on the money.

Although the Central Scouting Service staff will evaluate thousands of hockey players around the world, no NHL team relies solely on the CSS reports.

"There’s no question we use their system," said Panthers GM Rick Dudley. "While we have our own scouts, we often reference the Scouting Bureau's information throughout the course of the year. We certainly base a lot of our pre-Draft scouting coverage around some of their people, around some of their selections."

"We follow our own list throughout the Draft," said Columbus Blue Jackets Assistant GM Jim Clark. "But the Central Scouting has been a tremendous gauge for us. When they have a name on their list that's not on ours we have to ask ourselves why and then make a decision to see that particular kid. When we have a name and they don't, again we ask ourselves why.

"If you look at their Top 100 list, it has 75-80 of the same names but ranked in different order," Clark continued. "We may have a player at No. 25 and they have him No. 37. Why? For the most part, teams and Central are watching the same kids so we use their reports as one of our checklists. It's another safety measure to make sure we're not missing something. There's a lot of kids out there and a lot of games. When there are differences in the rankings, there may be all kinds of reasons. It might just be that they may have seen a player more than we have or vice versa."

Dudley said the CSB rankings won't have much influence on his No. 1 overall pick.

"The guys we're thinking about picking at No. 1, Director of Amateur Scouting Scott Luce has probably seen them 25 times. I’ve probably seem them 10 times each at least, maybe 15. So all of our people will have seen them a lot."

Detroit Red Wings Assistant GM Jim Nill said the CSS scouting reports can be very useful in the lower rounds. The Red Wings have been very successful on the ice in recent years, resulting in lower Draft picks in the early rounds. But they've managed to pick up players like Pavel Datsyuk with the 171st overall pick and Henrik Zetterberg with the 210th overall pick. He said the CSS provides an invaluable service.

Detroit Red Wings Assistant GM Jim Nill said the CSS scouting reports can be very useful in the lower rounds to evaluate talent. In recent years, the Wings have been able to find players like Pavel Datsyuk in the later rounds.

Bonello has overseen many changes at the Central Scouting Service, many dictated by the computer age. The CSS keeps a database of over 24,000 players. Yet, no computer can look into a boy's heart to determine if he has Bobby Baun's courage, Wayne Gretzky's will to win or Jacques Lemaire's on-ice intelligence.

"When all is said and done, it's still the hockey part that is the conclusion of what we do," Bonello said. "Can he play; what kind of player is he?

"The computer helps you keep it at your fingertips but we still have to watch them and decide how good they'll be at the next level. The hardest part of scouting is the intangibles, like what's in the man's head and what's in his heart? How bad does he want to play?

"We've seen some sure bets never make it and some guys who were told to take up something else made it," Bonello said. "You look at a player, 5-foot-9, and think he's too small and another 5-foot-9 player you might think is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We want to know how physical a player is he? How does he present himself on ice? Does he have a tough demeanor or does he play timid?"

Bonello said there are challenges facing boys and young men that can derail a hockey career. Then, there are players who benefited from a size advantage until reaching manhood. Scouting is an informed guessing game at best. Of the 30 players taken in the first round this year, as many as half may fail to become first-line NHL players and some won't make the big time at all.

"It's really difficult to know how a drafted player will develop," Bonello said. "We see players in juniors that had everybody scared to death but they moved up to the NHL and weren't tough at all once they met their match and more.

"These young men have never been in the NHL and don't have an idea what it's like," he continued. "They don't know the price you have to pay. Look at the Playoff hockey: You have to give 100 percent every second you're out there and if two or three players aren't doing that their team is not going to win. A young man's character and attitude has a lot to do with whether he'll be successful."