Who wouldn't want a one-in-18 shot at playing in the NHL?

That's where Mark Wires stands today. The North York native joins 17 other finalists for tonight's two-hour finale of Making The Cut (8 p.m. on CBC).

NHL general managers from all six Canadian teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs' John Ferguson, will each draft one player tonight at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. Those players -- older guys aged 21-24 who missed out on being drafted out of junior -- will be invited to camps and get a second shot at their NHL dreams, if there ever is another NHL season.

Series creator and executive producer Derik Murray (Hockey Legends) admits his sports reality series was body-checked by the prolonged hockey lockout. "Our show is about the dream of playing in the NHL," he said yesterday at Toronto's McCormack Arena where the players went through one last skate. "Well, apparently that dream's not true at this particular time.

"People are a little peeved at the game right now," said Murray, who wishes he could have taken advantage of all that promised Hockey Night in Canada promotion.

Airing on Tuesday nights behind the Brit soap Coronation Street probably didn't help either. Making The Cut managed less than half a million viewers a week, doing better than average among 18-to 49-year-olds, particularly males.

Finding a high level of talent among late bloomers is no surprise to Mike Keenan, the Stanley Cup-winning coach who acted as Making The Cut's general manager. Keenan said he's coached several NHL stars who came up this way, including Eddie Belfour, Curtis Joseph and Dave Poulin. "Martin St. Louis is the poster boy for this kind of program right now," said Keenan. "He's the MVP of the National Hockey League and he's never been drafted."

Keenan said he was impressed with the talent level as well as the attitudes of the players. "There were no agents around," he said. "They showed their love of the game and that was a pleasure to watch."

Murray has had talks with U.S. networks about making versions of Making The Cut for other sports, including baseball, basketball and soccer.

The early TKO of Fox's The Next Great Champ knocked out some interest, but Murray thinks boxing is just the wrong sport. While plenty of hockey families can relate to Making The Cut, said Murray, "not too many dads are hoping their kids grow up to be the next Mike Tyson."