Get those NHL lottery bets in now. Begins 4Pm today
 

Man those Conspiracy nuts are circling everywhere this morning. From all this talk you would assume that there is no way New York does not get the first draft pick.

What kind of Daily Line is vegas giving that the rangers get the first pick?


What do you think? Can the NHL Lottery System be Fixed? What kind of random act are we going to see here?

My prediction (based on absolutely nothing, just guessing) is that Chicago will get the pick.

Could it be fixed? Sure. Will it be fixed? I highly highly doubt it. But if the Rangers get the #1 pick it will be hard to convince some folks it was anything but fixed. Same goes (though to a lesser extent) if LA, Toronto, or Montreal get the pick. Let the conspiracy theorists talk til their blue in the face I'm not too worried about it.

As far as predictions go... I have no idea. I'll be disappointed if certain teams win the lottery. Ambivalent if others. Excited if a few. If Detroit managed to pull it off I would be doing the "dance of joy" for the entire weekend, month perhaps. If Colorado some how won it I would throw up.

Yeah, if Colorado gets it, I won't be happy. Or answer the phone for about a week.

funny, I think I'd be pretty stoked if the Avs got it. Gut feeling is Columbus though

I think some weird team like Buffalo...

actually, Buffalo would be my second gut feeling

I'll be jumping up and down at work if the Sabres get it :D

I always have had a spot in my heart for the Sabres, so I wouldn't mind at all if they got Crosby.

I'll take Montreal.

my gut feeling (besides Buffalo) is Phoenix, Gretzky coaching Crosby

I have a feeling that a one ball team will get him...just a hunch.

Pheonix was a team I was thinking about to.

Gretzky coaching the kid he says could shatter his records.. Makes for an amazing story.

That's only because when it comes to hockey you're horribly mis-guided and even somewhat evil. :)

"Ok Crosby, this is is my top secret method for breaking records! All you have to do is go in that dark alley over there. A magical hockey guy will give you the secret hockey stick..."

*CLANG*

lmao.

Hey .. A Great One investigation for assault and battery is almost as good.

right. and your wife was totally just "hanging out" with a "friend" ;)

I barely follow hockey, but this new lottery system is stupid. Some team like the RedWings will get Crosby. It will be just another way to screw over the sucky teams(like the Penguins.)

I wish that were true .. But I can't see it happening.

We still gotta remember, the Rangers are a crappy team.

DUDE! Why you got to be so nasty?! :D

Crosby will play in the NHL this fall, right? Or will he head to AAA(AHL?).

Lottery system makes perfect sense. There are other ways it could be done, but I think it's fair that, considering there was no season last year to base the draft order on (who knows what could have happened), every team has a shot at the #1 pick with those teams that have been less successful of late (like the Penguins) have a slightly higher chance. Seems fair enough.

I can't see any reason he won't be in the NHL. Especially with the new cap, he'll make far less money then he ought to be, and with a lot of teams cutting guys, he'll slide right in to a lineup.

Seconded. Avs are just evil.

Okay, i didnt realize that this was just the one time method of doing the lottery.

Heck, for all this talk of conspiracy for Crosby, maybe the NHL should have just auctioned it off to the highest bidder and then random-ordered the remaining the picks. They would have killed the conspiracies (unless you believe teams would collude to deny other teams the top pick by pooling money) and gotten Crosby to go to a major-market franchise. Proceeds from selling the pick could have been re-distributed in some sort of market-sharing way. True, minor franchises wouldn't have had any chance at Crosby, but it seems so many fans are scared to death that Crosby would end up in a backwater.

Yeah. It's only because there was no season. Typically the draft works like the NBA draft with there being a lottery for the worst teams in the league which is weighted by final record. This is just to avoid tanking a season.

Go Oilers Go!

According to the last CBA, you had to be 20 years old to play in the AHL. The lockout year was an exception. Since the draft age has been raised to 19, I suspect it's still 20 years old. Crosby will definitely be playing in the NHL as an 18 year old.

I'd actually like to see him go to Pittsburgh or Buffalo. I definitely don't want to see him go to Toronto, Carolina, or Florida.

Just put him in Detroit.

Crosby/Datsyuk/Zetterburg?

Oh man. Just the thought of it.

Makes me sick to my stomach.

Haha. You would say that.

At least HB agrees.

Indeed I do!

It would be a perfect "passing of the torch" from the Steve Yzerman Era to the Sidney Crosby Era. This would be great for Detroit, great for hockey, great for our country, and great for small children everywhere!

Flyers BABY!!!

Spoken and spelled like a true DC-ian.

Ouch. That spelling was brutal! For shame!

Red Wings for teh win!!!!!!111!

Nashville needs him, but go Devils.

if its the Rangers, Im calling a fix...any other team, im fine with...obviously, i hope the Leafs get him.....the best place for him would be Montreal, and i think that would be great

Maybe if the Rangers weren't one of the few teams with three balls in the lottery there could be tenuous grounds to suspect a fix, but they are one of those few teams. There is really no evidence to support the NHL having any real interest in the Rangers. They are horrible. Talks of fixes and conspiracies is the work of paranoid Canadians.

Amen

You're mocking me, aren't you?

LA Kings select Crosby :)

First of all, if he ends up with any team besides the Rangers, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto (Original Six etc) its going to be terrible for the league. This kid is the NHL's last hope. If Crosby ends up in somewhere like Buffalo or Nashville the league loses any benefit that he might bring.

Read an article a couple days ago about Jeremy Roenick. He was talking about the new CBA and also about Crosby. He said that if the NHL wanted to do the right thing, they should just assign the #1 pick to the Rangers. They're the only team that has the mix of a shitty enough squad along with a market that could actually benefit the league. I honestly don't think the rest of the teams would have a problem with it.

My biggest problem with this lottery is that the teams with the "best" chance only do have a slightly better chance than the Detroits and Colorados of the league. In my opinion, they should have used the system they started using, taking the teams who have missed the playoffs for 4+ years (Rangers, Nashville, Chicago, etc) and guaranteed those teams the top X picks (where X is the number of teams who fit that category). Then take the teams who have only made one playoff appearance in that past 4 years and guaranteed them the next Y picks, continuing down the line until you get to teams who have made the playoffs every year.

I might follow hockey if the Kings got Crosby

You and the other 14 people in LA who would care.

Hold the phone! Let's get this boy on a plane to LA then!!

How about the Sharks? :)

i beg to differ, I think just about every team in the league would have a MAJOR problem with it...

My biggest problem in the lottery is punishing teams that made the playoffs....whose to say what could have happend last year......Calgary came out of nowhere to win the cup.....how do we know Brodeur doesnt get hurt, NJ sucks and finishes close to last, with a great shot in the regular lottery......the fact that the lottery is weighted is unfair...it should be an equal change for every team, but this is the way it is, and im glad my Leafs have a shot at him....

assigning the pic to the Rangers, man, thats going way overboard

Yes and no. I take any opportunity I can to mock you, but I also love the Wings. Best of both worlds.