First thing’s first: The NHL Draft Lottery wasn’t fixed.
The horrific looks that hung on the faces of Gary Bettman and Bill Daly told us everything, after it was revealed that the League’s next can’t-miss superstar will be crushed under an avalanche of poor management, apathy for the market and sub-zero temperatures for the next 15 years.
Which is to say that Edmonton was, without much debate, the last place the NHL wanted Connor McDavid.
But just because the lottery wasn’t fixed doesn’t mean it was pulled off without a flaw, which brings us to a Reddit user’s conspiracy theory that the NHL botched its own lottery rules.
Before we get into the “conspiracy,” such as it is, please take about nine minutes to watch the meticulous explanation of the lottery’s rules and execution of the lottery itself in this video the NHL released.
It might be the most unintentionally hilarious thing the League’s put out since The Guardians Project, as charisma machine Gary Bettman does everything he can to lend transparency to every facet of the lottery process. So of course something happened to make some fans question the credibility of the lottery:
OK, here’s how the theory goes, via “McDavid2015,” whom we’re going to go ahead and guess might be a Buffalo Sabres fan:
- There’s a dude in charge of turning on the machine, hitting the vacuum/blower button and then hitting the button that sucks one ball up the tube.
- He’s told explicitly to hit that third button once every 10 seconds for reasons that we’re sure have something to do with the integrity of the draft.
- (As an aside, he looks like the kind of guy who gets blamed for screwing up something royally at the office, but who is generally well-liked for being a nice guy who brings Irish soda bread in on St. Patrick’s Day every year.)
- On the first ball, the lottery guy pushes the red button, and it emits a distinct sound: The button is pressed, and then clicks back into place.
- Inexplicably, it appears he hits the button a second time a split second later, as it emits the same sound.
- The No. 5 ball is sucked up into the tube. The No. 11 ball is right behind it, having been pushed into the tube by the second click of the button, before falling back to the tube.
- YOU HAD ONE JOB.
- He then selects Nos. 14, 6 and 1, and the combination gives the Edmonton Oilers the top pick. Each time, those are the only balls that go up the tube. Each time, the button click doesn’t sound like the initial “two clicks” from him.
The winning team had the No. 11 ball been counted (5-11-14-6)?
The Buffalo Sabres!
Skate in the crease! Double-clicked McDavid Lottery buttons! This franchise is cursed.
Honestly, we’re certain that every lottery ever held ever that involves these machines has but one standard: It’s the ball the emerges from the top of the tube that counts. How many Mega Millions drawings have you seen where multiple balls are sucked up into the tube, but only the one drawn out by the lovely model counts?
So while much like Connor McDavid himself, we would do anything in our power to take the top pick away from the Edmonton Oilers, this “conspiracy theory” or ineptitude isn’t enough to have forced a redraw.
But, seriously, NHL: If you have another one of these draft lotteries whose integrity can’t be maligned in any way, perhaps bring in a pro at meticulously pushing a button next time?
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1yLaCHT
