![]() None are considered close to the prospect that Bedard is believed to be.Ĭolumbus was the loser in the lottery, dropping from second to third, but the Jackets will get one of those good young forwards that the Ducks don’t take. This time, instead of Bedard, they’ll likely choose among University of Michigan forward Adam Fantilli, Russian right-winger Matvei Michkov and Swedish centre Leo Carlsson. Back in 2005, they lost out on Sidney Crosby and got Bobby Ryan. The fact Chicago had the third-best odds to win the lottery and did - well, we’ll let the conspiracy minded take it from there.įor the Ducks, who had the best chance (25.5 per cent) to win, it was a second stunning setback via the lottery. That said, those who think the NHL would do such a thing had to find it awfully fishy that fumbling host Kevin Weekes announced Columbus had drawn the third pick and threw to commercial before deputy commissioner Bill Daly announced it. It’s a result that will also be gold for conspiratorial thinkers who are convinced the NHL rigs the draft lottery system (it doesn’t). Instead, less than two years after Stan Bowman was forced out as general manager of the Blackhawks and Joel Quenneville was compelled to quit as Florida coach because of his knowledge of the scandal in Chicago, the powerful Wirtz family is going to get the player expected to be the next NHL superstar. The only punishment meted out to the franchise by commissioner Gary Bettman was a $2-million (U.S.) fine. The team should clearly have been more heavily penalized by the NHL than it was for the Beach scandal, including being stripped of multiple draft picks for its atrocious conduct. You can make a good argument that Chicago shouldn’t even own the pick it will use to draft Bedard next month. With superstars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews no longer part of the organization, getting Bedard is a convenient opportunity to create a new face of the franchise as it tries to get the hockey world to forget all the terrible things that were done to former farmhand Kyle Beach, and the fact the Blackhawks organization did nothing to protect him because it was focused on winning the 2010 Stanley Cup. On the other hand, this is also a very controversial moment for the NHL.Ĭhicago is an utterly disgraced franchise because of a sex abuse scandal that was exposed less than two years ago. Chicago is one of the league’s marquee franchises, an Original Six team that helps drive interest in the United States. ![]() Of course the NHL has to love the fact that, after Monday night’s draft lottery, Connor Bedard is going to be a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and not the Anaheim Ducks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |