Entry Draft Lottery results a big secret

[Riddarn]

Bettman has theorized that announcing the picks himself is the most exciting way of doing it. He is once again wrong.

I agree. It would be much more entertaining if they had Mario and Wayne dressed up as Sigfried & Roy look alikes, their lottery-machine assistant could be Don Cherry in an oompa-loompa costume. After drawing picks 30-15 there should be a half time show with monkeys, horseys & elefants topped off with Bob Goodenow as the sad faced clown getting eaten by hungry Lions and Tigers.

 

[Safir*]

I agree. It would be much more entertaining if they had Mario and Wayne dressed up as Sigfried & Roy look alikes, their lottery-machine assistant could be Don Cherry in an oompa-loompa costume. After drawing picks 30-15 there should be a half time show with monkeys, horseys & elefants topped off with Bob Goodenow as the sad faced clown getting eaten by hungry Lions and Tigers.

Did you went to the zoo as off late?

 

[FLYLine27*]

Its a big PR chance becuase those die hards will tune in. The networks can have pre and post lottery analysis and it can be packaged to a target audience. I dont want it on tv so that its not rigged, i want it on tv (nba style ) because i think it would be excititng

In Canada I guess, but not here in the states. Agreed it would be exciting..but its not going to be on TV..im not going to make a big deal over it like some people are.

 

[Puckhead]

It's official, the draft will be rigged...ehe. Hello Mr Crosby. Hope you like your stay in Chicago.

I agree! I am not sure where he ends up, but in re-introducing the game and trying to get fans, particularily those south of the border to start caring, Crosby has got to be in a US city. Furthermore, that city has got to be one of the major media markets to make the most bang for your buck. I think he will go to NY Rangers, Chicago, or LA.

The every team has a shot at this #1 pick angle is a farse. They need to create a buzz and what better way to do it than with an unprecendented league wide draft, for the most eagerly anticipated player since Lindros. Granted he didn't turn out to be the next one but that is a lofty praise for an 18 year old kid, coming out of junior to play against the best players in the world.

 

[JohnnyReb]

Network? What network?

Get it through your heads, guys - outside the die hard hockey audience, no one cares about this draft. Sidney Crosby is a nobody to the casual fan still.

TSN and sportsnet would probably like it. No one else will. That's it. There's nothing else to discuss.

So why not let TSN (The Sports NETWORK) and Sportsnet (Sports NETWORK) cover it??

 

[QuickDynamite]

If the Canucks don't get the #1 pick, this draft lottery is rigged.

Honestly though, every team should have 1 ball and an equal chance in the lottery. How is anyone to know what would've happened last year? Teams like Columbus/Pittsburgh already have cheap young players like Malone, Zherdev, Nash, Malkin and have tons of cap room.

Teams like the Leafs/Red Wings/Avalanche are going to be really hit hard the first couple years of the new CBA. They could probably use Crosby more than the smaller market teams could.

 

[Duff88]

...no one cares about this draft. Sidney Crosby is a nobody to the casual fan still.

It's probably not the case in the US, but here in Chicoutimi, everyone knows who Sidney Crosby is. And it's not only hockey fans, 90% people know about him, and I'm pretty sure it's the case all-around in Canada.

 

[I am Jack's Fish]

Does the NHL have an accounting firm present to inspect the equipment, evaluate the process, and certify the results as accurate like the NBA does? I believe the NBA went to this after the big brouhaha that erupted when the Knicks won the 1985 lottery and picked Patrick Ewing. Given the process that was used in 1985, it's impossible to say whether that lottery was rigged or not.

The NHL has in the past had several representitive from various teams in the room, as well as an accounting firm verify the process.

From the girl who went for the Panthers, she remarked that is was entirely the most boring process she has ever witnessed. Mainly because when the sequence of balls were drawn, it wsnt known who won the pick. They went with the numbers to a book with several charts and announced who won the pick.

 

[SwisshockeyAcademy]

Maybe they can show it in Canada but there is no way to show the draft lottery in the States. The NHL doesn't even have a major broadcast partner. They don't get a cent from NBC, they will be splitting reveneues. Is anybody really going to convince NBC to pre-empt a show that they have already spent money on to show 20 minutes of Gary Bettmen opening envelopes in front of 30 assistant GM's? Now
there is some compelling television. How would anybody get advertisers when almost all of the ad spots were purchased six months ago? They will do this just a like a news conference and it will be on ESPN news like all other minor announcements.

I do not see any reason why it cannot be on pride television.

 

[Fedz]

Huh? Oh...they got their 2nd rounders - I hope it works out well for you given my dislike for those teams and Sather's drafting record - you'll likely end up with stiffs anyway.

Crosby is sure one hell of a stiff.

 

[Sammy*]

The NBA does it in the same way and I never heard anybody complain about them wasting any chances...

The guys who "ran this league into the ground" have nothing whatsoever to do with this. The guys who are responsible for this, were also responsible for tripling the revenue, not for spending too much money on players.

Well, your 1st point while accurate is also misleading. The NBA never had a massive lock-out ,& while coming out of it had an alleged franchize player of a generation to be picked. Additionaly, they never had as bad economics as the NHL (maybe there is a reason why in there.
Your 2nd paragraph is insightful, true & interesting food for thought.

 

[helicecopter]

What the hell does a rule change have to do with ANYTHING??????? We are talking about the DRAFT LOTTERY.

Yeah, and your illuminating reason why they should not televise this lottery is that they have never done it before, for completely different situations.

The draft has never been televised in the past, SO WHAT??
It’s not a REASON to not televise it in Canada this year:
- in the other years there wasn’t Crosby, who rightly or not is considered the best prospect to come around in the last 20 years. So winning the lottery was never considered as important as this time.
- in the other years the league was not coming back from a 300 days lockout.
- in the other years there were no rumors and speculations about the lottery going to be fixed.
- more importantly, the other lotteries consisted of a single draw, only the first positions were affected by it. This year all the draft order is to be determined by the lottery, which makes the lottery much more interesting.
- this year every single a team has a shot at the 1st overall, which means fans of every team will be interested.


So the fact the draft lottery has never been televised in the past means absolutely nothing as for this year lottery.

 

[helicecopter]

In Canada I guess, but not here in the states.

So what's wrong with televising it in Canada?

 

[helicecopter]

The way to do it is to make 30 picks, with the first one being the 1st selection, the 2nd the second selection and so on. Every time a team with more than one ball is picked, their remaining balls are removed.

You don't need to remove those balls.

You can't do it in reverse order either, as I first surmised in an earlier thread, because the teams with more balls would actually be penalized.

You can.

As already posted above:

This matter is already discussed in another thread:
http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=151373&page=3

..just draw all 48 balls and only count the last ball drawn for a particular team. So if the Ranger's balls are drawn at positions 41, 27 and 12, then they get the 12th pick.

 

[octopi]

I don't see anyone calling it fixed if Buffalo gets it....

Mmm...yeah, theres probably a few exceptions. But I think theres at least 20 teams people will think its fixed if they get picked.

 

[tmg]

I am telling you people, the balls dont have logos of the teams on them or anything. The balls are all individually numbered and they draw a certain amount out of the bin. They then match up the numbers to a chart which gives them the winner of the lottery draft.

If they wanted to televise it, they could get logo-imprinted balls easily enough. The fact that it has traditionally been done by numbers-and-lookup shouldn't be used as an argument against it getting televised - if you were to televise it, you'd adapt it to a more television-friendly spectacle.

 

[FLYLine27*]

Yeah, and your illuminating reason why they should not televise this lottery is that they have never done it before, for completely different situations.

The draft has never been televised in the past, SO WHAT??
It’s not a REASON to not televise it in Canada this year:
- in the other years there wasn’t Crosby, who rightly or not is considered the best prospect to come around in the last 20 years. So winning the lottery was never considered as important as this time.
- in the other years the league was not coming back from a 300 days lockout.
- in the other years there were no rumors and speculations about the lottery going to be fixed.
- more importantly, the other lotteries consisted of a single draw, only the first positions were affected by it. This year all the draft order is to be determined by the lottery, which makes the lottery much more interesting.
- this year every single a team has a shot at the 1st overall, which means fans of every team will be interested.


So the fact the draft lottery has never been televised in the past means absolutely nothing as for this year lottery.

Putting the 2 minute lottery on TV isn't going to any effect on the game to make it better, Rule changes it will. Once again your argument is a bad one.

 

[FLYLine27*]

So what's wrong with televising it in Canada?

They dont need to televise the Lottery to be able to have in dept point of views on what they think teams will now pick.

 

[ZombieMatt]

There is no reason NOT to televise the event.

The league is in such an awful state because of the lockout it desperately needs to do any and everything possible to get its name out there as frequently as possible, and televising this event should be a matter of common sense.

This NHL draft lottery is just as anticipated as the NBA's when LeBron James was up for grabs. The NHL desperately needs to market itself and rebrand itself. It is embarassing enough that the league didn't have a marketing plan ready to go the second the deal was announced. Commercials and advertisements for the "new NHL" should have been everywhere. They need to be building momentum, not botching opportunities to get themselves on TV with something fresh, regardless of how gimmicky the event may be.

If you really think a few rule changes are going to fix the game you're going to be disappointed. People seem to have this unexplained belief that 2-line passes is going to suddenly send scoring through the roof. Unfortunately basically every example of leagues which have used this fails to give any legitimacy to this fantasy.

The league needs publicity, it needs recognition, it needs to generate excitement and interest around it. Televising the lottery (and doing anything that gets the league on TV in any market) is going to have a tremendous impact on the long term future of the game because it is money that is the issue.

It simply doesn't make sense to not put the event on TV, or unveil the results in some sort of gimmicky hour-long TV show. There is no benefit to NOT getting it on the air, and nothing to lose by putting it on the air.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I know that I've wet myself in excitement numerous times when the Pennsylvania lottery breaks on to the news station at 7:00 every night. It's like, there's all those white balls and you don't know what number will come up!!! I can't get enough of it!!!!

 

[Joe Hallenback]

The NBA does not televise the lottery live
They televise the results of the lottery. They dont have a giant ball machine on tv and Stern reaching in a picking out the winner. They do that behind the scenes earlier in the day and then seal up the results and open them live on TV.

Isnt that sorta the same thing the NHL is gonna do?

 

[turnbuckle*]

You don't need to remove those balls.

Why keep them in there? So you're anticipating the next pick and it's.....New York again. Remove the team's balls when they're picked. Easy.

You can

As already posted above:

"just draw all 48 balls and only count the last ball drawn for a particular team. So if the Ranger's balls are drawn at positions 41, 27 and 12, then they get the 12th pick."

Now that makes little sense. What if New York's last ball picked is 41? That means they'll get the 41st pick in the first round? What if a team with one ball picked ball number 48 - they get stuck with the 48th pick in the first round?

 

[kruezer]

Maybe I just don't get it, but is watching Bettman draw the winning lotto ball really that much more exciting than hearing him announce the picks in reverse order?

 

[turnbuckle*]

Probably not - but I'd prefer that he had nothing to do with the procedure, whether it be picking the balls or announcing the names. I think I'd feel a helluva lot better "seeing" how the Rangers end up with the first pick instead of hearing it from Bettman's smirking lips.

Did the NBA not show the balls being drawn when they first did the lottery? That to me is the most exciting (and immediate) way of doing it. Since the new NHL is supposed to be about excitement, then that's what they should be trying to bring us fans.

 

[demonic]

Why keep them in there? So you're anticipating the next pick and it's.....New York again. Remove the team's balls when they're picked. Easy.




Now that makes little sense. What if New York's last ball picked is 41? That means they'll get the 41st pick in the first round? What if a team with one ball picked ball number 48 - they get stuck with the 48th pick in the first round?

Um, no. Only 30 of the 48 balls are unique, so if they drew three Rangers balls in the first 7, the Rangers would probably pick 27th or 28th. You wouldn't know the full draft order until the final ball is drawn.