Jaded-Fan said:
Though I agree with you about the Blues, why slam the rest of us?
It's not a slam at anyone. I'm pointing out that when people throw out the unimaginative, "they're tanking the season" statement, they're not bothering to look at who's done what in the last several years.
Besides, was there any of this talk when the Rangers were missing the playoffs perpetually? Was anyone concerned about the fairness of the draft when Carolina was struggling after moving from Hartford?
Changing sports: I haven't heard anyone complaining that the Houston Texans have the #1 pick in this year's NFL draft even though they've sucked all of their existence, or that San Francisco has been lousy the last few years and has yet another high draft pick, or that Arizona is getting yet another top-8 pick after yet another season of 6-10 or worse. I don't remember anyone saying the Los Angeles Clippers shouldn't get another good NBA draft pick after yet another 27-55 season, or that the Chicago Bulls shouldn't have gotten good pick after good pick when Jerry Krause decided to dismantle the 2nd "Jordan and Company" three-peat.
Why is the NHL so special in needing to "fix how the draft is done"? If it's
so bad and if it's
so unfair, why haven't fans in the other 3 major sports leagues stood up in protest? Because they realize what the draft is supposed to do - help the bad teams to once again become good and help the league try to achieve parity.
If it takes a team 7 years to get good again, it takes 7 years. Christ, the Arizona Cardinals have had one season better than 8-8 in the last 18 seasons despite continually picking high in the NFL draft, and no one's saying they've had enough turns at the "get better for free" cafe, that it's time to help teams like the Steelers, Patriots, Colts, Seahawks, Panthers and Eagles get a shot to improve so they can have a chance to win a league title at some point in their existence.
If anyone here doesn't like how the draft is put together, tough. It's not going to change anytime soon, no matter how much you stamp your feet and complain about how much you think teams are abusing the system.