I'm over it, but I see the result as an incredible injustice.
Before the lotery, when talking about the team which don't deserve him, here is what I wrote
here :
Pittsburgh with no hesitation.
There is 3 main reasons:
1. Lemieux. They tanked big time to get Mario Lemieux, who is arguably now the second greatest player in history and they had this guy for 20 years. This reason alone should be enough IMHO. This kind of player is so rare, it would not be fair at all if the same team got two generational talent in a row, especially considering they litteraly "stoled" Lemieux from the Devils.
2. An abondance of stars in the past. They had Jagr for years, and an history of great players. It's not all about Lemieux, there was plenty of great players in Pittsburgh over the years. Jaromir Jagr alone is close from a generational talent, they almost had 2 generational talents while some teams didn't even had one. It's time for other team to benefit of this kind of players to build around.
3. A stacked future. They had enough of high picks in the recent years. They finished last 2 years in a row, and even had a 5th overall pick the year before that. They now have a potential franchise goaltender, a franchise center, and some other very high regarded prospects. They was very "rewarded" for their failures over the recent years and have already more than enough to build in the future.
I don't really know who would really deserve Crosby (I've not even read this thread), but I'm sure of one thing : Pittsburgh doesn't deserve him.
I know I'll get flamed by Pens fans but let's face it, Pittsburgh already had his fair part of stars players, and they already have plenty to build around in the future.
And I'll add one last reason : The system was a joke, and seemed fixed for some teams to win it. Like usual the most influant persons had what they wanted. I could have lived with a system where the playoffs were penalized, although I didn't agree because failures were already rewarded and we start a new area, but the first pick stuff was just wretched and clearly here to destroy some teams chances (Caps and Panthers).
Do you think it's fair for the Panthers to be penalized for drafting Bouwmeester when Columbus draft Rick Nash ? Do you think it's fair for the Panthers to be penalized for drafting Nathan Horton when Pittsburgh draft Marc-André Fleury, or Columbus draft Nikolaï Zherdev ? Do you think it's fair for the Capitals to be penalized for drafting Alexander Ovechkin when Pittsburgh draft Evgeni Malkin ? Didn't these teams earned their right to draft a player conforming to their standings/lotery like everyone ?
If we follow this logic, why shouldn't we penalized Pittsburgh for drafting Malkin ? After all, isn't Malkin considered as a way better player than Barker ? And why shouldn't why penalized Pittsburgh for having the 2003 first overall choice ? Because the Panthers acquired the superstar Mikaël Samuelsson ? Is there a guy here to say Samuelson is as important as a playoffs spot ? It's better for me to stop here.
The system wasn't fair. Not even close. It's arbitrary at 100%. And I'm light with my words because in my opinion it was cheating at 100%. This is another reason I didn't want Pitsburgh to win it, I was rooting for a cheated team à la Caps or Panthers to win it.
Here was my opinion, why I think Pittsburgh didn't deserve him, and why I see the result as a complete injustice. Flame on if you want, I don't mind the opinion of the biased fans here...