The tension around who would get the first pick in the NHL draft was punctured Monday night after ESPN’s Kevin Weekes inadvertently revealed the Columbus Blue Jackets were picking third.
“And there’s our first change in the order, with Columbus dropping to third,” Weekes said. “So now Anaheim or Chicago will select first overall.”
The problem is that Weekes, a former 14-year NHL goalie, unveiled the team’s position as the ESPN broadcast went to commercial after the lottery results for the 16th through fourth positions were revealed.
Kevin Weekes just said #CBJ dropping to 3rd ? #NHL
href=”https://t.co/XXVacOfYCY”>pic.twitter.com/XXVacOfYCY— David (@DaveyUpper) May 9, 2023
However, Weekes is not entirely to blame; a production error fed the wrong words into the teleprompter that Weekes was using, according to The Athletic.
After the break, the remaining three picks were revealed, with the results confirming the gaffe. The Chicago Blackhawks leapfrogged the Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks to win the first overall pick; the prelottery order went Ducks, Blue Jackets and Blackhawks.
The anticipation, particularly in Columbus, had been ruined.
“It was pretty evident what was going to happen. It spoiled the moment, I guess,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told The Athletic.
While the lottery was conducted an hour before the ESPN broadcast, the flub had fans online declaring the process was rigged.
Not good for the NHL as a league, when NHL RIGGED is trending, where is the transparency?? pic.twitter.com/pT9bP37RUV
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) May 9, 2023
Many fans echoed long-standing “frozen envelope” theories regarding the 1985 NBA draft, when the New York Knicks took Patrick Ewing first overall. Some still maintain that the Knicks’ envelope was frozen or had a bent corner, cluing in NBA Commissioner and native New Yorker David Stern as to which envelope to choose.
Similarly to that bygone NBA draft, the top of the 2023 NHL draft offers much-hyped prospect, center Connor Bedard, widely projected to be a generational, franchise-redefining talent.
“How big of a conspiracy is it to ensure your league, which has terrible exposure, gets the next generational talent into a HUGE TV hockey market where attendance was trending downward? Read up on the frozen envelope during the Patrick Ewing draft,” Twitter user @LeafsRag posted.
In addition, much like New York, Chicago is a major media market, and the Blackhawks are one of the original six teams that formed the NHL.
“The NHL draft lottery is so rigged. Who else but Chicago, one of the biggest markets, original six team, and best for the league financially. Why would anyone think the Ducks would get the first overall pick and send Bedard to the west coast where nobody would tune into games,” Twitter user Ethan Welch tweeted.
Despite the fan outcry, draft lotteries in the major sports leagues are conducted beforehand and in private, with the help of accounting firms — in part due to the persistence of the “frozen envelope” theory.
Monday’s lottery was conducted by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman with the assistance of Steve Clarke of accounting firm Ernst & Young.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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