The NHL draft lottery came and went on Monday and it was not the result that Vancouver Canucks fans were hoping for.
Not only did the team not luck out and win the lottery, and the chance to draft hometown kid Connor Bedard, but the winner was a team that most Canucks fans didn’t want to see.
The Chicago Blackhawks, who entered the lottery with the third-best odds to select first overall, ended up vaulting Columbus and Anaheim to earn the top selection.
That’s right, the team that was Vancouver’s nemesis for several years during the Canucks last contending window and won three cups with generational players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, just got another stroke of good fortune.
The Chicago Blackhawks have won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, also known as the Connor Bedard sweepstakes! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/SNtZFHJn6X
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 9, 2023
While it doesn’t seem like the Canucks were even close to winning the top pick, the data released post lottery shows that Bedard was closer than you think to playing for his hometown team.
The draft lottery is done by drawing four numbered ping pong balls from a machine that make up a four-digit combination.
Each team is assigned a certain number of combinations based on their odds to win, with teams like the Blackhawks having several more than the Canucks.
The winning combination ended up being 4-5-9-13, which was just one single digit off one of the Canucks combinations, 4-5-9-12.
Unfortunately, as the saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
the winning #NHL draft combo was 4-5-9-13. #Canucks held 4-5-9-12... pic.twitter.com/HZ4lyZkOQr
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) May 9, 2023
If that 12 just slipped up the tube instead of the 13, Canucks fans would have been celebrating a miraculous lottery win and a franchise-altering moment on Monday night.
Instead, they’re left wondering once again if the franchise is cursed and dreading the day when the hometown kid potentially leads his Blackhawks over the Canucks in the playoffs.
With Chicago winning first overall, the team who had the highest odds going in, the Anaheim Ducks, ended up winning the second lottery draw to pick right behind them and likely select Adam Fantilli.
Vancouver will draft 11th overall.
