Draft Lottery News & Notes
Draft Lottery: Scratched. What’s next for the Nashville Predators? | On the Forecheck
Bryan has everything you need right here.
Winners and losers from First Phase of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery | Sportsnet.ca
This seems like as good a time as any to bring up the question of gold drafting again. It feels like it must be a better way to disincentivize tanking than just leaving fans of teams that, not to put too fine a point upon it, sucked this year to curse the lottery balls–again, and again, and again. This year it’s the Red Wings and their fans who are suffering, but there’ve been at least three cases over the last six years–the Avalanche with their own pick, the Avalanche with the Senators’ pick, and the Red Wings–where a team with a truly awful record lost the lottery three straight times.
Also, seriously, either the Blackhawks or the Oilers have a one-in-eight chance at that first-overall pick. Don’t like that very much!
Top pick in 2020 NHL Draft to be determined in second drawing | ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
No draft coverage is complete without a reminder of Taylor Hall’s superhuman talent with a lottery ball.
Anyway, Uncle Bob says that whether or not the season resumes, the odds for Phase 2 remain the same–all eight teams that would have missed without the play-in round get the same one-in-eight chance at each spot.
Other News & Notes
Preds Foundation Celebrates Pride Month with Donation to Oasis Center | NHL.com
Good for them.
Source: NWHL teams to have multiple jerseys in 2020-2021 | The Ice Garden
I am excited about the potential in these new jersey designs. The brand alignment question with the NHL is an interesting one–I do miss the Riveters’ 2015-16 look–and as the league gets bigger, they’ll definitely need the option of not playing color-on-color.
NHL not planning to quarantine players for training camps | Sportsnet.ca
We all know what I think, so I’m just going to say instead: the article starts off by saying the NHL has currently decided against putting players in a quarantine “bubble” and instead just plans to tell them to stay at home. Later on in the article, Carey Price tells an interviewer that he’s looking forward to the current situation ending and being able to enter the “bubble.” That’s the exact word he uses, and the same one Bill Daly used to say they weren’t doing that.
Do…do the players know there’s been a change in plans? Are they finding out what’s going on at the same time we are?
Vancouver now unlikely as NHL hub city | ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
NHL: We’re interested in doing hockey in Vancouver because it’s relatively unaffected by the coronavirus.
Vancouver: Yeah, uh, your plan sounds like a bad way for us and your players to continue to be relatively unaffected.
Kim St-Pierre named to Hockey Hall of Fame | The Ice Garden
Catch up on the accomplishments of new Hall of Famer Kim St-Pierre, if you—like me—didn’t know her work that well before now.
(Seriously, I still can’t believe Manon Rhéaume isn’t in the Hall.)
Panthers’ Barkov invests in his former Finnish club | ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
Barkov is several years younger than me, and I’m unsettled by this reminder that if you earn a lot of money playing sports you end up with the potential for a lot of responsibility.
Also, geez, could some of these players help fund women’s hockey, if they’re running around buying teams to practice owning a NHL team someday? The Hurricanes’ owner bought an entire football league a couple of years ago. Sports money is ridiculous.
CHL to form independent panel to examine hazing, bullying policies | Sportsnet.ca
The CHL says it’s “deeply troubled” by the allegations in Daniel Carcillo and Garrett Taylor’s lawsuit. I can never remember if that’s a step up or a step down from “thoughts and prayers”, but hopefully the CHL is sincere in its concern.
NHL/NHLPA talks on CBA include escrow cap, salary deferral for players | Sportsnet.ca
Talk escrow to us, baby.
Hockey can ‘raise the conversation’ about racial justice, panel says | NHL.com
“”We’ve always relied on sports in the past to bring people together, conversations together, and I think we need to do an even better job to bring this particular conversation to a head,” Nakano said.”
Erica Ayala is pushing the conversation in women’s hockey | The Ice Garden
I’ve enjoyed Ayala’s work both as a color commentator and as a journalist. I hadn’t known until now that she has this video series, but now that I do I’ll be checking it out.