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Investigating 'fixed' NHL draft lottery theories. Frozen ball, hidden weight, magnets? Let's believe ’em all! | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Investigating 'fixed' NHL draft lottery theories. Frozen ball, hidden weight, magnets? Let's believe ’em all!

Tim Benz
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AP
Those are the cries of foul play flying around the NHL after Monday’s draft lottery.

The fix is in! The Penguins and the rest of the NHL got robbed! The NHL wanted Alexis Lafrenière to go to New York City the whole time!

Those are the cries of foul play flying around the NHL after Monday’s draft lottery. The New York Rangers won it. And the league’s top prospect is heading to the world’s biggest media market as a result.

As if New York winning the lottery with the same 12% chance as the other teams in the hopper wasn’t enough to fuel conspiracy theories, something crazy happened: The guy in charge of the ping-pong balls fumbled the ball that happened to win before he showed it to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

So — you know — it’s rigged, right?!

That’s what Twitter seems to think.

Well, the NHL Network studios, apparently. I mean, I thought he died back in 2003. But with that guy, you never know, right?

The theory was that Bettman’s henchma– uh, I mean … assistant dropped the ball because it was heavier than the others.

Hmmm. Well, wouldn’t it be harder for it to get blown around in that machine then?

So, the theory quickly switched to that the ball was smaller, and that’s why it was chosen.

Now I’m on board!

Meanwhile, frustrated New York Knicks fans were jealous of the success of their Madison Square Garden neighbors.

Pfft! Come on. The Knicks were the original kings of the draft fixes. Don’t you remember the Patrick Ewing “frozen envelope” draft of 1985?

Yeah. Those guys remember.

Ooh! Maybe that was it. The ball was so frozen, it slipped out of the hand of deputy commissioner Joey McButterfingers. Now it all makes sense!

Or … magnets!

Yup. Magnets.

Whatever the case, Lafrenière is on Broadway now. And he may be a force for the Rangers immediately and for years to come. Many think he could be the best prospect to enter the league since the Edmonton Oilers drafted Connor McDavid in 2105.

That’s a problem for the Penguins and the rest of the Metropolitan Division. Brian Metzer joins me to talk about that for Wednesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast and what the Penguins should do with their 15th pick.

We also dive into some fallout from the preliminary-round defeat the team suffered in the Toronto bubble, its prospects for 2020-21, and what will happen the rest of the way in the playoffs.

LISTEN: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer talk NHL Draft Lottery and how it will affect the Penguins

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Breakfast With Benz
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