Fans always think the draft lottery is rigged.

A tradition unlike any other

For as long as sports leagues have been holding draft lotteries, fans have been accusing them of rigging the results. The most famous example of such a conspiracy theory is the idea that the Knicks’ envelope in the 1985 lottery was frozen so that David Stern knew which one to pick out of the pile. The NHL has its own urban legend that the 2005 lottery was rigged to hand Sidney Crosby to the Penguins, a formerly proud franchise that was the subject of relocation threats. But the drawing for the 2005 lottery was conducted behind closed doors. All Gary Bettman did on TV was open some envelopes to reveal the results, so there was never any guess as to how the process had been rigged in Pittsburgh’s favor. 

This year’s NHL lottery was different, though. The ping pong