Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
Backstrom stood on his head in the final game of the season against Minnesota, pushing the Flames up the standings ahead of Winnipeg who went on to draft Laine.
Not that any of this could have been predicted, mind you. I just thought it was a funny anecdote that highlights how this team can never, ever catch a break.
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That is incorrect.
All three of Winnipeg, Calgary, and Columbus won their final games that season, so the standings going into the final day of the season were the same as they were at the end of the night. Calgary finished 1 point ahead of Columbus and 1 point behind the Jets.
If the Flames had lost that game (and all the other butterflies flapped their wings exactly the same), they would have finished 1 point behind Columbus. If you assume the lottery would have played out the same, the Flames would have "won" the third overall pick.
Based on comments that have been made since by both Treliving and Burke, the Flames would have either chosen Tkachuk or Puljujarvi with the third pick.
So, either that final win was completely inconsequential and the Flames got the player they wanted anyway, or that win saved the Flames from picking Puljujarvi (and the Oilers likely would have taken Tkachuk 4th overall if Puljujarvi was off the board -- so double bullets dodged).