Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadGame
The year Pittsburgh won the draft lottery... that top pick wasn't determined in some public way like the old Kingo Bingo on CTV, was it? Was there any transparency or accountability at all about how a franchise with good history that was vulnerable to financial failure/relocation won the Crosby lottery?
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It was held behind closed doors, but every team had a representative in the room to witness the actual drawing. Those witnesses were sequestered until after the public announcement was made.
It would have been impossible for one person to rig it in Pittsburgh's favour and not get caught (and lose their job and also possibly go to prison for fraud).
The only logical way it could have been rigged would have been if every team agreed to it and there's no way that would have ever happened. For each team, the potential value of getting a player like Crosby would have been immensely greater than any benefit they'd get from Pittsburgh getting a new arena.
Would a new arena in Pittsburgh result in any significant increase in league revenue compared to the Pens relocating to a city like Kansas City (or even better, Houston)? Pittsburgh is a small market. In terms of media market size, only Nashville and Buffalo are smaller among US cities with at least one NHL team. Swapping Pittsburgh for Kansas City wouldn't have likely had any impact on tv rights revenue or things like that.
Even without Crosby, the Pens had Fleury and Malkin already, so it's not like their cupboards were bare.
Almost every team in the league has been able to get a new arena built without needing the greatest player in the game on their roster. Much like the Saddledome, the Igloo was old and out-of-date (in fact, it was much worse than the Saddledome is today) and needed to be replaced. Even if the Pens left town, Pittsburgh needed a new arena for concerts and other events. So, a deal was almost-certain to get done one way or another.
If they were going to rig it for maximum league-wide benefit, he would have ended up with the Rangers or Kings or maybe even the Panthers, Coyotes, or Thrashers.
No matter who won the lottery, people would have come up with conspiracy theories as to why it was rigged for that team. Really, "Pittsburgh needs a new arena" would have been one of the weaker arguments out of the 30 possible.
Finally, Pittsburgh was one of the teams with the best odds of winning the lottery, so it's not like they beat huge odds to win. Even if a low odds team had won, it wouldn't have been too shocking since every team had either 1, 2, or 3 balls in the hopper. No one was an overwhelming favourite.
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To summarize:
- It would have been nearly impossible for one rogue actor (or even a small group) to rig the lottery with all of the witnesses present.
- If all teams had agreed to just give Crosby to Pittsburgh, they could have done so without the charade of the lottery. Remember, they made the rules.
- Each team, in its own shelfish interest, would have stood to gain more by winning the lottery than they would gain with a 1/30th share of any gains from Pittsburgh getting a new arena.
- Even without Crosby, Pittsburgh would have likely built a new arena for the Penguins. If they hadn't, the team would have relocated to a city about the same size as Pittsburgh -- or possibly bigger.
- If the teams were going to agree to giving Crosby to a pre-selected team, Pittsburgh would not have been the best choice for the overall benefit of the league.