NHL lottery results give Chicago Blackhawks fans reason to celebrate. If Connor Bedard fulfills his promise, the Blackhawks could have a franchise player for the next 10 to 15 years. But that’s not for everyone.
Discontents accuse the Blackhawks of wearing down their roster in order to get the best possible shot at the jackpot. Last summer in particular, they were trading with Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach, then aged 24 and 21 respectively.
DeBrincat was already an established player. As for Dach, he wasn’t progressing at the expected pace. But that’s no reason to part with it, protested his former teammate and captain Jonathan Toews.
Dach still had time and he showed it in Montreal this season.
Bettman isn’t tough enough
The story doesn’t end here.
Many say Gary Bettman should have disqualified the Hawks from the lottery over the Kyle Beach case.
The fact that the NHL’s commissioner fined the organization two million and forced Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville to resign from their positions when the scandal broke in broad daylight isn’t enough for the protesters.
It must be remembered that Quenneville no longer coached the Blackhawks but instead coached the Florida Panthers.
President John McDonough, meanwhile, had quietly disappeared.
As for the owner, Rocky Wirtz, it’s hard to believe that he didn’t know about the matter, as he claimed.
broken career
Depriving the Blackhawks of their first draft pick would have been a severe penalty, but perhaps fair under the circumstances.
The main culprit in this sordid case, Brad Aldrich, who was a coach in the video department, pawned the life and ruined the career of Beach, who was himself selected in the first round in 2008.
It’s serious.
The Blackhawks should have been punished more severely for their lack of compassion for Beach and for doing everything they could to cover up the case.
You have a blessed ass!
Not the first
Bedard will not have been the first nor the last young player to be the subject of great covetousness in the repechage.
In the early 2000s, the Blackhawks again slipped down the table to replenish.
They could win Patrick Kane for first place and Jonathan Toews for third place, not to mention players like Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and others who helped them win the Stanley Cup three times between 2010 and 2015.
The Pittsburgh Penguins with Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin, the Washington Capitals with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, and the Tampa Bay Lightning with Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also started fresh and reached the top.
That’s what the Canadiens are trying to do. As we know, most of the build-up takes place via the repechage.
We can always say that the system has its flaws. The lottery is what the NHL figured out to keep a flagging organization from getting another first draft. It’s better than when there weren’t any.
The battle for the great Mario
The fewer boys remember 1984, the year Mario Lemieux was considered for the draft.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils had ridiculed the NHL by clumsily battling for last spot in a then-21-team league.
The Penguins had 38 points and the Devils 41.
Lemieux ended up in Pittsburgh, leading General Manager Eddie Johnston to state that the Penguins narrowly avoided the Civic Arena’s demolition. Without Lemieux, the penguins’ home would have been replaced by a parking lot, dear old Eddie repeated.
And who did the Devils pick for second place overall?
Kirk Muller, who nine years later helped the Canadiens win their last Stanley Cup.
A third Rousseau at the Memorial Cup?
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League finals kicked off last night at the Videotron Center. On one side the Remparts, on the other the Halifax Mooseheads, the top two teams overall in the regular season.
May the best win!
This series has a special reputation for the family of William Rousseau, the trusty keeper of the Remparts. Should Patrick Roy’s team win, William would become the third member of his family to compete in the Memorial Cup tournament.
His grandfather Robert, who wore the Canadiens colors for 10 seasons and then progressed with the Minnesota North Stars (1 year) and the New York Rangers (4 years), won the 1958 Memorial Cup with the Hull Canadiens-Ottawa.
Robert’s brother Rolland won the 1950 Canadian Junior Hockey Championship with the Royal Juniors.
A professional contract?
William has had quite a season.
His 2.33 clean sheet average for the entire regular season and playoffs is currently the highest for a single season in QMJHL history.
Since he was not drafted, his performances could earn him a contract offer from a National League organization.
We wish him.
At the golf club
His father Pierre and his uncle Richard took over the management of the golf club Grand-Mère from their father Robert.
The Canadian’s former number 15 has Alzheimer’s disease. He’s still doing relatively well.
