Two controversies surround Chicago Blackhawks winning NHL Draft Lottery

The Chicago Blackhawks won the right to draft phenom Connor Bedard when they won the NHL Draft Lottery.

The tank was successful as the Blackhawks will have the No. 1 pick.

Chicago hockey fans are suddenly filled with hope after watching the team decay over the last six seasons.

Bedard is a generational talent. He scored 71 goals in 57 games last season at the junior level. He was brilliant for Canada at the World Junior Championships. No wonder fans are buying up season tickets in droves.

Bedard is not going to make the Chicago Blackhawks an immediate Stanley Cup contender. His presence does speed up the rebuild timeline. He has the talent to impact the franchise like Connor McDavid did for the Edmonton Oilers or Austin Matthews did for Toronto.

The Hawks winning the NHL Draft Lottery did not come without controversy.

The first controversy was that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman rigged it so the Blackhawks could land Bedard.

Sparking the conspiracy was analyst Kevin Weekes announcing Columbus would pick third before the television coverage cut to a commercial. The issue was the official announcement was supposed to happen after the commercial break.

The problem with the rigging conspiracy is the NHL allowed three media outlets to observe the draw. It was also ping-pong balls bouncing out of a machine. This was not like when the NBA threw a bunch of envelopes into a bin during the first-ever lottery selection. The conspiracy was the NBA wanted Patrick Ewing to go to the New York Knicks so they made sure the Knicks’ envelope was cold to easily identify it.

It turns out Weekes misspoke because of a production miscue.