Do you believe in any NHL conspiracy theories?

[bobber]

Do you buy into any conspiracy theories about the NHL? (E.g., rigged lotteries, Sedin twins are actually triplets and the third one rotated in periodically to keep the other two fresh, etc etc.)

I have two:

1. When the Florida Panthers tried to draft a 17 y/o Ovechkin in 2003, they didn’t actually believe in that bogus “leap year” theory.

IMO he was drafted because they thought the rumors of him being overage might be true, and they were hoping to land his rights in the event his “real” birth certificate ever surfaced.

2. Walter Gretzky orchestrated all the more unorthodox aspects of Wayne’s pre-NHL career (WHA, 20 year “personal services” contracts) solely as a means to circumvent the NHL draft and avoid Wayne being stuck with a terrible team like the “Mickey Mouse” Rockies/Devils.

The Walter Gretzky myth is phoney. He was a Bell Telephone Tech not a high end lawyer. He might of known how to saw a wooden hockey stick down to size. That about the extent

 

[ColinM]

His dad also died.

His personality....I jist don't see him walking away due to allegations. Walking away because his dad died makes more sense sinxe they were by all accounts very close

Fair point. His relationship with his dad likely also made him think a lot about conversations they had when he was young which likely included sports.

Still the NBA couldn't afford to treat Jordan like basketball's Pete Rose. A cooling off period might have been helpful.

 

[PistolPete]

Except KPMG has both accounting and bonding sides. It was at one time separate companies.
Accounting - only as good as the facts they are given.
Bonding - insures that facts presented have been verified.

I’m done though, having a battle of wits with an unarmed man is tiring.

Battle of wits with an unarmed man?

 

[ColinM]

The Walter Gretzky myth is phoney. He was a Bell Telephone Tech not a high end lawyer. He might of known how to saw a wooden hockey stick down to size. That about the extent

I doubt he engineered a contract but I'm sure Walter offered a lot of unsolicited advise. Most parents still do when their kid turns 18 even though they are adults. I doubt he was any less influential than Janet.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

The only question I always ponder is how does one owner get other owners to agree to him getting the generational player or how does he and his co-conspirators keep it hidden from other owners.

Could be as simple as payments to those other owners. Employing those other owners children. Offering shares in their businesses. Lots of ways for them to trade favours.

 

[PistolPete]

I doubt he engineered a contract but I'm sure Walter offered a lot of unsolicited advise. Most parents still do when their kid turns 18 even though they are adults. I doubt he was any less influential than Janet.

Very odd take.

People wirh healthy relationships with their parents often seek advice from their parents- and one of them was Gretzky.

My daughter is 19 and asks me for advice all thr time. It's called offering insight via life experience .

 

[PistolPete]

Could be as simple as payments to those other owners. Employing those other owners children. Offering shares in their businesses. Lots of ways for them to trade favours.

Always possible but when more and more people are required to he involved makes me think the null hypothesis is more likely.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

Very odd take.

People wirh healthy relationships with their parents often seek advice from their parents- and one of them was Gretzky.

My daughter is 19 and asks me for advice all thr time. It's called offering insight via life experience .

Jack Johnson's parent's were super helpful to him.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

Always possible but when more and more people are required to he involved makes me think the null hypothesis is more likely.

It's happening every day across the entire world. They're not worried about getting caught because they don't care because no one cares if you do it. Look at what is happening with Ballmer. Nothing. NBA is trying it's hardest to bury that scandal.

 

[PistolPete]

Jack Johnson's parent's were super helpful to him.

One is independent of the other though.

I've seen some asshole parents but I've seen a lot of great parents too.

Either way, Gretzky has stated he often went to his father for his input.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I think it's because the original 6 can't stand the thought of being just one of 32 teams. They wanna keep that air of superiority over the rest of us

The "Original 6" aren't even all originals. Wanderers and Americans predate the Habs and Rangers. The Wild and Blue Jackets have been around longer than the "Original 6" era.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

One is independent of the other though.

I've seen some asshole parents but I've seen a lot of great parents too.

Either way, Gretzky has stated he often went to his father for his input.

Just not about the history of his ancestors.

 

[ColinM]

Very odd take.

People wirh healthy relationships with their parents often seek advice from their parents- and one of them was Gretzky.

My daughter is 19 and asks me for advice all thr time. It's called offering insight via life experience .

I guess I had a very different relationship with my parents at age 18. Back then I'd listen to what they said but I wouldn't always agree. Who knows how true that was for Walter and Wayne.

 

[My3Sons]

In 1947 Gary Bettman covered up a UFO crash in Roswell and since then has kept alien bodies in Hanger 18 at Wright Patterson and he has suppressed proof of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. And I think he’s got either Parkinson’s or he’s taking meds that are giving him tremors or TD.

 

[jcs0218]

Because the company that oversees and audits them is worth like 4x as much as the entire NHL and wouldn’t risk that for a game.

Not saying I necessarily believe in NHL draft lottery conspiracies.

But if that company is overseeing and auditing draft lotteries, then who else would know but themselves if they were complicit in the lottery rigging.

NHL could tell that company "We are giving the Penguins the #1 pick", and as long as the overseeing/auditing company doesn't incriminate themselves, then how would any party outside the NHL and that company become aware of the rigging?

 

[kaiser matias]

The "Original 6" aren't even all originals. Wanderers and Americans predate the Habs and Rangers. The Wild and Blue Jackets have been around longer than the "Original 6" era.

Might want to check that one.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Might want to check that one.

It's a set, the Wanderers predate the Habs, the Americans predate the Rangers.

 

[Buckley]

Except KPMG has both accounting and bonding sides. It was at one time separate companies.
Accounting - only as good as the facts they are given.
Bonding - insures that facts presented have been verified.

I’m done though, having a battle of wits with an unarmed man is tiring.

This made me chuckle. I deal with auditors every day. Public company fraud doesn't continue for years on end, through multiple audit cycles, because the auditors can only work with the facts they are given. It continues because in very large public companies, audit firms are paid tens of millions of dollars for their work, and there is a lot of incentive to look the other way. It's also a numbers game. Auditors carry the largest insurance policies on the street. Class action claims are always settled, and insurance covers it. Reputational damage? There is none, because if you want a big 4 audit firm, you won't find one that hasn't been hand-slapped for looking the other way, whether it's KPMG, Deloitte, E&Y or PwC (AA was a special case because those guys took auditing to another level when they started shredding evidence).

My all-time favourite was a company called Sino-Forest (TSX listed). A forestry company without...trees. E&Y was the auditor. Those were the days. But I digress.

 

[HisIceness]

Not really no.

I get a laugh out of the Florida tax thing. 10 years ago this board was crucifying the Panthers for having bad attendance and to be relocated to Quebec City. But when they started winning it was because of taxes (and palm trees). The Lightning had bad years too and probably had people screaming for relocation. I don't think the tax thing was used against them as much but I can remember circa 2009 how bad that team was and how it was a "bad market that needed to be relocated" because no one wanted to watch a bad product.

Teams with good ownership and management tend to be successful, doesn't matter the location. The OKC Thunder have arguably the best GM in sports and they win despite playing in a market that probably wouldn't be considered "sexy" by many.

 

[Bolduc of Hazzard]

The NHL saw how stacked the 2004-2005 Ottawa Senators were and decided they had to kill the season.

 

[Stive Morgan]

My headcanon has always been that the Montreal Canadiens were bumped up one spot in the 2018 draft lottery as a favour from the NHL for acquiring John Scott and sending him to the AHL in an attempt to make him miss the All-Star game. They couldn't do it the same year because it'd be too obvious.

The NHL REALLY didn't want Scott in the ASG.

 

[LuckyDay]

His dad also died.

His personality....I jist don't see him walking away due to allegations. Walking away because his dad died makes more sense sinxe they were by all accounts very close

He also already quit once to play minor league baseball.

 

[LuckyDay]

The NHL saw how stacked the 2004-2005 Ottawa Senators were and decided they had to kill the season.

This is what happened to the Expos when they were first in the National League. MLB couldn't have a third Canadian championships after having to let the Blue Jays finally win because they couldn't cover it up anymore.

 

[ScaredStreit]

The league has officials favor specific teams all the time. I wouldn't have believed that if the Campbell emails didn't leak years ago. Not just that but he's still employed by the NHL at one of the highest possible positions.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

This made me chuckle. I deal with auditors every day. Public company fraud doesn't continue for years on end, through multiple audit cycles, because the auditors can only work with the facts they are given. It continues because in very large public companies, audit firms are paid tens of millions of dollars for their work, and there is a lot of incentive to look the other way. It's also a numbers game. Auditors carry the largest insurance policies on the street. Class action claims are always settled, and insurance covers it. Reputational damage? There is none, because if you want a big 4 audit firm, you won't find one that hasn't been hand-slapped for looking the other way, whether it's KPMG, Deloitte, E&Y or PwC (AA was a special case because those guys took auditing to another level when they started shredding evidence).

My all-time favourite was a company called Sino-Forest (TSX listed). A forestry company without...trees. E&Y was the auditor. Those were the days. But I digress.