Do you believe in any NHL conspiracy theories?

[Relapsing]

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.

You sure about that?

Ernst and Young audits the draft lottery.

They also were the auditor for Lehman Brothers in 2008. They toootally didn't help them to hide $50B in toxic assets that led to the firms bankruptcy and cause a global financial crash. No siree .

I'm sure they're super worried about any impropriety in the NHL draft. It's waaaay more important than the global financial market.

 

[Moose Head]

Why are we so naive to believe that draft lotteries aren't corrupt? Sure the level of the conspiracy carries weight on what is more likely than the other. Hell. just recently a lot of the NBA owners and fans made mention that the NBA lottery was rigged because the Mavericks got Cooper Flagg just months after trading away Luka Doncic. I admit it seems pretty convenient that they got the 1OA myself. Who is to say it doesn't happen in other leagues? There was a 1.8% change that they would get the 1st overall pick and well they got it and drafter the ROY. If you remember to believe only a fraction of what is being force fed to us conspiracy theory's are born.

The NHL has its issues, but the NBA is cleatly corrupt. That’s not conspiracy, it’s based on facts.

 

[Mubiki]

The NHL has its issues, but the NBA is cleatly corrupt. That’s not conspiracy, it’s based on facts.

I'm curious, to which facts are you referring?

I know some refs were involved in point shaving, but they are not even league employees.

 

[Moose Head]

I'm curious, to which facts are you referring?

I know some refs were involved in point shaving, but they are not even league employees.

Just google ‘nba corrupt’.

 

[Reality Czech]

I don’t think this is a conspiracy but the league refuses to let go of the Original 6 obsession because they don’t know how to market properly. This is the only one of the major 4 sports that shoves that stuff down our throats.

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

 

[Crabapple]

Hockey doesn't exist.
We are under a mass hallucination where we come to this website and role-play as fans of a sport we have built up over years of imagination and postings.

Close, hockey actually exists only to hurt me personally. I know it's all an act just to cause me emotional (and sometimes physical) pain.

 

[Unspecified]

The NHL has its issues, but the NBA is cleatly corrupt. That’s not conspiracy, it’s based on facts.

Why are we to assume the NHL is not? None of us have any idea what goes on behind the scenes and what discussions are taking place in a remote warehouse in a shady part of town.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

-Tom Dundon bought the Canes with the intent to run the same scam as Alex Merulo in Phoenix. "Gosh darn it I want to build this team and county a brand spanking new arena on my dime, but no one will let me Guess I have to sell it to out of town interests for a massive profit." But the team got good the very next year and he discovered he liked being the owner/de facto GM of a successful sports club.

-The Calgary Flames exist because the Atlanta Flames owner discovered Alan Eagleson's NHLPA pension fraud and wanted out ASAP.

Otoh I think generational prospect Connor McDavid to Edmonton as their 4th 1st OA in 6 years pretty soundly proves the draft is not rigged. The NHL sent him to the prarie over Buffalo, Arizona, Toronto and Carolina? Yeah right

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

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.

Are those even conspiracy theories? I thought they were pretty much accepted as fact.

 

[Buckley]

You sure about that?

Ernst and Young audits the draft lottery.

They also were the auditor for Lehman Brothers in 2008. They toootally didn't help them to hide $50B in toxic assets that led to the firms bankruptcy and cause a global financial crash. No siree .

I'm sure they're super worried about any impropriety in the NHL draft. It's waaaay more important than the global financial market.

As someone who works in that world, it's amazing to me that people ascribe so much value to the idea that an audit firm is some bastion of truth and honor. Every major public company fraud involves an audit firm looking the other way or not asking questions that it does not want the answers to.

 

[Buckley]

Otoh I think generational prospect Connor McDavid to Edmonton as their 4th 1st OA in 6 years pretty soundly proves the draft is not rigged. The NHL sent him to the prarie over Buffalo, Arizona, Toronto and Carolina? Yeah right

McDavid likely saved the Oilers from being sold and moved out of Edmonton. It was pretty damn important for the league to not let that happen.

 

[PistolPete]

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.

But Gretzky would have been eligible for 1980 (and IIRC the Linseman suit changes were in place by summer of '78) and it was already known in 1978 Montrreal had Colorado's pick.

 

[PistolPete]

Coul

I don’t think this is a conspiracy but the league refuses to let go of the Original 6 obsession because they don’t know how to market properly. This is the only one of the major 4 sports that shoves that stuff down our throats.

Perhaps because it was 25 consecutive years of same teams, no relocations?

MLB had a run but before expansion they had a rash of relocations

 

[MoneyManny]

Bettman is helping the NHL spread to all corners of the USA to facilitate a full American annexation by Canada.

 

[Relapsing]

As someone who works in that world, it's amazing to me that people ascribe so much value to the idea that an audit firm is some bastion of truth and honor. Every major public company fraud involves an audit firm looking the other way or not asking questions that it does not want the answers to.

Its especially wild because of all the rampant corruption and stock manipulation and insanely overvalued IPOs and shady mergers and and and...

The premise that any of these companies or actors are guided by some sense of morality or ethical obligation is absurd. I cannot imagine looking at a company like Ernst and Young and think "hey those guys are worth a bunch of money. They wouldn't do anything shady to risk making more money, right?"

 

[McShogun99]

I wouldn't doubt if sometime in the future it's revealed that all pro sports have pre determined outcomes, similar to the WWE.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

You sure about that?

Ernst and Young audits the draft lottery.

They also were the auditor for Lehman Brothers in 2008. They toootally didn't help them to hide $50B in toxic assets that led to the firms bankruptcy and cause a global financial crash. No siree .

I'm sure they're super worried about any impropriety in the NHL draft. It's waaaay more important than the global financial market.

As a previous auditor for a public accounting firm - there is a difference in not finding something vs. finding and not bringing it forward. After the 2008 meltdown the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) changed the underlying accounting rules to identify what would be considered "toxic". The partners of those firms are personally liable for fraud. When Arthur Andersen imploded - partners (including retired partners) had to come up with cash to cover court settlements. Partners aren't going to risk that for what the NHL would be willing to pay to "fix" the draft.

 

[gary559]

2005 and 2023 drafts lottos were a sham. 2026 looked rigged too.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I wouldn't doubt if sometime in the future it's revealed that all pro sports have pre determined outcomes, similar to the WWE.

So you think that, as an example, that McD got a message to "take a dive" in the Stanley Cup finals so another Sunbelt team would win, and he did it? Or are you saying that refs get the word in how to call the game to incent one outcome?

With the rise of sports gambling and all the insane prop bets, I'm surprised there wasn't more shennanigans that what they've found in the NBA or MLB. I think that as those cases are publicized others will learn the level of monitoring that goes on and downside risk doesn't justify the pay-off.

 

[Jocke1]

George Parros' moustache during his playing days was not real.

It was a stick-on moustache with double-sided medical-grade tape which stuck directly to his skin.

 

[nowhereman]

Well, there is the theory that MAYBE Colin Campbell helped influence the Boston Bruins Finals win against Vancouver in 2011. E-mails leaked showed that Campbell complained about officiating involving his son and expressed opinions about players and referees. The NHL had Campbell recuse himself from disciplinary decisions involving Boston and he stepped down before the Finals but there could have been more there at play. It was probably the worst reffed Final in recent memory and that Rome suspension was unprecedented.

But who knows...

 

[RiverbottomChuck]

All draft lotteries have some level of f***ery in them.

The Refs in the NHL are making it a worse product due to their inability to keep up with the speed and talent level the league has gotten to.

 

[pi314]

KGB infiltrators stole Pavel Datsyuk from Area 51. They put his otherworldly abilities to good use on the ice.


View attachment 1254830

Or hear me out…

 

[Midnight Judges]

I believe the refs intentionally call a looser game sometimes, and they know they’re doing it.

I believe superstar players sometimes get preferential calls in-game and preferential treatment from the department of player safety.

I believe the Blackhawks covered up some serious bs to cover their own asses.

That’s about as far as I’m willing to go.

 

[LaCarriere]

2019 finals, the standard shifted mid series after Berube's whining. That is what caused the game 7, which the Bruins did indeed implode for. There never should have been a game 7 however if the Blues were called on penalties.

Florida's recent dominance was similarly manufactured as the NHL needed its next villain to the level of earning the Department of Panthers Safety ratherironically.

In the modern gambling era both are terrifying as it shows how easy the league can adjust outcomes for ratings and the fans are an after thought.

I think with Florida, Tampa and Vegas the league just kinda let the LTIR situation play itself out the way it did on it's own (instead of stepping in earlier) because it served to Bettman's narrative of hockey being successful in the south. Every year another warm-weather/expansion team was benefitting from the glaring loophole that existed, all while the disaster in Arizona was rapidly unfolding (with relocation to Utah being the obvious outcome). Having Tampa, Florida and Vegas winning cups while Arizona was in full nuclear meltdown mode while playing in a 4,600 seat college rink served as a good distraction.

They didn't necessarily need to manipulate anything for those teams to have success - they just had to ignore the ever-so-obvious LTIR problem that existed (and that markets where Bettman expanded into benefitting the most by unlucky injuries). If a team like Winnipeg or Ottawa managed to win a cup by exploiting the LTIR my guess is that loophole would have been closed immediately, the team would probably have forfeited draft picks and Bettman would personally erase their cup from the record books. But because these teams were in non-traditional markets, that had existed for decades with limited success were the ones benefitting, it wasn't a problem. It wasn't a problem that teams could operate 10-18M+ over the cap in the playoffs - even though Bettman was the driving force behind the cap, parity and "cost-certainty" to begin with.

Think about this - Florida had been around a long time with just one SCF loss in 1996 & Tampa had their one cup in 2004. I'm sure Bettman was worried about the clock running out on those markets as well when Arizona was imploding. Florida's attenace was terrible leading up to Covid.