Do you believe in any NHL conspiracy theories?

[Machinehead]

Taro Tsujimoto is real.

The Sabres made up that bogus story because they were embarrassed he wouldn't come over from Japan.

 

[Golden_Jet]

No I don’t, I’m not that gullible.

 

[waitin425]

I generally don't believe the refs have it out for specific teams. I do however think a lot of them suck at their jobs.

 

[Relapsing]

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.

Thats all well and good, but ignores all of the recent examples we have of EY being shady as f***:

2022 ethics exam cheating

2023 wirecard audit

2025 UK investigation into auditor reports lacking proper authorization

EY partners not willing to risk anything anymore, eh?

 

[Ceremony]

Sedin twins are actually triplets and the third one rotated in periodically to keep the other two fresh, etc etc.)

First I've heard this one but I am choosing to believe it.

 

[DaveG]

Even after Crosby was drafted, it took until March 2007 to get an arena deal completed.

Not wrong but that's in large part due the Jim Balsillie's efforts to sabotage the team's arena bid so they could be moved to Hamilton. Thankfully the locals there and the league caught on pretty fast.

 

[PistolPete]

I think there may have been some funny business when it came to the 2005 draft lottery.

Pittsburgh was bleeding cash, close to relocating and then they landed the top pick in a. draft where the best prospect was considered generational and a franchise saviour. A carbon copy of 1985, except there was no lottery then. Mario had taken control of the team a few years prior and saved them for the second time so this almost felt like a thank you.

Saw this one a lot butbhave yet to see an explanation as to why the other 29 owners give a rat's ass wnough about Pittsburght to gift them that generational talent.

These owners are rich because they are competitive and want the benefits to themselves. But yet everyone is to believe that ceased long enough for them to hand Crosby to Puttsburgh?

 

[Next Best Thing]

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.

Possibly harnessing our energy while we drain it on our team's ups and down moments. Look at literally all the sports stadiums from an aerial top-down view if you want to go down a real rabbit hole...

Edit: One I just remembered concerning the NFL championships is there is a historic cycle where the team that wins it usually has some kind of huge problem to appease the mass.

Edit 2: Jordan's final championship shot to win the "Bulls" the championship with everything coordinated numerically (something like 66.6 seconds left on the clock, and more that I can't remember but this one is well documented) in terms of patterns. There are no coincidences, and certainly none like this where everything has to align.

Shaq is a well known Freemason also, doesn't even hide it. I assume most superstars are in general (not all).

But for real, that Crosby draft was sketch.

 

[Primary Assist]

I have spent hours and hours of my life reviewing the glut of evidence linking Tyler Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe together as an item but for some reason David Crosby (captain of Penguins at the time) won't return my calls

 

[PistolPete]

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.

There's acknowledging a possibility and then there's making shit up.

Conspiracy theories are merely people making shit up because:

A. They can't accept coincidences
B. They can't tolerate unknowns
3. They get a shot of ego thinking they're the only ones smart enough to dee whst is reslly happening

 

[EdJovanovski]

Vitali Kravtsov was blackballed by the league because he would be too dominant and would make the sport pointless to watch because his team would win every game

 

[PistolPete]

Crosby is in Pittsburgh because they wanted to save the franchise from relocating.

Now provide an explanation for why they cared about that.

A real explanation.

Betchya can't.

 

[PistolPete]

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

First I ever heard of this.

What is the timeline because he tried selling them as early as '76. He was ready to give them away to Ted Turner.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Now provide an explanation for why they cared about that.

A real explanation.

Betchya can't.

Because the NHL has always gone to great lengths to save franchises if they could in this era? And the Pens literally still had Mario.

 

[PistolPete]

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.

Why?

Houston Oilers sounds like music to their ears I'm sure

 

[PistolPete]

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?"

But how much could the NHL offer them to make it worth it to them to rig the draft for them? What is worth to the NHL to rig the draft? And keep in mind, the NHL is 32 individual owners.

 

[Speyer]

If the draft lottery isnt rigged at least in some years, I give up sex.

 

[lakai17]

McDavid should have been a Sabre but with Edmonton's new arena at the time...

 

[PistolPete]

Because the NHL has always gone to great lengths to save franchises if they could in this era? And the Pens literally still had Mario.

That's not an explanation. Merely speculation.

You didn't even provide examples of "great lengths"

 

[koivalev]

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.

Not to mention them literally auditing f***ing BCCI lmfao. Sure, they'd be complicit in covering up child trafficking, but would definitely draw the line at helping billionaires keep their pet project hockey teams afloat.

 

[SomeDude]

Because the NHL has always gone to great lengths to save franchises if they could in this era? And the Pens literally still had Mario.

Then why wasn’t McDavid, or another 1st overall ever “directed” to Arizona?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

That's not an explanation. Merely speculation.

You didn't even provide examples of "great lengths"

That's not speculation. It's literally an explanation. No major sports league in the US wants relocation unless its absolutely necessary.

Do I really need to type out the entire Coyotes and Thrashers situations? Or the Preds? Or the Panthers?Ottawa? I don't care that much to do that. Do your own research, its all out there.

 

[Relapsing]

But how much could the NHL offer them to make it worth it to them to rig the draft for them? What is worth to the NHL to rig the draft? And keep in mind, the NHL is 32 individual owners.

The 2022 cheating scandal only cost them a $100m settlement, so... Probably not much.

They have also demonstrated a willingness to look the other way (2008) without a direct bribe.

Otherwise unsure how much the NHL pays EY for their services as it is not published.

The point isn't that EY is fixing the draft. The point is they're looking the other way while the NHL does, and the NHL is using them as a credibility shield which EY has demonstrated they have little issue with.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Then why wasn’t McDavid, or another 1st overall ever “directed” to Arizona?

Harder to do it in the instant information era. I think the lotteries are legitimate now. They literally do it in front of us now, and used to release a video of it.

That lottery was done behind the scenes behind closed doors and with no video released.

For the record, I also think the NBA rigged the lottery for the Cavs to get LeBron. And I'm a Cavs fan

 

[Buckley]

Why?

Houston Oilers sounds like music to their ears I'm sure

Having franchises relocate is not good for any league, which is why they all push as hard as they do to save teams. Edmonton moving also likely would have been contagious in the sense that Calgary would potentially have been at risk given its ownership situation.