2009 NHL Mock Draft Lottery

With the National Hockey League regular season completed, the interest of the teams that did not qualify for the playoffs will be focused on the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery. All non-playoff teams are placed in a lottery, in which there will be one winner. The winner, will move up a maximum of five spots in their draft position, with the 13 losers moving down a maximum of one space. Therefore, the bottom 5 teams all have a chance to draft first overall. This year's prize, the London Knights pnenom, John Tavares. Here's a brief history of the NHL Draft Lottery and its winners during its existence since 1995:

Retaining 1st Overall Pick: Ottawa - 1995, Ottawa - 1996, Boston - 1997, Tampa Bay - 1999, St. Louis - 2006, Tampa Bay - 2008
Move from 2nd to 1st: Never
Move from 3rd to 1st: Tampa Bay - 1998, Atlanta - 2001, Florida - 2002, Washington - 2004
Move from 4th to 1st: Florida - 2003
Move from 5th to 1st: NY Islanders - 2000, Chicago - 2007
Move from 7th to 3rd: Los Angeles - 1995
Move from 8th to 4th: Chicago - 1999

So, with that being said, he are this year's hopefuls in the NHL Draft Lottery, and the percentages each team has of winning. (There are 1000 entries)

30. New York Islanders (25%)
29. Tampa Bay Lightning (18.8%)
28. Colorado Avalanche (14.2%)
27. Atlanta Thrashers (10.7%)
26. Los Angeles Kings (8.1%)
25. Phoenix Coyotes (6.2%)
24. Toronto Maple Leafs (4.7%)
23. Dallas Stars (3.6%)
22. Ottawa Senators (2.7%)
21. Edmonton Oilers (2.1%)
20. Nashville Predators (1.5%)
19. Minnesota Wild (1.1%)
18. Buffalo Sabres (0.8%)
17. Florida Panthers (0.5%)

And when it was all said and done, and 1000 little labeled pieces of papers entered into my own draw, the winner of the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery was :

THE EDMONTON OILERS

As you can see, the Islanders had the best chance to win, but there was a greater percentage they did not, and in this case, for the first time in lottery history, a 10th place team has won. The draft order would in turn, look like this:

1. New York Islanders
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. Atlanta Thrashers
5. Los Angeles Kings
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Phoenix Coyotes
8. Toronto Maple Leafs
9. Dallas Stars
10. Ottawa Senators
11. Nashville Predators
12. Minnesota Wild
13. Buffalo Sabres
14. Florida Panthers

Now the fact that this happens again is extremely unlikely, but a demonstration like this can show you how your team's future can potentially become instantly brighter. Imagine the Oilers scooping western boy Brayden Schenn up with the 6th overall pick. I am sure Maple Leafs fans cringe at the shot. But that's the beauty of the NHL Draft Lottery, anything can happen. Nonetheless, winning the lottery doesn't neccesarily mean you win the top prize.

A Look Ahead

Just to give you a little taste of what's ahead in the World of Sports in the coming month...

The Conclusion of March Madness (from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan)

Final Four - Saturday April 4th

National Championship - Monday April 6th

Remaining Teams:

• [South Champions] 1 University of North Carolina vs. [East Champions] 3 Villanova
• [West Champions] 1 University of Conneticuit vs. [Midwest Champions] 2 Michigan State

Wrestlemania XXV (from the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas)

Sunday April 5th

The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania has a star-studded lineup including:

• WWE Championship Match - Triple H vs. Randy Orton
  
• World Heavyweight Championship Match - Edge vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show
  
• Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
  
• Intercontinental Championship - JBL vs. Rey Mysterio
• Extreme Rules Match - Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy
  
• Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Kane, CM Punk, Christian, Kofi Kingston, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Mark Henry, Finley)
• Chris Jericho vs. WWE Legends (Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper)
• WWE Tag Team Championship Lumberjack Match  [Unification Match]  - WWE Tag Team Champions (Carlito & Primo) vs. World Tag Team Champions (The Miz & John Morrison)
• 25-Diva Battle Royal

The Masters Tournament (Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia)

April 9th-12th

Featured players:

• Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Geoff Ogilvy, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Robert Karlsson, Camilo Villegas, Kenny Perry, Henrik Stenson, among others 
• CANADIANS Mike Weir & Stephen Ames
  

NHL Draft Lottery

Tuesday April 14th

Top 5 Ranked players:

1. John Tavares - London Kinghts (OHL)

2. Victor Hedman - Modo (Sweden)

3. Matt Duchene - Brampton Battalion (OHL)

4. Evander Kane - Vancouver Giants (WHL)

5. Brayden Schenn - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

begin Wednesday April 15th

NBA Playoffs

begin Saturday April 18th

NFL Draft (from Radio City Music Hall in New York City)

April 25th-26th

Top 5 Ranked players:

1. Aaron Curry - Wake Forest

2. Michael Crabtree - Texas Tech

3. Jason Smith - Baylor

4. Brian Orakpo - Texas

5. Eugene Monroe - Virginia

KEEP YOUR ASSES GLUED TO THE COUCH AND YOUR EYES GLUED TO YOUR TV SETS!