Several minutes later, Clarke carried the stack of cards out of the room and into the studio with Daly from which the live broadcast emanated. Bettman was asked to double-check the work just before 7:30 p.m. 16 down with the right team logos attached. NHL executive VP of events Dean Matsuzaki and others put together the cards of the picks from No. In the hour between the drawing of the top two picks and the beginning of the show revealing the results, Bettman remained in the room with grandson Matthew and the other witnesses sworn to secrecy and unable to communicate with the outside world. Thank you all for being here and please stay out of communication until the results are formally announced.” “So we have Chicago with the first pick, Anaheim with the second and sequenced down from there,” Bettman said. told Bettman that combination belonged to the Anaheim Ducks, who lost their final 13 games to sink to last place among 32 teams. The same process happened for the second pick, with 9, 8, 10 and 6 coming up. The lottery odds of every team that did not make the playoffs were frozen on one TV screen, while a spreadsheet showing an Excel sheet of the top 16 picks filled another. Here’s an inside look at how it all happened:ĭaly, Commissioner Gary Bettman and several league executives milled about the room in the time leading up to the drawing. It was filmed for posterity and posted on the league’s website. The Associated Press was one of three media outlets represented among the roughly 20 people there to witness the potentially franchise-altering drawing. It also ended with the Anaheim Ducks getting the No. 1 pick and Bedard, considered hockey’s top prospect since Connor McDavid, actually wrapped up about 80 minutes earlier in a small room at NHL Network studios.

(AP) - The Chicago Blackhawks won the NHL draft lottery and the chance to select Connor Bedard long before Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly revealed it on national television.

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