Article content

It’s more than a little embarrassing to admit, but years ago I was convinced that given enough ciphering and a relatively modest investment, the odds of a six-number lottery could be tilted in my favour.

You know, get it down to something workable from that unwieldy 13,983,816 to one.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Dan Barnes: The NHL draft lottery is for the luckiest losers Back to video

Odds are you know how that turned out.

Now, is that as embarrassing as repeatedly finishing 28th, 29th or 30th and winning the NHL draft lottery in three of the last six years? Perhaps. My family mocks me for all those hours spent at the kitchen table, and rightly so. The Oilers too are properly derided for their perennial failure and the annual reward it brings.

After thorough scouting and careful research, they still picked Nail Yakupov first overall in 2012, apparently at the behest of their higher-ups. After serious parsing of previous winning six-number combinations, I generally wasted the cost of my ticket and my time. Sometimes, you get what you deserve.