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The Vancouver Canucks saved their most painful loss for last.

They didn’t tank this year — at least not intentionally. They came by their ineptitude honestly, finishing with the second-worst record in the NHL.

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From mid-January on, they were the worst team in hockey. The fans who watched and stayed with the team were among the most courageous in sport. Boy, did they take a beating.

And just when they were hoping to dust themselves off, pick themselves up, the NHL and its draft lottery ridiculously weighted system slew-footed them one last time.

The Canucks really earned the second pick in the this June’s draft. They ended up with the fifth. Of course they did. Did you really expect anything different?

The lottery system sucks and, historically, so too does the Canucks’ luck. Three teams passed by them because of the ping-pong balls and two of them, the Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars, actually have pretty good rosters.