NHL draft lottery

For fans of teams missing the playoffs, the next big date on the calendar is April 20. 

That's the day the NHL Draft Drawing will be held.  The drawing determines the draft order for the 14 clubs that will miss the 2006 postseason party.  The order is determined by a lottery system that gives the 30th place team the best chance of securing the number one position in the draft.  The 30th place team (currently the Penguins) has a one in four chance of getting the first pick.  In addition, the last place finisher is guaranteed no worse than the second overall selection.  Here are the chances for the 14  lottery teams:

30th........... 25.0%
29th........... 18.8%
28th........... 14.2%
27th........... 10.7%
26th............. 8.1%
25th............. 6.2%
24th............. 4.7%    
23rd............. 3.6%
22nd............. 2.7%
21st............. 2.1%
20th............. 1.5%
19th............. 1.1%
18th............. 0.8%
17th............. 0.5%

Source

NHL Central Scouting's MidSeason rankings have Erik Johnson, a 6 foot 4 inch defenceman from Minnesota in the top spot among North Americans.  Michael Frolik is the top rated European skater.  Frolik is a winger playing for Kladno in the Czech league. 

Comments

[Spanky]

What the hell, I'm hopping on the bandwagon too. GO FLAMES GO!!! Miikka Kiprusoff is going to win the Hart Trophy.