COLUMBUS, OH – JANUARY 24: A general view of the NHL logo prior to the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition at the Nationwide Arena on January 24, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
By Arthur Weinstein on

There were two reactions to the NHL’s Draft Lottery Monday night.

Fans of 31 NHL teams are convinced the lottery was rigged. That very topic, “NHL Rigged,” became a viral item on Twitter.

Meanwhile, fans of the other NHL team, the Chicago Blackhawks, are celebrating the team’s good fortune in winning the N0. 1 overall pick and the rights to select star prospect Connor Bedard.

And those fans wasted no time whipping out their credit cards and online payment apps to buy season tickets. Sports business insider Darren Rovell reported that in the first 90 minutes after the Blackhawks earned the No. 1 pick, the team sold $2.5 million in season tickets for 2023-24.

The Blackhawks ranked 30th out of 32 NHL teams last season in attendance percentage to capacity, averaging 17,167 fans per game.

For Blackhawks fans, who suffered through a 26-49-7 season, the draft lottery news and the expected selection of Bedard are a reason to get excited and buy tickets. But the ticket sales explosion gave other NHL fans something to complain about on Twitter. The NHL and the Blackhawks became hot topics on Twitter Monday night.

[Darren Rovell]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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