The NHL Draft is still months away, but the draft lottery, perhaps the most exciting night of the year for fans of the Buffalo Sabres, is taking place this Saturday. You can read all about the lottery rules and get the viewing info here, and this short video explains how the lottery drawing works, in all it’s ping-pong ball glory.
Today the NHL released the combinations of numbers that each team gets before the lottery begins. If the balls come up with your 4-number combination (in any order) you win. It’s that easy. You can check out the wall of numbers right here, but an easier way to visualize it is by using the ever-popular NHL Lottery Simulator.
Click here and watch all your productivity fly out the window.
The drawing itself will be available on NHL.com after the reveal, because for some reason NHL.com doesn’t think giving fans a heart attack as they slowly announce each number would be a good thing, while the winner will be revealed on TV in a similar envelope-opening process as the league used last year.
For all you conspiracy theorists out there, the Sabres have announced that team president Ted Black will be one of a few team representatives who will actually get to watch the drawing live, in order to make sure there’s no shenanigans involved, and we’ll all be able to watch the drawing video on NHL.com shortly after winner is revealed.
Post your simulations in the comments, or just feel free to let off some steam. As of this writing, we’re only 28 hours away from knowing whether Jack Eichel or Connor McDavid will wear blue and gold next year.