Draft Lottery tonight at 8PM

Tonight for the second time, the NHL Entry Draft Lottery will be televised on Versus and the NHL Network. Based on a very difficult formula that I was up all night perfecting, the Islanders have about as much of a chance of landing the top pick as I do of being hit by lightning while sitting at my desk at work. Meaning, it could happen, but let's not hang our hats on the hope that it will.

Besides, if the NHL could fix the draft for any team out of the playoffs, wouldn't they do it for the Leafs? Ever hear the one about the NBA draft being fixed so that the long-suffering Knicks could win and land Patrick Ewing in the 1980s? The story goes that the card with the Knicks logo was held in dry ice for a while so that commissioner David Stern would wait and pick the cold card last and the Knicks would get the top pick. Not sure how that would work with the NHL Draft although I suppose the Leafs could freeze their balls and see what happens in the Lotto air-blowy machine.

What did we just learn right there? You are correct--I will go anywhere I need to for a cheap joke.

The NHL Network will be featuring all sorts of playoff-centric programming for your hockey needs tonight. Pierre McGuire's annual list of "Monsters" will be on at 7PM Eastern, followed by the Draft Lotteryand a Playoff Preview show afterward.

Versus will be airing the Draft Lottery and then we'll go back to our normal diet of guys fighting in cages and/or other dudes fishing or shooting something.

Tomorrow we will have our own nyiforlife.com Playoff Preview with my hopes and dreams for the next couple of months. Until then, let's all remember to root for ping pong balls tonight!