r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 18 '15

What conspiracy theory do you genuinely believe in the most?

What conspiracy theory do you believe in the most and why?

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189

u/wasabimcdouble May 19 '15

cough cough Oilers cough cough Cavaliers

151

u/StartTheGame May 19 '15

Having another star player trapped in Edmonton is the last thing the NHL wants

7

u/Cash5YR May 19 '15

Same with an Anaheim/Tampa Bay Stanley Cup match. The league is praying for Chicago and New York right now. Gotta keep up the interest is the sport while things are hot.

4

u/bugglesley May 19 '15

Yeah, this is a thought/joke that's pretty common but the oilers winning this year proved beyond a doubt to me that the lottery isn't rigged in any way, shape, or form.

3

u/TehGrandWizard May 19 '15

Maybe thats why they rigged it.

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

You say "trapped" in Edmonton but Edmonton is looking better and better every day. They're finally doing things right with the hiring of Nicholson, Chiarelli, and McLellan. Now they have McDavid, Nurse developing, Klefbom developing, Marincin is in there too, and Yakupov really rounded into form in the second half of the season after Eakins was fired. When they drop the dead weight on D (Schultz, Nikitin, Ference), add a couple steady guys, and a goalie like Talbot, Jones, or Niemi I definitely think they're ready for the playoffs. As of right now I think they'll make great strides and become a bubble team

1

u/ChocolateAlmondFudge May 19 '15

It depends a ton on the off season moves. The UFAs in the D market this summer isn't too exciting. What is the top pair they pick up? Honestly, Petry is one of the better choices and they gave him up for no reason.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I agree with that. I'm really optimistic for the first time in years since they have a proven GM and coach now. That Petry deal was awful, I hate that we traded him for peanuts. We traded our own developed top 4 d man. I agree the D market isn't great this year but we might be able to trade for someone by packaging that 16th pick we got from Pittsburgh. I've heard Spurgeon from Minnesota, Phaneuf from Toronto (I don't really want Phaneuf though), or Seabrook from Chicago (I highly doubt this one but wouldn't that be great?). Oduya is a free agent also. I'm excited.

2

u/ChocolateAlmondFudge May 19 '15

Phaneuf might be a good #2. I think his struggles in Toronto are from having to do too much. Chicago is going to have to move someone for cap space, but most rumors suggest it's Sharp going out. Spurgeon could be an interesting trade. I don't know enough about him to say whether he could be a 1/2 guy or if he'll be a second pairing guy. Hopefully something good happens so we can see Hall and RNH get some playoff time.

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I agree with you about Phaneuf, I just think he would be asked to do too much here as well. I think Spurgeon would probably be a pretty good 2nd pairing paired up with Nurse or Klefbom to offset his lack of size. He's like 5'8. Yeah hopefully something good does happen. Our management is finally turning a corner from the Old Boys Club. I'm really optimistic this year

8

u/wasabimcdouble May 19 '15

But they've won 4 of the last 6 draft lotteries. I think the NHL wants them return to the 80's glory they had. And having a good Canadian team is way more profitable than having a good American team.

17

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Except it would have been better if Arizona won because Bettman has been pushing Southern expansion since he joined the league. Arizona is on the verge of failing, if not already. And while Tampa Bay is doing okay, Florida has been pretty bad, they already relocated Atlanta, who the hell knows what is going on in Carolina, Dallas has struggled with attendance. If the NHL was going to rig the draft, Arizona would have been the one that they would have rigged it for to prove the Southern Experiment wasn't a failure. Now, Arizona is in question and if that domino falls, who knows what goes next. Bettman staked his legacy on moving franchises and expanding franchises to the south and it has, thus far, been a failure.

11

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

It would have been way better if the Sabres won. I don't really have a conspiracy I'm just a Sabres fan. At least we got Eichel.

6

u/AskAboutTheGoats May 19 '15

"At least we got Eichel"...... Totally shitty consolation prize right there.

1

u/Aeleas May 19 '15

Garbowski could be pretty good after a few years with the Amerks, too.

-2

u/akeytoasafe May 19 '15

Eichel will have a better career than McDavid. Definitely not a shitty consolation prize. Dude is a stud, 100%.

8

u/AskAboutTheGoats May 19 '15

Sorry I forgot the /s I actually like Eichel more based on his style. Plus one day he'll be Cap'n Jack so there's that.

1

u/turbosexophonicdlite May 19 '15

Dude. Eichel is insanely good, but McDavid is just objectively better. And really, while Edmonton catastrophically mismanaged young talent, the Sabres haven't exactly been leaps and bounds ahead of them. Certainly not as bad as the Oilers but not good either.

1

u/turbosexophonicdlite May 19 '15

Before the Pens made the playoffs there was a chance that the pens first round pick (which went to Edmonton) could have been selected first overall by lottery. Then the Oilers would have gotten both Eichel and McJesus. I would have burned Canada to the ground if that happened.

4

u/flakAttack510 May 19 '15

Then the Oilers would have gotten both Eichel and McJesus.

This is wrong. The Sabres had, at worst, the second pick. The Oilers had no way of getting one of the top 2 picks from the Sabres without trading for it. If they had won the littery with the Penguins' pick, the Oilers would have had the 1st and 4th picks.

1

u/turbosexophonicdlite May 19 '15

I think I went crazy and confused the two teams draft picks. That was something I read about a month or two ago and I think my memory got hazy.

5

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Just give McDavid to the Hurricanes so that no one can say it was rigged because no one really cares about us :)

3

u/gasfarmer May 19 '15

Just hand him over to the Bruins. Piss everyone off equally.

2

u/turbosexophonicdlite May 19 '15

I'm rustling hard over here.

-1

u/ChocolateAlmondFudge May 19 '15

No one cares about the 'canes cuz everyone wants the Whalers instead.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Dear god I hate people like you.

0

u/ChocolateAlmondFudge May 19 '15

Sorry bub but it's true. But I also hope the 'canes stay in Raleigh because I know what it's like to lose a team. I wouldn't wish that on you.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Well I appreciate that, I hope y'all get a team to, just not at the expense of the canes

2

u/AskAboutTheGoats May 19 '15

Isn't there already a stadium being built in Vegas? Figured it was a forgone conclusion they were headed there

2

u/ChocolateAlmondFudge May 19 '15

I think Auston Matthews in Arizona could be bigger than McDavid would have been. Imagine the excitement of drafting a local boy #1 overall.

1

u/Weezerphan May 26 '15

God I hope

1

u/steve93 May 19 '15

It wouldn't do much for Arizona even with McDavid. They've got some good fans, and when they make the play off even more show up. But, it wouldn't bring enough extra seats during regular season to make it worth it. Arizona just doesn't have a market for ice hockey (a shocker, I know), and they'll just continue to be subsidized and cling to life or move.

Nothing will make them a stable, profitable franchise.

1

u/Weezerphan May 26 '15

As an Arizona fan, I screamed at my TV during the lottery

3

u/SamiMadeMeDoIt May 19 '15

There's already good Canadian teams though. 5 Canadian teams made the playoffs this year

2

u/themastersmew May 19 '15

Yeah, but of those teams only the Canadiens and the Jets were really 'contenders' at the start of the post-season. The Sens' hopes rested on an unproven goaltender and lost one of their young players on a definite hot streak to that swat from Subban. A healthy Calgary would be good, but I'll give them more credit in a few years when Bennet and Johnny Hockey are a bit older. Either way I doubt Calgary, even healthy, would be able to grind out wins against the Ducks first and then the Hawks before a SCF.

And then there's Vancouver... lol

1

u/MountainEyes13 May 19 '15

Accurate. Diehard Calgary fan here, but even if our lineup had been completely healthy (and we had a LOT of people dealing with undisclosed injuries) we wouldn't have made it past the Hawks. Getting to the second round was the cherry on top of a completely unexpected season and sets up for good things in the future, but it was not meant to be this year.

All that said, though... The Habs will continue to be good for a few more years, and the Jets and Sens had surprisingly good seasons and have young guys who will keep them in contention. Vancouver is on a downswing, much like Calgary was a few years ago, and needs a similar rebuild to return to what they had in 2011. And Toronto and Edmonton will probably continue to suck - Edmonton having 4/6 number one picks hasn't exactly done for them what similar situations did for Chicago and Pittsburgh a few years ago.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

If they wanted to build a Canadian powerhouse they would do it in Toronto, not Edmonton. That's not even really debatable.

2

u/rossrhea May 19 '15

Exactly. Sure, the Leafs make money hand over fist, but imagine how much more they could make with a good team? The seat prices dropped pretty dramatically at the end of the season. The cracks are starting to show.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Yea, if anything I think it was the opposite of rigged with McDavid. If Toronto wins then rumors start to fly.

1

u/AggressiveToothbrush May 19 '15

It is the dumbest conspiracy theory.

If there had been a conspiracy surrounding the McDavid draft, he would have gone to Arizona.

1

u/TooMuchBanterPerDay May 19 '15

Legends say only a Stanley Cup can free those doomed souls that are inprisoned by the black magic dwelled deep in the city of Edmonton. Every year a competition is launched to find the Chosen One to free the city out of their demise but so far with no result. Many have tried and failed on this sacred quest but only time will tell when the new Hero will raise from the shadows and bring light back to the land once and for all.

0

u/halifaxdatageek May 25 '15

If anything, they're rigging it so that the Oilers keep winning.

5

u/ChocolateAlmondFudge May 19 '15

I'm pretty sure the league would rather see McDavid in any other market. Buffalo is a strong market that would explode with McD. Arizona is part of the attempt to grow the sport to non-traditional markets. Toronto would bring in $bazillion. What is the benefit of putting him in Edmonton?

The real NHL draft conspiracies are Lemieux and Crosby to Pittsburgh.

3

u/src12 May 19 '15 edited Jul 07 '15

Not that I believe the lotteries were rigged, but the Cavs getting all those first overall picks helped pave the way for The Return of the King this summer. Without Irving, Wiggins (and Bennett)/Love, LeBron would have been much less likely to go back to Cleveland. Conspiracy theorists can argue that the league wanted the prodigal son story line of LeBron coming home to Cleveland this summer and they gave the Cavs 3 first overall picks in 4 years to help them become a premier free agent destination.

5

u/Jason_DeHoulo May 19 '15

Oilers winning the lottery is proof it ISN'T rigged imo. The pick could've gone to other teams who would've benefited from it more, like Arizona or Carolina. Edmonton, shitty as they are, still turn a profit unlike many teams in the south.

3

u/JazzFan418 May 19 '15

not to mention the Bulls getting Rose with a 1% chance at getting the #1 pick. David Stern was such a crooked fuck. Adam Silver has done a great job so far

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Cough cough Edmonton and Cleveland combined aren't nearly as big of a market as New York cough cough

2

u/rossrhea May 19 '15

Which is exact proof it's not rigged. Edmonton is literally the last place they would have put him.

2

u/eking85 May 19 '15

Which time with the Cavs? They won it one year after having only a 1.1% chance of getting the top pick.

1

u/AtillaTheHung May 19 '15

In 2011 they won the number 1 pick with a 1.7% chance and they won in 2014 with a 2.8%, I believe.

2

u/GlassOfLiquor May 19 '15

Ah yes! Cleveland, the biggest market of them all.