The Chicago Blackhawks have reportedly announced a major uptake in revenue since it was announced the team had won the NHL Draft Lottery.
The Chicago Blackhawks are certainly in a funk that they probably weren’t imagining that they would be in about a decade ago. In the early to mid 2010s, they were one of the best teams across the entire league, winning Stanley Cups in 2013 and 2015, and losing to the Kings in the Conference Finals between those years.
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Now though, they find themselves in a rut on the ice as they have failed to make the playoffs in each of the past three years, and five out of the last six (the lone year being 2020 when there was an expanded playoff format due to the Covid outbreak), and that’s before you get to their problems off the ice as well.
But it looks as if their fortunes are going to change in the coming years, as the NHL Draft Lottery threw them arguably the biggest bone that a team could get since the Connor McDavid entered the league with the Edmonton Oliers as they were handed the #1 pick, a pick that will in all likelihood be used on Connor Bedard.
Bedard has been taking the hockey world by storm in recent years as he has put up some insane numbers for both the Regina Pats in the WHL and with the Canadian Youth sides at international level:
Chicago Blackhawks fans catching Bedard fever
And before he has even managed to lace up his skates at the NHL level, it seems as though Blackhawks fans are already looking forward to what he’s set to bring, as pointed out in a report from Emily Kaplan at ESPN:
The Blackhawks told ESPN on Tuesday morning that they have made $5.2 million in ticketing revenue in less than a day after the team won the 2023 NHL draft lottery.
The Blackhawks said they sold 500 full season ticket packages in the first 90 minutes after the lottery results were announced on Monday night. As of Tuesday, the team’s sales staff has yet to make outgoing calls, only taking inbound.
Can Connor Bedard actually turn the franchise around?
It is very rare that we see a talent like this come into the league where there is so much anticipation around him. We mentioned McDavid earlier, but also the likes of Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews and Rasmus Dahlin have come in with a lot of hype, but not everyone of them have worked out (need we say more about Nail Yakupov?).
But it does seem like Bedard is going to be one of the ones that will work out, and will turn out to be a very worthy successor to Patrick Kane as their main man in the years to come.