In a year with 24 teams in the playoffs, why wouldn’t the bottom seven get picks one to seven in the draft. Have a draw among these teams for the order. (Yes, Ottawa had two of those picks.)

A top-24 team is going to get the first pick. It could be the Pittsburgh Penguins if Montreal upsets them in the first-round, best-of-five series. Carey Price, when he plays like Carey Price, can steal a series.

So, here is Pittsburgh, with only six teams garnering more points this season, in the hunt for Alexis Lafreniere, the clear No. 1 pick. I thought the draft was built to give the worst teams a chance to get better. The dismal Red Wings didn’t tank like the Leafs of a few years ago. The Wings were just a horrible hockey team.

The losing teams in the first round will have a 12.5 per cent chance of getting the top pick. I shudder to think it could be the Leafs.

Yes, it was the luck of the draw, but the bottom teams got hosed.

*****

Rene Paredes of the Calgary Stampeders, on the current state of the CFL: “Who knows if they are actually planning (to have a season). If they are, they will finally approach the CFLPA with a take it or leave it BS offer and the players get screwed once again.” I get Paredes’ point, but he is a kicker after all.

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One CFL reporter said, not definitively, that CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie makes $750,000 a year. His work during the past few months hasn’t been worth two-bits.

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From Meat Blanket Comedy, on Major League Baseball preparing to start the season in the midst of the pandemic: “Of course, nobody on the Astros or Red Sox ever came close to being infected by COVID-19, since they saw all the signs.”

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From a Saskatchewan guy named @realalexd: “I love sports. I miss the little things, like how people would freak out over the eye colour of a flippin’ mascot.”

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I agree with this comment from TSN’s Dave Naylor: “Vince Carter’s number retired? Come on! Demanding out of Toronto doesn’t make him a bad guy, but it should keep the franchise from honouring him in this way. Retiring Vince’s number would be like hanging a photo in your room of the boyfriend/ girlfriend who dumped you.”

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True words from former Montreal Gazette columnist Jack Todd: “Fellow geezers: Bicycle shorts make it look like you are wearing diapers. And a racing jersey with sponsorship logos is plain ridiculous. When the steepest grade you are going to climb is your driveway, cargo shorts and a T-shirt are all the geek you need.”

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Ex-NBA centre Kendrick Perkins told ESPN he is not impressed with Kyrie Irving, the players’ union’s vicepresident: “If you take Kyrie Irving’s brain and put it in a bird right now, guess what that bird is going to do: It’s going to fly backwards.”

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A tweet from a person known as Saskatchewan Dad: “Lady at the Tim’s drive-thru passed me the debit machine on a hockey stick and I told her to keep it down unless she wants to sit for 2 minutes. She said, “Keep talkin’ buddy and these plastic gloves are coming off! I love this country.”

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From Steve Simmons: “Without university football this coming season in Canada, I wonder: If you’re the University of Toronto or York University, and combined you’ve had one winning season in 20 years, is it the time to consider dropping the sport and the cost involved? Is it worth continuing with programs of failure year after year?” Using that logic, is it worth continuing the Toronto Maple Leafs program of failure year after year?

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Will the Vanier Cup be presented to Laval?

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From Patti Dawn Swansson, a former Winnipeg columnist: “FC Seoul (a soccer team) has apologized for using female sex dolls as faux fans during a recent match. Putting dummies in the seats at sports events is a really bad idea. But enough about Drake.”

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From Ted Spurgeon, one of Saskatoon’s characters: “Just realized that the urologist I saw has his office on Avenue P.”

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From TSN’s Dustin Nielson: “I’ve been struggling with IKEA furniture for over two hours, but happy to announce the box is open.”

-Cam Hutchinson