A collection of numbers balls, all placed inside a machine, rumbled and bounced and crashed into one another, much like the very atoms that matter itself is composed of.
At one point early Saturday evening the machine stopped and spit out four of the many balls. And just like that, the fate and future of an NHL franchise was forever changed.
Two, six, eight and thirteen - those were the numbers that, according to this fantastic behind-the-scenes look at the NHL Draft Lottery from Sportsnet, turned out to be the lucky ones for the Dallas Stars, awarding the team with the 3rd overall selection in the upcoming 2017 NHL Entry Draft.