VANCOUVER – As with everything in nature, there is a life cycle to a National Hockey League player.
He is drafted or signed, then develops, then maybe gets a chance to prove he can play professionally, usually starting in a minor league. If he is really lucky, he continues to improve and makes it to the NHL like the players he watched on television when he was a boy.
And if this player wins the lottery, he becomes essential to his team and builds a career and sinks roots deep in that city.
Kevin Bieksa won the lottery.