Fan wins $1-million at Blackhawks game

by James Mirtle on Jan 19, 2009 10:49 PM CST Comment 11 comments

The Chicago Blackhawks announced tonight the team had a lucky fan win one million dollars, courtesy of the Illinois Lottery, during Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

Right wing Martin Havlat scored at the 10:00 mark of the second period, meaning a random fan, whose seat location was selected during the first period, won one million dollars in the "Illinois Lottery Million Dollar Minute." The winner has been notified and will be introduced before the Blackhawks game against the St. Louis Blues at the United Center on Wednesday.

>> team release

I was unsure of what the promotion was here, but after a bit of digging, I found this on the Blackhawks' website:

"Fans! If the Blackhawks score a goal at the 10 minute mark of the 2nd period during all the Blackhawk home games for the rest of the season, one lucky contestant will win a million dollars courtesy of the Illinois Lottery! If the Blackhawks don’t score at this time, then everyone sitting in one lucky section will win an Instant Lottery Ticket!"

Meaning, of course, that the goal had to occur at the exact second at the halfway point of the game. Those are pretty long odds.

There are 3,600 seconds in a regulation hockey game and the home team in this case scores about 3.4 goals per game. So, for the number crunchers out there, what are the chances of 10:00 of the second period coming up in a game? In a season?

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There’s about a 0.095% chance of it happening in a game, which over 41 home games, means there’s about a 3.8% chance of it happening at least once.

by RyanV on Jan 19, 2009 11:26 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Actually, it’s a little more likely than that, because a disproportionate amount of goals are scored in the second period with the long change.

by RyanV on Jan 19, 2009 11:31 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

But if the 3.4 goals per game also includes overtime, that would tweak the likelihood down slightly per second, too. :)

Better odds than most lotteries, though.

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Jan 20, 2009 5:28 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Everything is true what RyanV said.

But, you have to consider that the United Center has a capacity of 20,500. This means that the chance to win the prize is significantly lower for a single individual.

In other words: 0.095% that somebody wins the prize, but only 1 : 21’705’882 that YOU win the prize. IINM…

by RedWings on Jan 20, 2009 6:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Consider also certain times where it’d be effectively impossible to score, like the first five-ish seconds of each period.

by Doogie2K on Jan 20, 2009 12:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

How much will the league be keeping in escrow ?

by mc keeper on Jan 20, 2009 9:21 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

If you just round it off to a 1-in-1,000 chance, that gives an expected value of $1,000 each night. My guess is the state lottery is probably paying roughly that per game (plus a little extra) and insurance is covering the risk.

Nice to see Havlat finally score a goal when it matters for the first time in his career.

Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.

by Down Goes Brown on Jan 20, 2009 9:32 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Aside from his OT goal on Saturday, against the Blues.

Don't be afraid to take a few steps back, but you better keep moving forward.

by wlittle on Jan 20, 2009 9:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The video

Here’s a link to Havlat’s goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPwdMC-6h6s#t=1m39s

Interesting that the TV clock (which is usually hooked to the arena clock) pretty clearly has it at 10:01 when he scores, before ticking down an extra second afterwards. Wonder if the timekeeper got any grief for that.

Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.

by Down Goes Brown on Jan 20, 2009 4:49 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

If you want to get technical, the promotion says the Blackhawks have to score at the 10:00 mark of all home games to win the prize. So really, he shouldn’t have won. ;)

by Resolute on Jan 20, 2009 6:36 PM CST reply actions 0 recs