Ten years ago, the Blackhawks got lucky, and it changed the franchise

The way the balls bounced at the NHL offices in New York on that spring day in '07 helped transform a struggling Original Six franchise into Stanley Cup champions in 2010, '13 and '15.

The event was momentous enough that many of the key figures in the organization remember exactly where they were when they got the news that the Hawks had leapfrogged to the top of the draft.

Then-general manager Dale Tallon was changing planes in Ottawa en route to a scouting trip from Chicago to Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he reached customs "and my phone blew up with people calling me about the lottery."

"I thought I won the real lottery," Tallon added jokingly to the Tribune. "I was going to just keep going and not come home."

Meanwhile, another plane was en route to Vancouver and once it landed, Patrick Kane, who had lit up the Ontario Hockey League with 62 goals and 83 assists in 58 games with the London Knights during the 2006-07 season, got the news the Hawks had the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft.

"Philly was supposed to get it that year and Chicago jumped up a few spots," Kane told the Tribune. "At the time, I didn't really think anything of it. I just wanted to play in the NHL and whatever team I went to, I went to. Looking back on it now it was a pretty fortunate situation for the Blackhawks to get that pick."

The Hawks certainly hadn't had the best results in previous draft lotteries.

In 2004, The Hawks had an 18.8 percent chance at the top pick but watched as the Capitals leaped over them and the Penguins to nab the top selection. The Caps took Alex Ovechkin, the Penguins followed with Evgeni Malkin and with the third pick the Hawks selected ... Cam Barker.

In 2006, the probabilities at the top held true to form and the Hawks followed the Blues picking Erik Johnson and the Penguins taking Jordan Staal with the selection of Jonathan Toews.

"I don't know what we would have done if Toews hadn't been there — he was our guy," Tallon said. "We were very lucky when he slipped to third."

Lucky, yes, but not as lucky as when the 4-5-7-11 number combination came up a year later and the Hawks suddenly had an opportunity to add another big piece to an organization that needed it. The '07 draft was loaded at the top with Kane, James van Riemsdyk and Kyle Turris at the time considered candidates to go No. 1.

"Due diligence had to be done but Kane was already at the top of our list," Kelley said. "Before the phone call came we were trying to get comfortable with five players: van Riemsdyk, Turris, Kane, (Jakub) Voracek and (Karl) Alzner. As soon as we won the lottery we knew who we would be taking."

If the Hawks had any lingering doubt that Kane would be their man, it was erased when later that month Tallon and then-assistant GM Rick Dudley attended a Knights postseason game against Plymouth to get a look at Kane.

"(Kane) got hammered from behind into the end boards in front of us and he picked himself up and had two goals and two assists in that game," Tallon said. "That's when we knew that beside his skill-level he had the courage to go into the tall trees and that's when we decided he was our guy."

All that was left to do was inform Kane of their decision and that came when Tallon had lunch with the 18-year-old and his mother, Donna, at a hotel in Vancouver in May 2007.

"I met with Dale Tallon before the draft and he said that if Chicago still had the pick — if they didn't trade it away — then I was going to be their pick," Kane said. "You're pretty confident going in but anything can happen, I guess."

Despite the knowledge that the Hawks were locked in on him, Kane wasn't certain even as he landed in Columbus, the site for the first round of the draft on June 22 — 10 years ago Thursday.

Seated in the stands at Nationwide Arena with his father, Pat Sr., mother, grandfather and three sisters, Kane's first heart-stopping moment of the night came about 20 minutes before the draft was to start when he got a tap on his shoulder.

"Someone told us Phoenix had just traded up for the first-overall pick," Kane said. "I'm sitting there thinking, 'Well, I'm not going first overall because Phoenix wants to trade up to get Kyle Turris because they like him better.' "

As shocking as that news was to Kane, it paled in comparison to that of Pat Sr., who is not a fan of flying and drives to many of his son's games from their hometown of Buffalo.

"My dad is sitting there all worried because he's thinking that he's going to have to drive to Phoenix to watch my games," Patrick said with a laugh.

Eventually, Tallon and other members of the Hawks' hierarchy took the stage to make the No. 1 selection. Again, Kane had a flashing moment of doubt after Tallon began talking into the microphone.

"He actually said, 'from the London Knights' and he had a little bit of a pause — at least it felt that way to me — and I didn't want to get up because (Knights teammate) Sam Gagner was in the draft as well and he was going to go pretty high so I just waited for him to call my name," Kane said. "I remember turning to my dad and hugging him and then the rest of my family."

On the stage, Tallon was all smiles as he had just drafted a future Hart Trophy winner in Kane.

"I can't believe he was still on the board," Tallon deadpanned.

For Kane, the moment was a culmination of a life filled with hockey — and hard work.

"When I was growing up it was hockey all the time — if there are 365 days in a year maybe I took 10 days off because I loved it so much," Kane said. "That's where I met a lot of my friends and that's where I felt in my comfort zone.

"Some people might say, 'You were born with these God-given abilities' and maybe to an extent you are but I think I really worked on my game and my craft when I was younger to get into position that day to be drafted that high."

It was all thanks to 4-5-7-11. One different digit could have changed the course of NHL history but instead the lucky draw was a turning point for a franchise.

"You don't realize it at the time but looking back, certainly it was," Kelley said.

Added Kane, who hopes to be at the United Center for this weekend's draft: "It's funny the way things worked out. I was very fortunate to not only come along with Johnny but to join guys like Duncan (Keith), (Brent) Seabrook, (Patrick) Sharp, (Dustin) Byfuglien and (Adam) Burish, guys who were already here. We knew if we played well maybe the fans would start coming back and we'd start getting some sellout crowds again. It's kind of amazing what has transpired in the past 10 years in Chicago."