@M4nBearFrog I'm inclined to agree, Canada deserves more teams and would have a better bottom line than keeping some of them in the US. I'd love to see Quebec or Winnipeg a team again. I tend to believe northern BC, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland could probably support new hockey teams as well. Phoenix needs to move, I really hated the idea of the NHL throwing 20 million dollars to keep a team in a losing market and hell as much as I hate to say it, Atlanta could stand a franchise move as well.
i am not hockey fan because i am From Puerto Rico you know we play here basketball and baseball but i think the NHL what they need to do is get more franchises in the north states of USA and Canada is common sense snow play hockey hot summer play basketball or baseball
Hate him or like him (mostly hate), Bettman was the greatest commissioner in the NHL's history. He took the revenue from $400M to $3.2B. He expanded the league to 30 teams, saving as many in Canada as he could. He helped make hockey more known around the world. But he has run his course. We are headed towards our 3rd lockout. That will put us in 3rd place in the 4 major leagues in total lockouts. He is trying to keep a failing team in Phoenix rather than move it north. Time for a new commish
Kinda miss 24 teams. Only 8 teams missed the playoffs, and every team had at least a few first line players and top pairing defensemen. Some teams now are legit AHL teams
I think Bettman is a good guy at heart. Hes done alot of negative things, but also positive things. He has made the NHL a ton of money, and atleast recently relocated a team to canada. If he was truely bad at his job, he wouldnt be there right now. There is more to his job other than pleasing the NHLPA (who is equally at fault for the lockouts).
Yes, but we're talking about teams that Bettman added. Dallas were added to the NHL in 1967. They were called the Minnesota North Stars. They also have had success. They were apart of the Devils/Wings/Avs/Stars era where they were pretty much the only teams making the finals. And remember. The Stars attendance only went down 2 years ago. It will go up when they make a push for the playoffs with their new and improved team. Phoenix were added in 1972 as Winnipeg. They should be relocated though,
While Bettman has made mistakes in a few markets, that being Atlanta, Nashville and Phoenix he has made some brilliant moves in bringing the NHL to Columbus and back to Minnesota. Yes Canada lost a couple teams but trust me...It was the best thing for those two teams...I'm from Winnnipeg and I can tell you that we were nowhere close to affording a new arena and considering how bad it was back then...the Jets moving out of town was the best thing for the city
@leaf98 You may hate him but hes is apparently a well respected man in the business. I heard (ESPN doc) that the commissioners from NFL, MLB and NBA actually look up to him. Hes is apparently one of the best commissioners in sports. I guess he excels in the business part of his job.
Three things? City: Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) Market: over 500,000 people + within 30 minutes of Toronto (whose team has a mile-long waiting list to get NHL tickets) Arena: Copps Colosseum Owner: Jim Balsillie So why did Bettman refuse to consider Balsillie's offer???
Say what you want about Bettina. The league has prospered since he took over. I think it is funny how whenever he presents the Stanley Cup no matter the city, he always gets booed. Lol. But from hearing a lot of hockey guys talk about him they say he is super smart and a great leader. Brian Burke said he’s one of the smartest guy he’s ever worked for and knew everything about the league and every scenario.
bettman did not ruin the game of hockey, he brought 6 new clubs, insigniated rules and changes that made a lot more teams competitive and significantly increased NHL revenue, everyone is hard on him because the guy before them was harsh, not many people have a true understanding of how he has grown the game.
I was talking about week days, during week days TODAY, not between '96 and '01 when they won SC, IN 2010 they struck to have 11 000 attendance on week days, that sucks.
My ballots for commissioner: 1)Trevor Linden 2)Wayne Gretzky 3)Roger Nielson just my opinion, these guys all love the sport of hockey and know how it should be played
Bettmans job is not to please Canadians giving them teams wherever they want them. Many Canadians feel that since their town likes hockey, that they should automaticly have a team there, and that is way oversimplifiying things. Bettman answers to the owners, and in my judgement he has done a good job.
@M4nBearFrog It would be really hard to get fans to see a new team out in new markets in Canada, when you already have established franchises like Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. It's like putting a new team in Michigan and expecting that fanchise to flourish, when they already have a devoted fan base to the Wings. All these newer expansion teams are more about creating a market were it didn't already exist, in hopes of a long term revenue growth. Phoenix being the exception.
@sonrac1 So does Phoenix and they were nearly moved twice. Atlanta also has a long term deal with their arena and they just moved. I dont think it has anything to do with that, it has everything to do with the money involved, and who the prospective is and what they have to offer.
Gary Bettman had nothing to do with the addition of the Panthers or the Ducks. Both cities were already awarded those franchises in late 1992, before Bettman took charge on February 1, 1993, even though their inaugural seasons were under Bettman.
People dont understand Bettman works for the owners not the players. He has been an amazing leader for the NHL. Yes the Fan hate him for what he has done and is doing, but the game is a lot better. Also the owners put up so much capita and splitting the revenues 50/50 is crazy. John Carlson just signed a 6 year $24 million dollar contact...JOHN FREAKING Carlson!!!
A couple of things. First, if some owner was really pushing to try to move the team to let say Las Vegas, he'd probably have a much easier time doing so because you're still in the USA. I understand he wants to expand through the USA, but the market dictates where you should go, and profit would come by moving the Coyotes from financial troubles and a low fan base. Second, if fighting is hindered any more that will make hockey much worse. It's as much as part of the game as scoring.
No one knows this yet (including the press) but the Yotes' equipment has entered the MTS center! I'm not kidding. Be ready Winnipeg ... the announcement is coming soon. Get your season tix for September! Remember that you heard it here first! :)
Well let me tell you this. The MLB has had 8 labor disputes, the NBA 4 and the NFL and NHL have had 3. And he has grown the NHL's profits dramatically. None of the teams he added are failing. Once Florida start making the playoffs again, they'll pick up fans again. They won there division last year. Atlanta were bad, but now you have Winnipeg. No complaining there. Nashville sold out 20+ games last year. They've also shown they're a top team. Minnesota sold out 409 straight games, from their 1st
season to 2010. In the last 2 years, they haven't sold out just 2-4 games. They will continue to sellout this upcoming season with the big stars they added. They'll also make the playoffs (but probably won't challenge teams like Vancouver and St. Louis). Anaheim pick up plenty of fans when they're doing good. Even when they're not, they fill over 85% of the arena. They won a Cup too. And when they make the playoffs this year, attendance will increase. Plus don't forget their prospects.
This is how I was expecting this to go: Bettman:I brought you a present! George:Did you get me the Nashville predators?!?! Bettman: *Puts jersey back* YOU FUCKING SAID YOU WOULD'NT BRING THAT UP!! *leaves*
If I was commissioner- 1. Cap player contracts to $10m/yr and 7 years to get rid of stupid long contracts. 2. Move Phoenix to Quebec City. 3. Put in no touch icings. No icing is worth a career. 4. Make the replay booth relevant. What point is it having them if the ref has final say? 5. Bring Europeean refs for less biased games. 6. Accidental headshots suspendable, intent to injure brings fines and charges. 2 hand a guy on the street, you would be in jail. 7. Have Mick Magoo investigated. There
Que, Winn, Hart, Minn, lockouts, failing teams in the sunbelt (For YEARS), players slowing leaving for the KHL, Boots, Versus over ESPN...Hockey has done well in spite of him. Phx/Ballsilie battle will be his Waterloo.
Absolutely! It's a thankless job, and he's easy to blame, but it's a stable, well-run league with a salary cap. Small market teams are competitive, game has grown. Not sure what his detractors are looking for? Game is way better today than it was 20 years ago, faster, better action.
Living in Quebec, I say yeah! But there's one problem: No one in Quebec will put up the money for a new arena and the government won't help either. I don't believe the NHL will ever come back here.
@M4nBearFrog Canadian university, probably a bit biased. Still even as an American (and an Avs fan since the moved to Denver) I'm inclined to agree. The clock is ticking on Phoenix and eventually there won't be anything Buttman can do to save them. They will be headed to Quebec soon enough. Hamilton will get one soon enough as well.
He refused Balsillies offer because if Balsillie was able to get the Coyote out of bankruptcy, he would have moved them to Hamilton and the NHL if they were lucky would have maybe gotten $100 mill for it. If the NHL waits and expands there or now since they own the coyotes & put them up for auction there, they will get anywhere from $500-800 mill. You do the math, which one would you pick.
Bettman says you have to look at the owner, the arena and the market. So tell me about the owner (or lack of) and market (there isn't one) in Glendale, AZ??!!
Lost Quebec City but look at how that turned out...Avalanche with 2 cups and had an incredible sell out streak for the first 7 or 8 years or somethin...yeah two lockouts...but during the second one was what the NHL needed to get a hard cap so it would create a competitive balance in the league..he didnt give the NHLPA what they wanted and fuck it all up again..he actually held in there until the players finally gave in to what the NHL wanted to do.
Phoenix is already on it's way to Winnipeg. Now all we need is: ATL to Quebec City. FLA to Milwaukee, move Columbus to the East. Make the Central Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, STL, Nashville. Give NSH a few more years to get their shit together, if they can't get a substantial audience, move them somewhere else. If the league expands I expect the top U.S. prospects to be Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Seattle, while in Canada it'll be Quebec City, Hamilton, and Halifax.
As a Minnesota fan I still hate that man, It doesn't matter that we got a new Hockey team, we never should have lost the Northstars to begin with. Gary I hope you are run out of the league tarred and feathered. You removed Hartford, You removed Quebec City, You Removed Minnesota, and you moved teams to Dallas, Phoenix, and Raleigh, and they are all FAILING MISERABLEY.
+BeetleswithanA Yup I know what you mean that it doesn't mean as much to me now as it did before it's not the same now,It's gone down hill and it's all because of this man,Bettman's a Weasel !
@gullywheel Although I agree that it sucks no one thumbs up'd this, but the Quebec Ramparts which is a QJMHL team(minor league) averages over 12,000 fans per game. That's more than the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islands averaged this year for NHL teams. Just because there's more people, doesn't mean they give a shit about hockey!!
@Sithlord703 Hamilton will get a team down the road. Cherry said it on CC during the finals and frankly I'm going to believe that Cherry knows something we don't know. He wouldn't put his reputation on the line if he wasn't absolutely sure Hamilton was getting a team down the road.
Stupid ideas: Hockey in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, two teams in Florida, Dallas, Carolina Smart ideas: Winnipeg, Seattle, Southern Ontario, Quebec City, Portland, Hartford
@VancouverChokers Bettman doesn't want to move a team to Hamilton because he's affraid that Toronto and Buffalo will lose fans to Hamilton, also the Owners of the Leafs and Buffalo don't want Hamilton to get one,and neither do the fans of the Leafs and Sabres. So yes the Nords are next.
@edmoil12 perhaps you should continue to do a little more investigating then. i think the 24 teams in the states will be folding before the teams in canada. US is headed for a 2nd depression.
bettman may appear to be a jerk, and i dont agree with all the expansion to the south, not to mention he's american..but he seems like a good guy and he's a very smart buisness man. his apology for the shortened season this year was very sincere and well said.
@ironmaidenforlife123 Yeah. And I'm all for Americanizing hockey. And lots of people do care about hockey in the US. Just because you lost your team(s) doesn't mean you gotta throw a hissy fit.
Don't give me that crap. Balsillie can't be trusted, which is why all 30 owners shut him out. Balsillie doesn't care about getting another team in Canada...he just wants a team in Hamilton. Phoenix can and will be successful. Even if the Oilers or the Senators missed the playoffs as many years as the Coyotes have, the fans wouldnt show up either.
@mirlin235 I'd think if Seattle can spruce up its arena they might get a team down the line and that's just as good as having a team in Victoria. Problem is the Key Arena is a dump.
@MrTommypops Definitely no dummy, he's smarter than the average no doubt. There's a whole lot of business bull shit behind the scenes that 99.78% (made up statistic) don't understand. We're just not privy to all the information, we see the hyper simplified version of the knowledge required to make most decisions. Hopefully we'll see a team there at SOME point...Hamilton deserves one big time. Leafs "fans" deserve to be able to go to a hockey game once and awhile.
The New Arena concept is a hoaks. There's nothing wrong with Quebec Colisee or Winnipeg Arena.... The reason they say the teams need a new arena is so Corporate Sponsors can purchase the naming rights, which gives the building tenants millions of dollars per year (which the NHL & Bettman probably get a good cut of)
well for one he has been a part of 2 going on 3 lockouts during his tenure not what i would consider growing the sport but hey, i was more interested in hearing your reasoning on how he built the sport because the franchises he added all are failing and cant even fill their stadiums look at the (thrasers, panthers, coyotes,dallas and more) The sport grew because of the players and the product that was put on the ice not the business decisions made by bettman
MN is probably the best hockey state, even Canadians recognize that, not sure if Bettman does. I can't believe he is still struggling to save the Coyotes when he did nothing to save the North Stars, Nordiques, Whalers, and Jets.
@edmoil12 we could support about 10 - 12 teams here in canada. we can support them. and actually no, inflation is upon us this year. you'll see the price of gold and silver go up drastically in the next few months, and at a certain point, they dollar in the USA will drop quite i bit more than the canadian dollar
people who h8 Bettman.... can thank the NHL OWNERS... they run the show and hired Bettman...Bettman is the h8 magnet while the owners sit in the background and gets told what to do (ie. EXPAND THE LEAGUE).
you said it. bettman's handlers probably made sure that george s. didnt ask the questions that everyone wants to know. and you should be ashamed george - come on everyone was expecting the hard hitting questions
Helmet comes off, fight is over ... keep helmets on and kill your hands. Oh yeah, makes perfect sense. It's enforcing trick situation -- catch 22 to deter fighting.
Hockey has become a joke. There are club owners who dont want to win because then they would have to pay high player bonuses. Phil Esposito has said this.
or you can keep them and add 2 teams then have a realignment of 4 conferences with 8 teams... hockey can work in Phoenix Florida and Nashville... the penguins went through a time when nobody went to the games also. now look at them.
Wow, how many people would keep their job if they lost their company $273 million? I don't know what the NHL financial status was prior to 1993, but I imagine it couldn't have been all that bad..the league wouldn't have lasted 76 years if they were losing money or not have been popular. For 25 years of the NHL's existance they survived on just 6 teams (4 of which were in the US) - low and behold all 6 of those teams still exist in their original markets. I wonder how much Bettmen himself lost?
Well that's flattering you compare me to Jesus... But, what does this have to do with criticizing a guy who is destroying a sport I love? Come on? 2 lock-outs? 4 relocated teams? losing major tv deals? In 16 years of service? That's doing a good job? Compare to say Clarence Campbell who served 34 years. 2 teams were relocated in his 32nd year of duty. 1 team folded in his 33rd year of duty. 0 lockouts. and gained TV deals. The popularity of the NHL & Hockey expanded it from 6 to 18 teams
You know nothing. The Quebec Remparts, a junior team, have more attendance during week days then the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado won the cup the year they moved, and you say that it was impossible for them to win, even with Sakic Forsberg, Lemieux (top ten goal scorer in playoffs) even without Roy they would have went more close to the final then the Habs. Bring back the Nord's in Badaboum City.
gonzee, if Bettman can't drop a minor grievance for the sake of letting a successful businessman run a team properly (instead of run it into the ground, as Bettman is keen to do), then he shouldn't be running the NHL. Case closed.
get rid of all of them. contract nashville. move phoenix back to winnipeg, put florida in hamilton atlanta goes to seattle. i guarantee this will make a more stronger and relevant league.
This is why George is the new host of HNIC. He is a soft interviewer and doesn't ask the tough questions that a Ron Mac lean would ask . Go watch one of the interviews Maclean did with Bettman. He asks the questions Canadians want answers to. George is soft and in it for himself . When the new TV deal came in Bettman made sure that Mac lean was replaced and did so with a softer unconfrontational sap like Strombo. Replacing Ron was a HUGE loss for HNIC. And all these corporate monkeys that surround George like Kypreos , Healy etc...do nothing for Canadian Hockey and will never challenge the NHL'S front office with important issues the way Ron did. Canadians should be pissed that Ron was let go because all this does is help Bettman and company take this league further away from Canadians with absolutely NOBODY there to challenge them!
@whytie42 Quebec was acculay going to get a team again the. the federal government would have to put up half the bill for the stadium. the feds cant do that right now, Harper is a huge hockey fan and have no doubt he would flip the bill but the recession is holding him back. they should have it within a couple of years. as for winnipeg i dont know.
I sure wish we had someone who actually likes hockey running the NHL
Politicians don't get booed as much as you. They boo you because you're terrible for the game.
The only applause Gary will get.
Sad day for America. Gary Bettman found in his house... alive
@M4nBearFrog I'm inclined to agree, Canada deserves more teams and would have a better bottom line than keeping some of them in the US. I'd love to see Quebec or Winnipeg a team again. I tend to believe northern BC, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland could probably support new hockey teams as well. Phoenix needs to move, I really hated the idea of the NHL throwing 20 million dollars to keep a team in a losing market and hell as much as I hate to say it, Atlanta could stand a franchise move as well.
How prophetic at least as far as Atlanta went. Your comment aged well.
i am not hockey fan because i am From Puerto Rico you know we play here basketball and baseball
but i think the NHL what they need to do is
get more franchises in the north states of USA and Canada
is common sense snow play hockey
hot summer play basketball or baseball
Hate him or like him (mostly hate), Bettman was the greatest commissioner in the NHL's history. He took the revenue from $400M to $3.2B. He expanded the league to 30 teams, saving as many in Canada as he could. He helped make hockey more known around the world. But he has run his course. We are headed towards our 3rd lockout. That will put us in 3rd place in the 4 major leagues in total lockouts. He is trying to keep a failing team in Phoenix rather than move it north. Time for a new commish
Kinda miss 24 teams. Only 8 teams missed the playoffs, and every team had at least a few first line players and top pairing defensemen. Some teams now are legit AHL teams
thanks for uploading this....i missed it on tv but i'm always down for Bettmans BS
Must be nice for him to get applause for a change
I think Bettman is a good guy at heart. Hes done alot of negative things, but also positive things. He has made the NHL a ton of money, and atleast recently relocated a team to canada. If he was truely bad at his job, he wouldnt be there right now. There is more to his job other than pleasing the NHLPA (who is equally at fault for the lockouts).
Yes, but we're talking about teams that Bettman added. Dallas were added to the NHL in 1967. They were called the Minnesota North Stars. They also have had success. They were apart of the Devils/Wings/Avs/Stars era where they were pretty much the only teams making the finals. And remember. The Stars attendance only went down 2 years ago. It will go up when they make a push for the playoffs with their new and improved team. Phoenix were added in 1972 as Winnipeg. They should be relocated though,
im going to be so happy when theirs a new commisioner
While Bettman has made mistakes in a few markets, that being Atlanta, Nashville and Phoenix he has made some brilliant moves in bringing the NHL to Columbus and back to Minnesota. Yes Canada lost a couple teams but trust me...It was the best thing for those two teams...I'm from Winnnipeg and I can tell you that we were nowhere close to affording a new arena and considering how bad it was back then...the Jets moving out of town was the best thing for the city
@leaf98 You may hate him but hes is apparently a well respected man in the business. I heard (ESPN doc) that the commissioners from NFL, MLB and NBA actually look up to him. Hes is apparently one of the best commissioners in sports. I guess he excels in the business part of his job.
Three things?
City: Hamilton, Ontario (Canada)
Market: over 500,000 people + within 30 minutes of Toronto (whose team has a mile-long waiting list to get NHL tickets)
Arena: Copps Colosseum
Owner: Jim Balsillie
So why did Bettman refuse to consider Balsillie's offer???
anyone know the name of the song that plays at the beginning? it plays at the beginning of every strombopoulos vid
Say what you want about Bettina. The league has prospered since he took over. I think it is funny how whenever he presents the Stanley Cup no matter the city, he always gets booed. Lol. But from hearing a lot of hockey guys talk about him they say he is super smart and a great leader. Brian Burke said he’s one of the smartest guy he’s ever worked for and knew everything about the league and every scenario.
bettman did not ruin the game of hockey, he brought 6 new clubs, insigniated rules and changes that made a lot more teams competitive and significantly increased NHL revenue, everyone is hard on him because the guy before them was harsh, not many people have a true understanding of how he has grown the game.
I was talking about week days, during week days TODAY, not between '96 and '01 when they won SC, IN 2010 they struck to have 11 000 attendance on week days, that sucks.
My ballots for commissioner:
1)Trevor Linden
2)Wayne Gretzky
3)Roger Nielson
just my opinion, these guys all love the sport of hockey and know how it should be played
R.I.P. to Roger. It still sickens me what Bobby Clarke did to him.
Bettmans job is not to please Canadians giving them teams wherever they want them. Many Canadians feel that since their town likes hockey, that they should automaticly have a team there, and that is way oversimplifiying things. Bettman answers to the owners, and in my judgement he has done a good job.
Bettman was so cheap that he couldn't even give him an authentic jersey. He had to give him a crappy replica
Does anyone know if he still does his radio show?
@GarshardJeVard You have no idea the enormous fanbase that Winnipeg had. They were one of the most popular teams in Canada, and most missed.
even with their big push to the Conf. Finals last year. Again, Bettman didn't add these 2 teams. They were added way before he became Commissioner
@M4nBearFrog It would be really hard to get fans to see a new team out in new markets in Canada, when you already have established franchises like Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. It's like putting a new team in Michigan and expecting that fanchise to flourish, when they already have a devoted fan base to the Wings. All these newer expansion teams are more about creating a market were it didn't already exist, in hopes of a long term revenue growth. Phoenix being the exception.
@sonrac1 So does Phoenix and they were nearly moved twice. Atlanta also has a long term deal with their arena and they just moved. I dont think it has anything to do with that, it has everything to do with the money involved, and who the prospective is and what they have to offer.
Gary Bettman had nothing to do with the addition of the Panthers or the Ducks. Both cities were already awarded those franchises in late 1992, before Bettman took charge on February 1, 1993, even though their inaugural seasons were under Bettman.
People dont understand Bettman works for the owners not the players. He has been an amazing leader for the NHL. Yes the Fan hate him for what he has done and is doing, but the game is a lot better. Also the owners put up so much capita and splitting the revenues 50/50 is crazy. John Carlson just signed a 6 year $24 million dollar contact...JOHN FREAKING Carlson!!!
A couple of things. First, if some owner was really pushing to try to move the team to let say Las Vegas, he'd probably have a much easier time doing so because you're still in the USA. I understand he wants to expand through the USA, but the market dictates where you should go, and profit would come by moving the Coyotes from financial troubles and a low fan base.
Second, if fighting is hindered any more that will make hockey much worse. It's as much as part of the game as scoring.
No one knows this yet (including the press) but the Yotes' equipment has entered the MTS center! I'm not kidding. Be ready Winnipeg ... the announcement is coming soon. Get your season tix for September!
Remember that you heard it here first! :)
Well let me tell you this. The MLB has had 8 labor disputes, the NBA 4 and the NFL and NHL have had 3. And he has grown the NHL's profits dramatically. None of the teams he added are failing. Once Florida start making the playoffs again, they'll pick up fans again. They won there division last year. Atlanta were bad, but now you have Winnipeg. No complaining there. Nashville sold out 20+ games last year. They've also shown they're a top team. Minnesota sold out 409 straight games, from their 1st
season to 2010. In the last 2 years, they haven't sold out just 2-4 games. They will continue to sellout this upcoming season with the big stars they added. They'll also make the playoffs (but probably won't challenge teams like Vancouver and St. Louis). Anaheim pick up plenty of fans when they're doing good. Even when they're not, they fill over 85% of the arena. They won a Cup too. And when they make the playoffs this year, attendance will increase. Plus don't forget their prospects.
This is how I was expecting this to go:
Bettman:I brought you a present!
George:Did you get me the Nashville predators?!?!
Bettman: *Puts jersey back* YOU FUCKING SAID YOU WOULD'NT BRING THAT UP!! *leaves*
Moving the Jets to phoenix, would be like moving the Dallas cowboys to yellowKnife
If I was commissioner- 1. Cap player contracts to $10m/yr and 7 years to get rid of stupid long contracts. 2. Move Phoenix to Quebec City. 3. Put in no touch icings. No icing is worth a career. 4. Make the replay booth relevant. What point is it having them if the ref has final say? 5. Bring Europeean refs for less biased games. 6. Accidental headshots suspendable, intent to injure brings fines and charges. 2 hand a guy on the street, you would be in jail. 7. Have Mick Magoo investigated. There
The CBC should be ashamed of themselves for giving this half wit Gary Bettman valuable air time. The sooner the NHL is rid of him the better.
Que, Winn, Hart, Minn, lockouts, failing teams in the sunbelt (For YEARS), players slowing leaving for the KHL, Boots, Versus over ESPN...Hockey has done well in spite of him.
Phx/Ballsilie battle will be his Waterloo.
Why should the players take a 24% pay cut and 11% revenue sharing reduction when league revenues have risen since the last lockout?
FIRE BETTMAN
Bettman really isn't all that bad. He's just made the scapegoat everytime something happens that people don't agree with
Absolutely! It's a thankless job, and he's easy to blame, but it's a stable, well-run league with a salary cap. Small market teams are competitive, game has grown. Not sure what his detractors are looking for? Game is way better today than it was 20 years ago, faster, better action.
Living in Quebec, I say yeah! But there's one problem: No one in Quebec will put up the money for a new arena and the government won't help either. I don't believe the NHL will ever come back here.
@M4nBearFrog Canadian university, probably a bit biased. Still even as an American (and an Avs fan since the moved to Denver) I'm inclined to agree. The clock is ticking on Phoenix and eventually there won't be anything Buttman can do to save them. They will be headed to Quebec soon enough. Hamilton will get one soon enough as well.
He refused Balsillies offer because if Balsillie was able to get the Coyote out of bankruptcy, he would have moved them to Hamilton and the NHL if they were lucky would have maybe gotten $100 mill for it. If the NHL waits and expands there or now since they own the coyotes & put them up for auction there, they will get anywhere from $500-800 mill. You do the math, which one would you pick.
Bettman says you have to look at the owner, the arena and the market. So tell me about the owner (or lack of) and market (there isn't one) in Glendale, AZ??!!
Lost Quebec City but look at how that turned out...Avalanche with 2 cups and had an incredible sell out streak for the first 7 or 8 years or somethin...yeah two lockouts...but during the second one was what the NHL needed to get a hard cap so it would create a competitive balance in the league..he didnt give the NHLPA what they wanted and fuck it all up again..he actually held in there until the players finally gave in to what the NHL wanted to do.
Phoenix is already on it's way to Winnipeg. Now all we need is:
ATL to Quebec City.
FLA to Milwaukee, move Columbus to the East. Make the Central Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, STL, Nashville.
Give NSH a few more years to get their shit together, if they can't get a substantial audience, move them somewhere else.
If the league expands I expect the top U.S. prospects to be Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Seattle, while in Canada it'll be Quebec City, Hamilton, and Halifax.
As a Minnesota fan I still hate that man, It doesn't matter that we got a new Hockey team, we never should have lost the Northstars to begin with. Gary I hope you are run out of the league tarred and feathered. You removed Hartford, You removed Quebec City, You Removed Minnesota, and you moved teams to Dallas, Phoenix, and Raleigh, and they are all FAILING MISERABLEY.
I can't be bothered with hockey anymore and it is probably because of this man.
BeetleswithanA bettman sucks
+BeetleswithanA Yup I know what you mean that it doesn't mean as much to me now as it did before it's not the same now,It's gone down hill and it's all because of this man,Bettman's a Weasel !
How many of the new Bettman teams get revenue sharing? Tell us those numbers
@gullywheel
Although I agree that it sucks no one thumbs up'd this, but the Quebec Ramparts which is a QJMHL team(minor league) averages over 12,000 fans per game. That's more than the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islands averaged this year for NHL teams. Just because there's more people, doesn't mean they give a shit about hockey!!
How did he get into this position, was he voted? If so, by whom? And how ca we get rid of him? He HAS TO go!!
Thumbs up if you know Quebec and Winnipeg can support a team better than Atalanta and N.Y islanders
@Sithlord703 Hamilton will get a team down the road. Cherry said it on CC during the finals and frankly I'm going to believe that Cherry knows something we don't know. He wouldn't put his reputation on the line if he wasn't absolutely sure Hamilton was getting a team down the road.
Stupid ideas: Hockey in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, two teams in Florida, Dallas, Carolina
Smart ideas: Winnipeg, Seattle, Southern Ontario, Quebec City, Portland, Hartford
@VancouverChokers Bettman doesn't want to move a team to Hamilton because he's affraid that Toronto and Buffalo will lose fans to Hamilton, also the Owners of the Leafs and Buffalo don't want Hamilton to get one,and neither do the fans of the Leafs and Sabres. So yes the Nords are next.
@edmoil12 perhaps you should continue to do a little more investigating then. i think the 24 teams in the states will be folding before the teams in canada. US is headed for a 2nd depression.
bettman may appear to be a jerk, and i dont agree with all the expansion to the south, not to mention he's american..but he seems like a good guy and he's a very smart buisness man. his apology for the shortened season this year was very sincere and well said.
@ironmaidenforlife123 Yeah. And I'm all for Americanizing hockey. And lots of people do care about hockey in the US. Just because you lost your team(s) doesn't mean you gotta throw a hissy fit.
Don't give me that crap. Balsillie can't be trusted, which is why all 30 owners shut him out. Balsillie doesn't care about getting another team in Canada...he just wants a team in Hamilton. Phoenix can and will be successful. Even if the Oilers or the Senators missed the playoffs as many years as the Coyotes have, the fans wouldnt show up either.
@factorx90 why?
@mirlin235 I'd think if Seattle can spruce up its arena they might get a team down the line and that's just as good as having a team in Victoria. Problem is the Key Arena is a dump.
@MrTommypops Definitely no dummy, he's smarter than the average no doubt. There's a whole lot of business bull shit behind the scenes that 99.78% (made up statistic) don't understand. We're just not privy to all the information, we see the hyper simplified version of the knowledge required to make most decisions.
Hopefully we'll see a team there at SOME point...Hamilton deserves one big time. Leafs "fans" deserve to be able to go to a hockey game once and awhile.
The only bad team Bettman added is Columbus. They are probably 29th in prospects. They are the only team he added that should relocate
The New Arena concept is a hoaks. There's nothing wrong with Quebec Colisee or Winnipeg Arena....
The reason they say the teams need a new arena is so Corporate Sponsors can purchase the naming rights, which gives the building tenants millions of dollars per year (which the NHL & Bettman probably get a good cut of)
well for one he has been a part of 2 going on 3 lockouts during his tenure not what i would consider growing the sport but hey, i was more interested in hearing your reasoning on how he built the sport because the franchises he added all are failing and cant even fill their stadiums look at the (thrasers, panthers, coyotes,dallas and more) The sport grew because of the players and the product that was put on the ice not the business decisions made by bettman
MN is probably the best hockey state, even Canadians recognize that, not sure if Bettman does. I can't believe he is still struggling to save the Coyotes when he did nothing to save the North Stars, Nordiques, Whalers, and Jets.
@whytie42 I'm a Rangers fan and it would suck to see the Islanders move. Ship Phx and Atlanta up north.
@edmoil12 we could support about 10 - 12 teams here in canada. we can support them. and actually no, inflation is upon us this year. you'll see the price of gold and silver go up drastically in the next few months, and at a certain point, they dollar in the USA will drop quite i bit more than the canadian dollar
SEAN AVERY ROCKS!
I think White Horse, yukon, should get a NFL team because even that makes more sense than Phoenix having an NHL team.
people who h8 Bettman.... can thank the NHL OWNERS... they run the show and hired Bettman...Bettman is the h8 magnet while the owners sit in the background and gets told what to do (ie. EXPAND THE LEAGUE).
@VancouverChokers I'm not doubting it, but Bettman doesn't want it
How come he was never asked abt Winnipeg getting an NHL team?
dallas and phoenix both had worse attendance records than Columbus last season
@erimac1000 well then why does winnipeg have no team? Because not enough people.
Toronto and region(Golden Horseshoe) can handle 2 teams.N.Y.C region(18 mil) has 3. Golden Horseshoe(9 mil) can have 2
Oh and how so? Care to elaborate?
OMG! That Noah Miller's picture is a spider and I thought it was real and nearly cried!
you said it. bettman's handlers probably made sure that george s. didnt ask the questions that everyone wants to know.
and you should be ashamed george - come on everyone was expecting the hard hitting questions
Helmet comes off, fight is over ... keep helmets on and kill your hands. Oh yeah, makes perfect sense. It's enforcing trick situation -- catch 22 to deter fighting.
Hockey has become a joke. There are club owners who dont want to win because then they would have to pay high player bonuses. Phil Esposito has said this.
George how could you shake his hand!!
isn't there 2 teams in the NBA who actually share an arena? LA/golden?
I agree, I think Ont. can handle another team,
or you can keep them and add 2 teams then have a realignment of 4 conferences with 8 teams... hockey can work in Phoenix Florida and Nashville... the penguins went through a time when nobody went to the games also. now look at them.
Wow, how many people would keep their job if they lost their company $273 million?
I don't know what the NHL financial status was prior to 1993, but I imagine it couldn't have been all that bad..the league wouldn't have lasted 76 years if they were losing money or not have been popular. For 25 years of the NHL's existance they survived on just 6 teams (4 of which were in the US) - low and behold all 6 of those teams still exist in their original markets. I wonder how much Bettmen himself lost?
To call this guy a snake is an insult to snakes everywhere!
Well that's flattering you compare me to Jesus...
But, what does this have to do with criticizing a guy who is destroying a sport I love?
Come on? 2 lock-outs? 4 relocated teams? losing major tv deals? In 16 years of service? That's doing a good job?
Compare to say Clarence Campbell who served 34 years. 2 teams were relocated in his 32nd year of duty. 1 team folded in his 33rd year of duty. 0 lockouts. and gained TV deals. The popularity of the NHL & Hockey expanded it from 6 to 18 teams
You know nothing. The Quebec Remparts, a junior team, have more attendance during week days then the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado won the cup the year they moved, and you say that it was impossible for them to win, even with Sakic Forsberg, Lemieux (top ten goal scorer in playoffs) even without Roy they would have went more close to the final then the Habs. Bring back the Nord's in Badaboum City.
damn right
The very worst thing to ever happen to the NHL
8:10 commercial skip...
Bettman's a Weasel !
He's doing the owners work....Bettman works for the owners. Yes even Canadian owners. If his name were O'Brien you would call him a genius.
gonzee, if Bettman can't drop a minor grievance for the sake of letting a successful businessman run a team properly (instead of run it into the ground, as Bettman is keen to do), then he shouldn't be running the NHL. Case closed.
get rid of all of them.
contract nashville.
move phoenix back to winnipeg,
put florida in hamilton
atlanta goes to seattle.
i guarantee this will make a more stronger and relevant league.
@erimac1000
I'm all for teams in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan or even Halifax for that matter. Just not southern ontario...
Ice Edge has backed out!!! One step closer ... almost there Winnipeg!
This is why George is the new host of HNIC. He is a soft interviewer and doesn't ask the tough questions that a Ron Mac lean would ask . Go watch one of the interviews Maclean did with Bettman. He asks the questions Canadians want answers to. George is soft and in it for himself . When the new TV deal came in Bettman made sure that Mac lean was replaced and did so with a softer unconfrontational sap like Strombo. Replacing Ron was a HUGE loss for HNIC. And all these corporate monkeys that surround George like Kypreos , Healy etc...do nothing for Canadian Hockey and will never challenge the NHL'S front office with important issues the way Ron did. Canadians should be pissed that Ron was let go because all this does is help Bettman and company take this league further away from Canadians with absolutely NOBODY there to challenge them!
"Gary Bettman has his fans." Really, George?
@whytie42 Quebec was acculay going to get a team again the. the federal government would have to put up half the bill for the stadium. the feds cant do that right now, Harper is a huge hockey fan and have no doubt he would flip the bill but the recession is holding him back. they should have it within a couple of years. as for winnipeg i dont know.