I think that we owe a big round of applause to our newest, bestest buddy, and big toe.. Sergeant Gary Bettman

[HatTrick]

its a smart decision. keep a minnesota, detroit, teams along the canadian border and and eliminate the rest of the teams south of DC, which is approximately 12 teams. 18 teams, 2 divisions. 9 teams in each division. you play your other opponents 4 times each 2 home, 2 away. 68 game season. have the top 2 teams in each conference face off, winners go to the stanley cup.

thats the way it should've been re-aligned after this lockout instead of having the league continue to embarrass itself with these dead franchises.

LOL...If I disliked a sport as much as you claim to do, the LAST thing I'd do is spend my time typing paragraphs on the internet on how to improve such sport.

 

[PassTheBuck]

That's exactly what I thought.

Nothing solid to back your stance.

Nah, it's just that you refuse to hear anyone's point of view. That's cool with me, I knew this coming in.

 

[PassTheBuck]

People bitch about putting in teams in non traditional markets, but didn't complain when those $50,000,000,000 franchise fees were offsetting their losses.

The guy also went to bat for the small Canadian clubs to offset the weak money.

Truth is, name me any league where a % of the fans don't boo when the head of the league shows up on the field/ice/court etc.

The guy (Bettman) saved the league by facing down the union and got the salary cap. Every team in the league can survive now if they merely sell 80% of their tickets. And not only survive, any team with proper scouting can compete after a few years too.


VS. does a great job with games. Anyone outside of fuckstick arkansas that likes sports has it on their cable package.

NBC used to carry Arena Football games too - how did that work out for the league with the national exposure?

Hockey may see a bit of contraction or franchise relocation, but the league is in great shape (considering the economy etc).

Bettman deserves a lot of the credit. Whiners dislike him because he's a former basketball American dude - nothing more.

You make some good points. However, there were people complaining about expansion. I think the "people you are referring to are the owners, the beneficiaries of the expansion fees. On the whole, you do make a good case. Perhaps Gary is being treated unfairly, but on the whole he is a slave to a core group of powerful owners. This is why he makes the decisions he makes. As a fan of the game, it's hard to stomach many of his moves, when I know they are not for the good of the game, or when I look back to thirty years ago when the NHL was right up there with the NBA.

 

[TheRocker]

I can barely bring myself to watch the NHL these days. It is so God damn boring! Bettman has ruined the sport.

 

[Bushay]

Nah, it's just that you refuse to hear anyone's point of view. That's cool with me, I knew this coming in.

PTB, what was I not willing to listen to? I just asked you to tell me what exactly it is that HE has done that you dislike.

 

[Bushay]

Perhaps Gary is being treated unfairly, but on the whole he is a slave to a core group of powerful owners. This is why he makes the decisions he makes.

Well this is a start. I believe your the first Canadian I've ever heard admit this. Congratulations.



[/QUOTE] As a fan of the game, it's hard to stomach many of his moves, when I know they are not for the good of the game, or when I look back to thirty years ago when the NHL was right up there with the NBA.[/QUOTE]

30 years ago disco was still popular, Elvis Presley was still alive and we had a white president. Those years aren't ever coming back.

 

[Bushay]

I can barely bring myself to watch the NHL these days. It is so God damn boring! Bettman has ruined the sport.

[sigh]

 

[emmitt22]

how many labour disputes under his watch??????
i seem to recall the whole league taking a year off!!!
the worst commish in the history of pro sports !! vinny mac could do a better job!!!

 

[gtc08]

the league is a joke right now. if you want to enjoy it, enjoy it. dont make it into something that its not, which is a league that is run well and worth the time. NHL dropped that ball awhile ago.

 

[sneadmeister11]

when they changed the rules they messed up the excitement level, now it's more americanized brand of hockey not the excitement of the 80's and early 90's

 

[magillagorilla]

dont buy the hype. this is still a niche sport.

TV ratings are still abysmal. sport has absolutely no marketing. still talked about behind nba, mlb, nfl offseason, golf and nascar on major networks like fox sports and espn.

the NHL has gone from the 4th sport to a cult league.

i mean the finals got a 1.8 last year, and that was considered the dream matchup for the league. the bulls-celtics game 5 had a 4.0 overnight, and thats a cable game on tnt, not NBC, and that's a first round playoff game, not a stanley cup final.

also there talking about dropping the cap 15 percent over the next couple of years.

the league is on life support off of these canadian teams with rabid fans, but is for all purposes dead in the US outside of a market here and there.

nhl is a joke right now and should be treated like it is, on the back burner behind NBA, MLB, NFL, Golf and Nascar.

and the talk about nhl.com is laughable as well.

nhl is 696th in traffic rank. 696th for a supposed major sports league is pathetic. MLB is 354, NBA is 229.

betteman destroyed this league with a lockout and it is an embarrassment right now. i believe MLS jumps up and grabs that 4 spot in the next 5 years while the NHL continues to stutter.

if there were no canadian teams, this league would be dead. thats not even debatable. and when your league is riding on what 6 teams, foreign teams at that then you know its over.

the NHL needs to take a hint from the best commish in sports, david stern, and learn how to market a product. if I could pick any commish to run my league, he would be the guy. single handedly turned the NBA from a cult league like the NHL is now into a global empire stretching across not only the US, but the globe.

this post is right on which is sad. You have a playoffs where two teams ,anaheim and carolina are not even SELLING OUT THEIR PLAYOFF HOME GAMES!!!!!!!!!

I think the franchise is doing well in carolina and there are some passionate home fans in raleigh and from what I read some of the lack of sell outs in some area like carolina are due to a poor owner like karmanos and the high ticket prices in a bad economy. But watch the home games in anaheim or that matter phoenix,nashville,LA etc., its very lackluster.anaheim was half full and almost quiet at times during he regular season, I jut went to a ducks playoff game and there were as many sharks fans as duck fans!

I was only quoting the wikipedia because I wanted to hear if any canadians had seen the movie, my opinion on Bettmann is irrelevant but its obvious the guy is hated,canadians built this sport, passionately support it, and hockey needs a canadian commissioner. , the sport is a great sport but it needs a new commish and a new marketing strategy.

versus is a good start but get rid of nbc immediately, get rid of the the markets in the west,south and sunbelt and if you are going to expand into the sunbelt concentrate on sunbelt markets that like the sport like carolina,colorado, san jose etc.. and bring in more canadian teams!!!!!!!

 

[eoghater]

the sport is entertaining to watch, but the league should definitely cut down on the amount of teams in the league. I'm pretty confident Phoenix only has fans because they want to be in air conditioning.