Dazzle Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Bettman is a puppet guy for the owners. The amount of hate on him is definitely misplaced. It was the owners that demanded a lockout to remove the long, expensive contracts. Guess what happened after the lockout? ...more long, expensive contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86Viking Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Bettman should NOT be inducted into the HHoF while he is still working as the NHL Commissioner. Doesn't matter how great a player is they have to retire before they get inducted. If I win the Lotto before the ceremonies I will try and make as many people as possible make it to the ceremony, if they even allow outsiders to go just to have Bettman get Booed when he walks on stage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'NucK™ Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 2 hours ago, RonMexico said: Booing him has jumped the shark. Actually booing in general has jumped the shark. It's so lame. Agreed.. when Dallas was booing him at the beginning of the draft, he scoffed a bit at them, and I think it was the first time I was actually on his side about something. The booing is just pathetic and childish really, especially when everyone (including Bettman) just wants to get the formalities over with. I think it would be great if nuck fans switch it up next year and cheer at the start of the draft, but I know that's not going to happen.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jägermeister Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 I understand why people don't like Bettman, but the NHL has grown exponentially under his tenure. From a business standpoint he has done wonders for the league. Interesting read for the debate: Quote Gary Bettman gets booed when he speaks. A lot. He is the public face behind the decision not to allow NHL players to participate in the 2018 Olympics. When an owner wants public funds used to finance a new arena, Bettman makes the case in the media. He has led the NHL to three lockouts and supported the league to expand into non-traditional hockey markets with mixed results. He has also been behind new television deals, expanded access to the game, and masterminded new events. As the NHL Commissioner, he represents the owners of NHL teams. Yet, from the moment he took office in 1993 to the present day, NHL fans have been keen to show their distaste. Is the NHL thriving under Gary Bettman? While many fans might say no, his contributions are significant. The Case Against Gary Bettman Gary Bettman was hired as the NHL’s first Commissioner with a mandate to end labor unrest. Instead, his two-decade tenure has turned out to be the most unsettled of any major professional sports league. Lost Seasons: 1993-94 and 2004-05 In 1993-94, during his second season at the helm, the NHL lost 103-days of play during a lockout. In 1995 the league agreed at Christmas to play an abbreviated 48-game schedule. The lockout had furthered economic upheaval. The LA. Kings declared bankruptcy and owner Bruce McNall went to jail. The Quebec Nordiques were on their way to Denver, and the Winnipeg Jets were on the tenuous ground. While player salaries had increased following the ’94 lockout, Bettman did nothing to challenge the notion that NHL players were “privileged millionaires.” In 2004, the owners refused to negotiate and the season was canceled. The NLHPA disintegrated into rival factions and the owners were able to institute a salary cap. Before 2004, players could sign with the team willing to pay market value for their services. A hard salary cap was instituted and the players took a pay cut. The owners made more, and kept more. Fans lost a season. Is another lockout looming in the not so distant future?/Photo courtesy of D’Arcy Norman – Flickr The 2012 NHL Lockout In 2012 the lockout issues were slightly different. The owners sought to reduce the players’ guaranteed 57% share of hockey-related revenues, introduce term limits on contracts, eliminate salary arbitration, and change free agency rules. By 2012, public perception was not on the owners’ side. Owners lost between $8 million and $10 million a day in revenue but would go on to negotiate a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. This translated to well over $2 billion over a 10-year CBA. Players lost around 40% of their wages for the lockout season and additional revenue going forward. No matter how you spin this, players have a smaller share of total dollars and fewer contract rights than they had before the lockout. One winner was expansion teams. New rules that placed a seven-year cap on individual contracts, and the 35% year-to-year variance limit on contracts. The reduction of the salary cap helped other smaller market teams as well. In Canada, however, businesses in areas with NHL teams were hurt because of the lockout. Insistent Hockey Expansion into Non-traditional Markets When Bettman took over in 1993, the NHL had expanded to 24 teams. The Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks were both poised to join the league. Under Bettman’s watch, the league added the Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets, while moving the Minnesota North Stars to Dallas, the Quebec Nordiques to Denver, the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix and the Hartford Whalers to North Carolina. However, few expansion teams have found success. The Atlanta Thrashers survived in Atlanta for nearly 12 years. Attendance started at 17,206 in their first expansion year and dwindled to a low of 13,469 in their final season. The team would eventually relocate to Winnipeg. We all know how hockey worked out in Atlanta (BridgetDS/Flickr) Arizona and Arenas A continuing concern is in Arizona. On top of bearing the weight of being the dearly departed original Winnipeg Jets, the Coyotes franchise has been plagued with problems from the outset. Their original home at the AmericaWest arena was not well-suited to hockey; their current home in Glendale is an hour from Phoenix and has its own issues. Despite the Auston Matthews phenomenon, hockey is not indigenous to the desert. The Coyotes have struggled to build a fanbase. The Phoenix Coyotes made the Western Conference Final in 2012, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did the same in the East in 2011 (as well as having won the Stanley Cup right before the 2004 lockout). The Carolina Hurricanes were named the first cup champs after the lockout, and the Anaheim Ducks followed in 2007. To the chagrin of Canadian fans, during the Bettman years, the sunbelt teams have been a lot more successful in the playoffs than their Canadian brethren. This has fueled a belief that the diminutive American has little respect for Canada and Canadian fans. Disrespect to Canadian Franchises In 2012, the seven Canadian hockey franchises were among the strongest in the league, almost regardless of their on-ice performance. Attendance figures were high, and tickets are priced accordingly. Many Canadians have not forgiven Gary Bettman for relocating the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix or the Quebec Nordiques to Colorado early in his tenure or for blocking the potential relocation of the Nashville Predators to Hamilton. While the return of the Jets has been lauded, rumblings continue that Quebec City is being kept from reclaiming a franchise. Fans negative view of Bettman remain unchanged. (Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports) One result from the age of parity is that Canadian teams, with all their fan support and all their ticket-sales revenue, have generally struggled to be successful on the ice. Meanwhile, Bettman’s expansion teams have done pretty well. The Carolina Hurricanes were named the first cup champs after the 2005 lockout. The Anaheim Ducks followed in 2007. Smaller market teams now had a chance to compete for big name free agents. Even the Phoenix Coyotes found themselves in a Conference Final by 2012. Last year the Nashville Predators made the Stanley Cup finals. This year, due to the nature of the expansion draft, the Vegas Golden Knights are off to a phenomenal start. In Defense of Gary Bettman The success or failure of hockey teams in non-traditional markets shouldn’t be used to criticize Bettman. However, most fans would agree his focus has been to grow the business of hockey and not to protect the special connection Canadiens have with the game. This, of course, is not his remit. Bettman’s legacy must be based on his record to expand the game. NHL Exposure The NHL has done a phenomenal job at marketing itself ever since the 2004-2005 lockout. A lot of that can be credited to the commissioner himself. Prior to the 2004-2005 lockout, the NHL had a TV contract with ESPN and ABC in the United States. That was nothing short of a disaster, and aside from maybe one or two games a week, ESPN brushed off hockey. In fact, the epic game 6 between the Flyers and Lightning was pushed to ESPN 2 for something along the lines of the World Series of Poker. Post-lockout and in full recovery mode, the NHL signed a deal with OLN (Outdoor Life Network) as the exclusive broadcasting partner in the US. That transition started out very slow. OLN televised the first two games in the 2006 and 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. Out of those four games, the highest rating was a 0.6, and the average ratings for the entire series were 1.8 in 2006 and 1.2 in 2007. As a comparison, in 2004, the Cup Finals averaged a 2.7 on ABC and ESPN. Still, this was all part of a downward trend that had begun back in 2000. ESPN and ABC hadn’t made a change when the NHL’s ratings were declining. In 2000 the Finals posted a 3.7 rating, by 2004 it had dipped to 2.6. Connecting to Comcast OLN would rebrand itself to Versus for the start of the 2007-2008 season, more importantly, they were owned by cable giant, Comcast. Comcast, who owns the Philadelphia Flyers and is based out of Philadelphia, was about to go through a period of rapid growth. As of 2013, Comcast was far and away the leading cable provider in the US. Even more importantly, in 2011 Comcast acquired NBC Universal. This included networks such as USA, CNBC, and MSNBC. Ironically, not even a year later, Comcast owned network, Versus, rebranded itself to NBC Sports Network. Bettman helped ensure every playoff game in 2012 was nationally televised. That paid off right away. The epic war fought between the Flyers and Penguins in the first round brought in outstanding ratings on a national scale. In fact, the playoffs as a whole did very well that year, with the exception of the Final, probably due to how lopsided it was early on. But having the Kings back in the Final did renew a lot of interest in hockey in Southern California. Pierre McGuire, NBC Sports (Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports) The contract with NBCSN and NBC is the best thing to happen to the NHL in a long time, and it is a direct result of Gary Bettman thinking outside of the box. NBC’s coverage of the NHL is unmatched. Accessibility and Marketability There are a plethora of other avenues to spread the word and get people watching hockey, and that’s another area where the commissioner has excelled in promoting the game. Early on, every nationally televised game is accessible through NBC Sports Live Extra. That meant anyone could watch the games anywhere. Today, Game Center and the NHL App allow many games to be streamed. While blackouts remain, the sheer volume of hockey available is amazing. Secondly, the NHL took advantage of YouTube in a variety of ways, early on. Since the ‘new NHL’ came about in 2005-2006, the NHL has posted clips and highlights of every single game that has been played. They aren’t just on their website, they’re on YouTube as well. If you’re sitting here reading this in 2015, you can go look up a game from 2006, and it’ll be there. Highlights The other thing the NHL did was to make their videos accessible to anyone. Unlike the MLB, If I want to go out and create a highlight video of Patrick Kane using the NHL’s clips, guess what? I can do it. There are thousands and thousands of highlight packages out there of all types of players. There’s even a dedicated website that archives every single NHL fight, and the best part is, the NHL’s policy allows for it. In 2010 NHL adopted the ‘History Will Be Made’ campaign in 2010, and it was immediately a home run. These commercials quickly went viral and truly brought out the raw emotion of the playoffs. Thousands of user-created videos flooded YouTube. The NHL’s marketing team has done a brilliant job with getting the game the exposure it needs, and that is just another thing that can fall on Gary Bettman’s watch. The Business Side The case against Bettman is in part a reaction to the lockouts on his watch. While a legacy of lockouts is hardly good news the NHL is reaping the benefits today. Before the 2004 lockout, there was absolutely no balance in the NHL. If you’re a ‘rich’ team in the NHL, you could throw everything but the kitchen sink at the most prized free agent. Coyotes fans showed up for the playoffs Take, for example, the Flyers. In 2004 the Flyers were one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and had their fair share of really decent players. Primeau, LeClair, Recchi, and Roenick were all Flyers at the time. The Flyers had $22 million tied up in just three of those players. Why? Because they could. As I mentioned above, the Flyers are owned by Comcast, so their pockets are essentially limitless. That all changed after the 2004-2005 lockout. A hard salary cap of $39 million was instituted for the next season. This meant teams like the Flyers couldn’t drop $22 million on three players. The cap did what it was supposed to do. The Penguins became relevant again, the Blackhawks found new life, and those smaller market teams now had a chance to compete or big name free agents. Even the Phoenix Coyotes found themselves in a Conference Final by 2012. Revenues and Imagination Bettman’s era has brought some important positive changes to the league. Revenues have quintupled in size and player payrolls followed suit. The NHL played a series of regular-season games in Europe and Japan, broadening its global appeal. It created the successful Winter Classic, the annual outdoor game played on Jan. 1 that has caught the imagination of the U.S. TV viewing public.It has hit historic ballparks such as Wrigley Field and Fenway Park and has packed 110,000 fans in the freezing cold snow to proudly sport their teams’ colors. Television revenues have grown significantly as have league sponsorship deals. He helped stabilize wobbly franchises in Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa through the Canadian currency-assistance program. He enabled Minnesota and Winnipeg to get their franchises back. New Challenges Gary Bettman is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. In some ways, he is brilliant. In other ways, totally tone deaf. The John Scott fiasco is a prime example of why some fans will never warm to Bettman. The NHL faces new and serious challenges. Is Bettman up to navigating these difficult waters? Can the league continue to make the business case for expanding into non-traditional markets? How will the league respond to the first discovery of the first case of a living person identified with the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE? The research seemingly cements the relationship between contact sports and brain damage. It will have profound implications for the NHL. Will the league adopt the suggestions of Ken Dryden in his new book Game Change? The book represents a challenge to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. While he tells Bettman and readers both why and how the game must change if it is to survive, some fans are concerned a moratorium on head shots will lead to a less physical game. Fans will boo Gary Bettman again. Sometimes it appears he enjoys it. This summer he used a child to troll fans. He will remain contentious. In assessing Bettman’s legacy, people struggle to separate the personal from the professional. Some will always consider him to be an outsider, never having been steeped in hockey culture. However, Bettman has been commissioner for nearly 25 years. It is hard to imagine the NHL without him. https://thehockeywriters.com/the-nhl-is-thriving-under-gary-bettman/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 4 hours ago, RonMexico said: Booing him has jumped the shark. Actually booing in general has jumped the shark. It's so lame. Kind of like your username (or mine for the matter heh) right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzuto&hatoum Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Another aspect of the lockout years that's not talked about and could be blamed on Bettman is the effect on the players' legacies and their stats - How many more points would Jagr or Sundin, etc have had if not for the lockout. Sedins would would have cracked 1100 points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whaleroad Train Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Bettman deserves to be put into the HHOF. I personally would like to see him in there - stuffed, mounted and put on a plinth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skolozsy2 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 8 hours ago, rizzuto&hatoum said: Another aspect of the lockout years that's not talked about and could be blamed on Bettman is the effect on the players' legacies and their stats - How many more points would Jagr or Sundin, etc have had if not for the lockout. Sedins would would have cracked 1100 points. I don't disagree that the lockouts affected player's career stats, but I do think it's unfair to put the lockouts solely on Gary Bettman. Players, owners, agents, team executives and representatives, not to mention who knows how many lawyers....with so many people involved in the negotiations, to put all the blame of those lockouts on just one person is extremely narrow minded in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
189lb enforcers? Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 The Bettman thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 What a joke. If O'Ree has to wait forever to get in Bettman can wait five years after he retires from the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmo2337 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Winging It In Motown ✔ @wingingitmotown Gary Bettman will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. As a way to honor his accomplishments as a hockey builder, fans will be locked out of the ceremony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal.view Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 22 hours ago, vinny_in_vancouver said: Oh man, with Gary Bettman retiring, who are we going to boo now?!! Wait...he's not yet retiring??? no not yet . not for a long long while he'll be the first person inducted twice for the same role this induction was for his first 25 years next induction will be at the completion of his next 25 years so much stability and winning in the nhl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal.view Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 22 hours ago, Twilight Sparkle said: like bettman or not, without him, this league probably would have folded YEARS ago. the nhl is actually kind of relevant. good for him right hockey would just have disappeared in canada without bettman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 On 2018-06-26 at 12:18 PM, Jam126 said: "One of these things is not like the others". Seriously though, @!$% Bettman. He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the HHOF. Except lining owners pockets with gold. He's a weasel but a weasel that is shockingly good at his job, if he wasn't the owners would have fired him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimberWolf Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 to the owners he made richer bettman is a hall of famer That said I still think he's the bastard lovechild of Steve Buscemi and Count Chocula Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillipBlunt Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 While Bettman has grown the game, he's also completely diluted the NHL with way too many teams. Most importantly, he and the scumbag board of directors has systematically ignored the severity of head injuries in the league. Rypien, Boogaard, Belak, Montador all died with the NHL and the NHLPA turning a blind eye to the major issue. Ask Andrew Alberts, Daniel Carcillo, or Nick Boynton how they feel these days. But who cares, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 With Marty Brodeur going in (like that was ever in doubt ), how long before Luongo goes in (obviously not that soon considering he's still playing in the league LOL). I mean, what other goalies can/will go in before Luo? Can't be a potential big list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Crossbar Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Was going to write my feelings but then saw this. Pretty much sums up how I feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal.view Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 3 hours ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: With Marty Brodeur going in (like that was ever in doubt ), how long before Luongo goes in (obviously not that soon considering he's still playing in the league LOL). I mean, what other goalies can/will go in before Luo? Can't be a potential big list. why not vote lou in right now ? isn't this a partnership between the league and the players bettman got in while still actively working i think lou should go in while he is still playing otherwise we might believe there is an imbalance between management and players and we can't have that can we so next year lou should go in based on his play and the loungo penalty infamy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420since1974 Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 3 hours ago, NewbieCanuckFan said: With Marty Brodeur going in (like that was ever in doubt ), how long before Luongo goes in (obviously not that soon considering he's still playing in the league LOL). I mean, what other goalies can/will go in before Luo? Can't be a potential big list. Mike Vernon 2 Stanley Cups Conn Smythe trophy William Jennings trophy 5 All Star games World Championship Silver medal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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