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Caring about the fans does not mean capitulating to the other side. I would hope they love the game more than it's fans. This deal also will affect hundreds of players not even in the league yet, there are more things to consider than "will fan X have something to do after work tonight?" I want hockey back also, but in no way am I pretending I am the victim here. The simple fact: The OWNERS locked out the PLAYERS, because the OWNERS saw a opportunity to take back guaranteed contract money and use it to subsidize teams in non-traditional markets. I sign contracts with people all the time, never has anyone ever suggested that I take less money and do the same amount of work. I don't know why people feel entitled to these players, they don't owe you anything, they owe their family for all the time they are gone and cutting their household income by 1/4 doesn't fly. If Mario had to give back 1/4 of his money back in the day then there might not be a Penguins team today. Yet now he has the balls to demand that of the people he inspired to join this profession. Bottom Line: The league is not losing money, it is earning a profit. Some teams are winning, others losing. The heaviest contributing factor to the losing of said teams is that they don't have a big enough fan base in their non-traditional market. Taking money from the players allows owners to operate the flawed system longer, but does nothing to fix the problem. If there is no problems then what will they point to next time they feel like changing all the rules because their team can not win the cup.

For the life of me, I'm trying to figure out how you get from what Zetterberg said to him thinking Bettman should be fired. I read it as him talking about Bettman's negotiating style and as long as he is in that role, he expects the same. That to me is just basic logic. Doesn't say anything about whether he thinks he's doing a good job or a bad job.

you have only been hearing that from the players that have already accumulated millions of dollars throughout their career and can afford to sit out. what about those 3rd and 4th liners? just like i believe that the owners aren't unified on this lockout, i also think the union isn't as unified as they want you to believe, judging by some of the recent comments i have been reading by players

http://www.tsn.ca/wi...tory/?id=406758 I found this quote from Toews: "It's another disappointing but expected move from the league," Toews told the Chicago Tribune via text from Phoenix, where he is working with his personal trainer. "This seems to be our commissioner's bread and butter; it's almost like he is excited to take away hockey from the fans and the players just because he can." The longer it lasts the nastier it's going to get...

Sure they can sit here and defend him but so what? This guy is an absolute enigma to hockey and needs to be canned asap, hell even Daily could do a better job than him and yes including the golfpro! Midget has accomplished: =3 lockouts in two decades thats a 100 % lockout success. =Responsible for failed franchises and not willing to admit it cause of his little man syndrome like Lupul mentioned. = most hated man in hockey = fullfills every stereotype about a certain type of lawyers = destroyed the game and doesn't care about our tradition = no special thanks to he leagues backbone = hated by Illitch = cost DRW fans two years of Yzerman, Fedorov Shanhan and one of the perfect human that alone is enough to hate this damn midget Enough is enough can this greedy bastard. The league as a whole doesn't lose money some franchises are actually making money. Just get rid off the damn CBA and introduce a luxury tax like the MLB. I am sick of seeing the Wings handicapped because some owners want to play it poor. When classacts like Selanne, Toews, Boyle and now our next captain are fed up you know something has gone very wrong. Also the media has jumped on the fire Bettman wagon at some point the owners wont have a choice other than finally firing this 8 million waste of a human. Sent from my BlackBerry

No one can sit here and defend Bettman. Bettman is ruining hockey in many respects. His job is to RUN THE LEAGUE. Since he took charge of the NHL, there have been 3 lockouts, one of which lasted an ENTIRE SEASON- - and this one does not look too promising. Simply put, allowing 3 lockouts is not doing his job. He is a terrible negotiator, and is running the league into the ground. On another note, the ONLY reason he still has the job is that he has pleased all of the poor ass teams that can't afford to run their own franchises. But if the league is locked out all year, these poor ass franchises will not ever be able to recover, and I think that will spell the end of Bettman finally.

exactly. if either side cared about the fans, this lockout would have already been over it is quite ironic how the players are fighting tooth and nail to keep a system that they lost a whole season trying to fight against 8 years ago.

Anybody that defends Bettman is a fool. Bettman is not responsible for the growth, in fact he has hindered it. Hockey has grown in popularity in the States because more kids became exposed to it because of international success the Americans have since the Miracle on Ice, something they have never had before. Bettman is the worst thing to ever happen to the game of hockey

Nobody cares about the fans. They all want money. They want as much as they can get, both sides. If it was Bettman or Selig or Shanny up there, it'd be the same story. But keep believing that if Bettman magically disappeared that Jeremy Jacobs and Mike Illitch would stop caring about money.