BAFGA

Most commissioners are not liked but I have to believe Bettman is probably the most hated commissioner among his sports fans. His approval rating among the fans has to be 1% or less.

Refs are doing everything they can to give Pittsburgh a win. Bettman must be happy.

Depressed economy leaves little for the fan to spend on. Coupled with the Pistons doing well and the Tigers selling out every game practically, the fans are probably making choices on what to see instead of spending to see them all.

well that proves that Melrose has officially lost his mind.

Makes me want to get Verizon FIOS even more.....

Mike Emrick was OK but that was 15 years ago.... he's clearly lost it. He's now an annoying version of himself.

I would just like to say that Tootoo is a little prick. Much in the same vein of Barnaby. I used to feel for him because of his brother but now I hope someone pops him through the glass and then the fans dump beer on him.

Feds knows his role. He's become less of a goal scorer and more of a setup man to Semin, another good Russian.

At least he put Ovechkin #1.... That guy has REALLY impressed me. REALLY impressed me.

Voted for the Bruins (the Crapitals new logo is hideous) and the Coyotes (the Stars logo is not so much the logo, but the color scheme).

I never thought the ECHL was as bad as people made it out to be. I thought they had decent talent in that league. They seemed to produce some NHL goalies like Manny. They're not building their new arena in the same spot as the old one, but they are tearing down the old one before the new one is built. Apparently they are opening up that land for development of some sort of "Marina District". I've been in that old arena before. It was a dump. They had an old school Zamboni much like the one that was (or is) at the Hockeytown Cafe a few weeks ago under a canopy. And what is this new IHL that they're talking about? What happened to the UHL? Isn't that where the Generals were at before?

I always thought he looked like Geddy lee beaten upside the head with a hockey stick a bunch of times. Him and Rod Brind'Amour are 2 of the ugliest people on the planet yet the women swoon over them.

The Tampa sellouts are very misleading. A lot of their seats are sold at below market value or freebies.

the Wings and Crapitals in the same division? that's like 4 extra home games every year!

Yeah like so many other teams have in the NHL. Nothing more than a money grab. If you have a winning formula, why fool with it?

The Capitals. Will there be anyone in their building to observe their suckiness? I doubt it. Even with new duds their team will still stink.

WHy in the world would the Rangers trade their future goalie? Are they afraid of another Dan Blackburn meltdown? If they want to trade him to Detroit, fine....I'd take him.

I wasn't that crazy about bertuzzi and the fact that he didn't play much at all last year made him look a little better than he would have if he played a whole season. I don't know why people are in a panic about this guy. He won't be able to hold up for a whole season, and he is a shell of his former self after the Moore incident! To the people who are saying this is the softest team of all time: there are plenty of soft teams out there. Look at some Eastern Conference rosters. There are some powder puffs out there.

Just say no to old tired retreads. Lapointe's time has come and gone. If he wants to come here for a case of Molson sure, but don't give up anyone to get him.

Chicago: The owner has ran that team into the ground. Once had rabid fans, now just apathy Islanders: Crazy leadership there gives 15 year contract to decent but not stellar goalie. What gives? Columbus: There is no excuse for them not being competitive. Essentially fielding an AHL team every night. Washington: How McPhee has held onto his job for so long is beyond me. Market full of transplants who root for other teams. Boston: Another team ran into the ground. Boston fans are extremely loyal but even this owner has broken the fans loyalty. That's what good leadership gets you. They brought in Holland and he built a team that would draw in fans and compete in the league. They now have a fiercely loyal fanbase that is spread all over the country. See what committed ownership and a solid GM gets you?

Since I don't live in Detroit, I'm still waiting. I've been to several Red Wings games in Washington since I only live 2 hrs away from there, though. Then again, I used to be a Caps fan before they did some things that I didn't agree with. My wife has been to several games (she's from Michigan) and is a huge fan so it's in the works.

They've tried this already with Denis Leary. It got to the point where I was sick of seeing him in NHL commercials. Michael J Fox has degraded so much it hurts to see him now. Mike Myers might do it, but he'd be only one. Keifer already does voiceover for some NHL stuff, I think. Point is celebrities supporting the NHL wouldn't work, especially when you can't see them sitting next to the ice watching the game like you can see Jack Nicholson courtside at a Lakers game or Kid Rock at the Pistons. Do you really think someone like Spike Lee would start talking trash at another hockey player at the Garden like he does for the Knicks? It just wouldn't be the same. As for celebrities that do go to games, they are usually in a luxury suite chowing down on the food.

I know UFC is getting better ratings than the NHL now. Then again, so are reruns of Sanford and Son

You may think I'm crazy but i think the NHL would be wise to put Hartford back in the mix. For one, people from ESPN would go to games like they did before and the NHL would get it's credibility that with the mainstream media. Remember, when they moved to Carolina is when the NHL started not being taken seriously for the most part (or roughly around that time). Instead of trying to fix hockey in non-traditional markets, how about trying to fix hockey in TRADITIONAL markets....like Chicago or Boston. These were once proud franchises that have been killed off by their clueless owners. How about Bettman putting pressure on these guys to start spending some money or selling the teams?

I think the bottom line is the league needs to worry about far more than having every team's website hosted under the NHL domain. The NFL is trying to push this and the owners are fighting them on this. Some teams like to have the autonomy of running their own websites. The MLB formula of having everyone hosted under the MLB domain is as stale as 3 week old bread. We can't allow them to do this.