75 replies to this topic

[Konnan511]

Konnan511, I do have to agree with most of your comments. I will say that the expansion years were a mistake in a lot of markets. Bringing hockey back to Minnesota was a great thing. Bringing hockey to Phoenix and Nashville, markets that are struggling, was a stretch. As a result, the talent diluted. I think 24 teams would be better than 30 teams.

-A labor strike that reduced the season to 48 games, and the other a lockout that lost an entire season.
You this pissed off when the other major sports had lockouts? Lockouts happen, and you can blame the owners and players as a whole.

-I'm a hockey fan and I can't watch many games without shelling out money for those channels.
Same with the MLB, NBA, and NFL. Hell, the NFL and directv make oodles of money for the Sunday Ticket.

-$600 million with ESPN in 1998 to $72.5 with Versus in 2008
ESPN offered $60m in this last round of negotiations. I am glad they went with Versus for the extra cash.

Those are the most egregious points. I won't waste my time on the others.

I'd love for there to be fewer teams, but point is, if the NHL wants to grow, it needs to do so in America as much as it does in Canada. I wish ESPN had NHL on it, but I'm happy with Versus because they treat it as the number one sport. If the rumors are true, ESPN and Versus are going to actually compete with each other for the rights to air NHL games, and that should help immensely, either monetarily, or exposure-ly.

You can always do what we (my family) did and haggle with the cable company and work out deals. We got Versus without paying anything extra, I think all we had to do was upgrade our phone or something for an extra 12 bucks a year. Cable companies make deals all the time with the consumer and are easy to haggle with. PLus you always have bars to watch the game or online streams. I can watch games on my iPhone through streams anywhere in the world.

what's the definition of true hockey fan

We're screwed, Google doesn't even know!!!!

[dragonballgtz]

Bettman is responsible for the two-referee system, which has resulted in a significant increase in quality of officiating due to a second pair of eyes on the ice from another angle on the opposite side of the play.

Debatable at best IMO.

[eva unit zero]

The only only thing worse than the rabid Bettman haters is someone who goes out of their way to praise him. I'll stick with the former, thank you.

Here's some reasons I hate him and blame him for since 75% of you are sucking his balls right now.


-A labor strike that reduced the season to 48 games, and the other a lockout that lost an entire season.
-I'm a hockey fan and I can't watch many games without shelling out money for those channels.
-$600 million with ESPN in 1998 to $72.5 with Versus in 2008
-Bulls*** scheduling in the 2009 playoffs.
-Terrible, terrible reffing every year. Hey! remember the 2008, 2009, 2010 playoffs?!?
-Putting teams in cities where I don't believe hockey will ever be successful(well, maybe because of teams like the Red Wings and revenue sharing)
-The dilution of talent because of over expansion.
-Hockey isn't yet popular in the U.S. so lets start playing in Europe!
-Handling of the Phoenix situation.
-Did I mention terrible AND s***ty reffing?

-The NHL was already having labor problems before Bettman was hired. Bettman was hired to SOLVE THEM, and for the most part HE DID. Yes, it wasn't ideal, but the end justifies the means in many situations, including this one. The NHL has a CBA which protects teams doing poorly financially, and might have prevented the Jets, Nordiques, and Whalers from moving had it been in place back then.
-So in other words, you have to get cable to watch games? ESPN, Versus. Wow, shocking difference.
-The ESPN deal was $600m over 5 years, or $120m per year. It was followed by a one-year deal for the 2004-05 season which was $60m, with a $70m option for 2005-06. The Versus contract was $130m for two years, with a network-option third year. In other words, Versus offered more money than ESPN for fewer games and lower broadcast priority; ESPN would have demanded far more games, regular season and playoff, than Versus had. They would have demanded top priority for scheduling over NBC, also.
-The 2009 playoff scheduling, as far as the finals which is what I know you are referring to, is because of the television contract with NBC.
-Better reffing than 1992 and prior.
-Bettman doesn't just say "Hey, let's have a team in Atlanta/Nashville/Phoenix/Raleigh!" The team owner decides where they want the team to play, and the NHL Board of Governors either approves or denies that.
-The NHL's talent level is higher than it has ever been. In 1990 there were 20 teams' worth of Canadian players. Now there are 16. Also NHL teams typically have more skill players now rather than having a bunch of goons populate the bottom lines. This is a significant INCREASE in average talent, and based on the percentage of Canadian players in the NHL the league has actually UNDER-expanded. Of course, getting much larger would be ridiculous, so it will probably not happen.
-Playing in Europe to increase the global fan base for the NHL for a sport which is played globally? Terrible idea.
-As far as the Phoenix situation, what exactly could Bettman do? Balsillie tried to circumvent league policy, and acquire the Coyotes from Moyes through bankruptcy while Moyes receives what basically amounts to a kickback. Bettman did nothing but stood firm on league policy, because folding would set a dangerous precedent of "well you did this for this guy" and Balsillie's inability to follow the standard league procedure prevented him from purchasing the team.
-As stated before, the NHL's officiating has been of higher quality since the two-referee system has been implemented than it was before, and Bettman and co. have done work to improve the quality of new officials.

[Nic]

I can't say I agree at all about the reffing. It gets worse every single year. I don't doubt that it is a difficult job, but come on. How many games have to be decided by awful decisions and shaky rules? The games are not reffed the same from game to game, team to team. Its embarrassing how inconsistent it is. Do you remember the disallowed Brad May goal last year?

My biggest problem with the reffing is the NHL's absolute inability to admit any fault whatsoever. No matter what the mistake, error, blown call, etc. is, the league always comes out and punishes those who speak against it. There is a refusal to augment or adjust the system, and no, that is not because the reffing is perfect. There is an anti-honesty policy amongst teams and players where they aren't allowed to even whisper about bad calls. This is pretty telling that there is something wrong, if you have to literally punish players for being honest.

They have set up the rule book to make themselves completely infallable, every rule has an escape clause that calls the referee's "intention" into play, making every single rule subjective instead of black and white.

There are many other reasons why Bettman should not be praised by anyone (other than the owners), and others have already mentioned them here. Bettman and his trust care more about "potential fans", than the actual fans they already have.


But to say that the officiating is great is simply baffling to me.

Beat me to it and said it way better than I was going to. Thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU.
The COMPLETELY BLIND support of whatever the refs say is disgusting. And to the guy that said he's a ref and it's a hard job even in the minors, I have no doubt! I would honestly say that the minor leagues would make your job even harder! Yes mistakes can be made, and are made, but when you're in the minors do you have 47 angles, instant replay and a War Room to help you make the right decisions on your calls? There is no excuse for bulls*** calls being backed 100% blindly in a league like the NHL. Especially in the frequency we have been seeing.

And I have a terrible connection so I made this reply as I saw this post, before reading the rest of the thread. So, if I basically repeated someone else, I apologize.

[Nev]

Have you ever been to Sochi?" Bettman says with contempt. "Maybe you should go

Wanker.

[SouthernWingsFan]

The main people he has to report to are the 30 business owners. Not the fans. I don't like Mr. Bean all that much and I think he dodges questions left/right when I read about them on here and the like, but if the owners are happy with him, he's doing his job.

[DEVILSWATERBOY]

Bettman Blows

[Carman]

One thing I'd like to add about the referees is, the NHL isn't alone in the boat with inconsistent reffing. Let's not forget the Galarraga perfect game, and the Calvin Johnson catch for local Detroit fans. Reffing isn't an easy thing and there are going to be mistakes.

I would like to see improvement on the simplicity of the rules though.

Edited by Carman, 23 September 2010 - 08:49 AM.

[eva unit zero]

One thing I'd like to add about the referees is, the NHL isn't alone in the boat with inconsistent reffing. Let's not forget the Galarraga perfect game, and the Calvin Johnson catch for local Detroit fans. Reffing isn't an easy thing and there are going to be mistakes.

I would like to see improvement on the simplicity of the rules though.

The Johnson catch was probably ruled correctly; the problem is that the Bears' TD pass earlier in the game should have been called incomplete based on the same rule, and wasn't. Consistency is the biggest issue; what exactly qualifies as a hook/trip/cross-check/etc. according to the rules? It's laid out in the rule, but it's not always called the same.

[Electrophile]

yes, you are

....and this thread is done in one. Good job! Last one out, turn off the lights.

I'm pretty sure the Miller Lite "Commish" makes it on that list over Bettman.

Neither Pud Lite or Bettman are very self-aware, but at least Selig will admit his officials (umpires) f*ck up occasionally. Gary seems to think refs and linesmen are omnipotent beings and how dare we question them.

[egroen]

Bettman could have done much better.
Revenues are up, but I feel they could have been up much more... by focusing on strengths and not expanding into nothing markets.
No matter how you spin it - losing an entire season is an abysmal failure and has never happened in NHL history.
He has effectively alienated almost the entire NHL fanbase. Yes, it is not a popular job but come on - this guy is universally hated by almost every single fan out there.
He is an embarrassing public persona and combative with even the simplest questions posed to him.

Edited by egroen, 25 September 2010 - 12:29 AM.

[hooon]

One thing I'd like to add about the referees is, the NHL isn't alone in the boat with inconsistent reffing. Let's not forget the Galarraga perfect game, and the Calvin Johnson catch for local Detroit fans. Reffing isn't an easy thing and there are going to be mistakes.

I would like to see improvement on the simplicity of the rules though.

The reffing will never be perfect. That would be impossible. The problem that myself and others have is that the NHL does not seem to do anything about improving the officiating after obvious flaws and errors are exposed in the system. The NHL never admits fault at any point, no matter how apparent the flaw, and because they can never admit that there is problem, they will never take the steps to fix them. Textbook denial, or in this case, refusal.

IMO, so many simple and attainable adjustments can be made to improve the game, or to improve upon the rules that are already in place, but why does it take 3 years to make a headshot rule? Why is there a replay room when a good portion of plays are non-reviewable based on some loophole? Why does a ref's intention get the final priority over the decision of a review booth that so clearly shows how entirely the ref failed in the first place?

[esteef]

Bettman's a turd. Continue to boo him everywhere he goes.

esteef

[cusimano_brothers]

After seeing the highlights of last night's Philadelphia - Toronto game, I was reminded there is no "reviews" of goals in pre-season games.

[Hockeytown0001]

You probably are one of the only ones.

[wings1110]

imo the NHL should be run by a former NHL player or coach or at least someone that knows something about hockey.

[Grateful Gadsby]

Much of the criticism of Bettman is BS. He's a very smart guy who has done a pretty good job for his primary constituency (the owners). Fans -- especially north of the border -- will hate him no matter what he does. Too effing bad. Take it up with the owners.

Totally agree that his big mistake was the aggressive push into the US Sun Belt. A toe-in-the-water, slow/incremental approach (i.e., one team instead of six) would have made a lot more sense if he wanted to pursue such a strategy. On the other hand, he's also shrewdly thrown the NHLPA a bone with the expansion by creating more player jobs. Even if just 2 or 3 of the Sun Belt teams survive (with the rest folding and/or moving to Canada), his strategy still will probably have been a success overall.

[Hockeytown0001]

imo the NHL should be run by a former NHL player or coach or at least someone that knows something about hockey.

[cusimano_brothers]

Shrewd on the part of the League hiring Shanahan away from a possible position with the NHLPA. Or, maybe Shanahan didn't want to deal with them anymore.

During the "Kovalchuk Debacle", I saw Steve Simmons (on TSN) make a statement that is quite true: Bettman got his job thanks to the owners, but he is supposed to be impartial in his rulings. Rather than have a small group of owners mad at him (the possiblity of the re-opening of other contracts), he chose one team to make an example of. Simmons said that the way he Bettman handled that contract case shows that he has lost all impartiality and should be replaced.

[cusimano_brothers]

In this article, Bettman hits the trifecta; from TSN:

1) On the topic of the Coyotes and franchise movement:

"The process is ongoing," he said. "No new headlines."

What happended to the mutiple "possible owners"?

2) On the League opening in Europe:

"We're still at the stage where we take volunteers,"

3) He specifically singles out the NHLPA as being the cause of Wade Redden's inability to stick in the League.

He is a beauty.