94 replies to this topic

[Majsheppard]

Man, would you shut up.

It makes me mad that he has to say something like this. Don't get me wrong, if they want a new arena they should get one. However why does the NHL think it has the right to demand local governments to pay for their new toys???

Also don't they have the "best" ice in the league? Why mess with that?

I just don't get why this jerk has to threaten a team with such history. I know if he said to Detroit, build the Wings a new stadium or they are going to leave I would go off the handle.

Oilers, if you need a new stadium to see your young guns grow up, then build it yourself. Besides where are you going to send the team that will get more attendance? Hamilton? Winnipeg? Maybe Atlanta after they move?

Any one think there is any reason he should be interjecting himself?



EDIT: First article did not cover the full story according to TSN. So... TSN.CA

Edited by Majsheppard, 22 February 2011 - 10:59 AM.

[VM1138]

I don't know about this situation, but I always wondered why it was fair to force cities to pay for private businesses. The owners seem to hold all the cards. Yeah, the team will help the city, but it's going to help you out more, so you should foot the bill(the owner).

[Howard He Do It?!]

No surprise really. Bettman has his job because of the owners. He's not exactly going to tell the owner of a team to go screw and pay for the arena yourself.

[GMRwings1983]

Bettman just loves those new arenas doesn't he.

[MulesWillFly93]

He doesn't sound threatening to me. Maybe I'm not reading between the lines enough, but it sounds to me like somebody asked him what he thought of the situation, so he gave them an honest answer, which is that he agrees Edmonton needs a new arena. I agree that it's none of his business what the taxpayers and government of Edmonton decide to do with their money, and the fact that he IS putting his nose in Quebec City's business bugs me, but it doesn't sound like it's gotten to that point yet here. It sounds like it's the Oilers who are forcing the city to do something by saying they won't play at Rexall Place after the lease is up in 2014.

Somehow I really doubt the Oilers would leave Edmonton. Don't they have some of the best attendance numbers in the league, percentage-wise? I mean, I would imagine that's why Bettman wants them to build a new stadium, right? If the Oilers can suck that bad and still fill 17,000 seats, those are some enthusiastic people you've got there, so why not see what you can do with 20,000 seats? I mean, I know QC has some enthusiastic fans, too, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It makes a lot more sense to me (at least in my pea brain) to take a team like Phoenix, who has awful attendance, and relocate it, rather than doing the Canadian Team Shuffle.

[Majsheppard]

Bettman just loves those new arenas doesn't he.

I guess he subscribes to "if you build it, they will come..."

[RedWingsRox]

Buttman is an arse. First Canadian city that looks like they need a stadium, he threatens some sort of move. Meanwhile Buttman never suggests huting teams in US cities like Atlanta, & Phoenix to move. Shut the **** up!!

[GMRwings1983]

Edmonton's management should send Bettman a bulletproof vest with a dead fish in it.

[cusimano_brothers]

Few things are better than a new-arena smell.
Does Katz still have the option on Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum?

[Shoreline]

Team owner Daryl Katz is on board for a $1 million complex

One million dollars?

[AtomicPunk]

The Wings have an old building too....is he going to stand up for them when they need him to? I doubt it.

[Konnan511]

More blind Bettman hate fuel. Read the article before saying something completely moronic.

[VM1138]

Just once I'd like to see a city call the bluff of a team that threatens to leave.

[SweWings]

Just once I'd like to see a city call the bluff of a team that threatens to leave.

Long Island?

[Barrie]

What? Bettman spoke? Yawn.

I hope Donald Fehr and the players take him down at the next collective bargaining negotiations. It's time to make a change, he's been around to long.

Next press conference Bettman holds, I'd like The Rock to be there...

Edited by Barrie, 20 February 2011 - 07:13 PM.

[Drake_Marcus]

I don't know about this situation, but I always wondered why it was fair to force cities to pay for private businesses. The owners seem to hold all the cards. Yeah, the team will help the city, but it's going to help you out more, so you should foot the bill(the owner).

^This.

[Donaldjr2448]

Buttman is an arse. First Canadian city that looks like they need a stadium, he threatens some sort of move. Meanwhile Buttman never suggests huting teams in US cities like Atlanta, & Phoenix to move. Shut the **** up!!

That is EXACTLY what I shouted at the TV during his interview yesterday! He babies these welfare teams like Atlanta, Nashville, Florida, and Phoenix, but since Edmonton won't build an arena they are being harrassed by him! Lets face it, the Southern Welfare teams all have newer arena and they do not exactly pack thier areans unless the Wings are in town. If there is any team that needs a new arena it's the Islanders! Nassau is a DUMP! Infact the entire area around Nassau is a dump!

[Carman]

So Bettman tries to help the franchise in negotiations with the city, and it's a conspiracy of an ultimatum?

Bettman hate is alive and well I see.

If there is any team that needs a new arena it's the Islanders! Nassau is a DUMP! Infact the entire area around Nassau is a dump!

And he's said very similar things about that situation, but you don't have to read them because it wouldn't support your made-up idea of what Bettman wants to accomplish.

[HockeyTownHouligan]

what the hell crawled up buttman's ass about their arena, he fall in the bathroom or somethin? I mean they probably need a new arena at some point but you don't have to be all pushy about it.

[eva unit zero]

Madison Square Garden v4 opened in 1968.

Nassau Coliseum opened in 1972.

Northlands opened in 1974.

Joe Louis opened in 1979.

The Saddledome opened in 1983.

No other active arena opened before 1993.

Bettman saying Edmonton needs a new arena is correct; they do. It's not a threat; it's a fact.

He said he hoped it wasn't necessary to rally to "Save the Oilers" for a second time.

Speaking of which...why do Oilers fans get to make fun of the Coyotes? Seems to me like a pretty darn similar situation; except for the potentially illegal conduct involved with Moyes' bankruptcy during the Phoenix saga.