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Majsheppard

Bettman threatens Edmonton.

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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

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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).

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Guest 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.

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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.

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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...

:P

Edited by Barrie

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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How many Save the Coyotes campaigns has Bettman/Daly fought for? They've actively sought for ownership groups for that market for five years and it hasn't gotten them anywhere. Why wouldn't he want to hunker down for another Save the Oilers campaign? He's got to be used to it by now.

We heard so many times during the lockout that it was about cost certainty and some of the small market Canadian teams wanted to know how much the cost of business was going to be, blah blah blah. Have we seriously gotten to the point where a nearly-40-year-old building that housed five Stanley Cup winners, and located in the middle of oil country is all of a sudden an inadequate revenue generator?

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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.

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.

Carman,

I'm a little confused on "my made up idea"? I'm just stating that Bettman pumps life in these welfare clubs and smacks around the Canadian Clubs as well as the big clubs in the league! Bettman keeps stating how parity in the league has made for great races in the 2 Conferences. It seems his parity is actually taking life away from teams like Edmonton and the Islanders to help pump life into the welfare teams. Sure the Oilers have young talent, but are going to have to release their vets to keep the young talent or let the young talent walk and once again find themselves with lower attendence and crappy "parity" hockey and in a new arena! But hey, we can debate this all day long I suppose.

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