lunchbox

Here's an article that brought this question up fresh in my mind (i've thought about it before but its just recurring now)

http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/natio...kin041201.html


I say no. His job was to make this game more marketable, more popular in the US culture. What he's done is taken all of the historical value of all the conferences and divisions and removed it. He's lost money for the league. He hasn't progressed the league at all, he's been at the helm for two different lockouts now and this one is looking far more hideous than the one a few years ago.

i'd like to hear what everyone else has to say.

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thrsn0730

If he can keep the owners united and they can land a CBA that works for the league, then I think the answer is "Yes." He'll have done the most important thing he could -- secure the future of the league -- particularly in the smaller markets.

lunchbox

couldn't you argue that his favoritism on the side of the owners is what lead to this whole lock-out anyway? he's been against the players association this whole time and surely hasn't been helping things along.

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A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

-Douglas Adams

thrsn0730

I completely agree with your premise ... except I don't see that as a bad thing. When you think about how much $$$ the NHL makes on its TV contract and then see how highly the players are paid, it's a miracle the league even exists (though how much longer is certianly open to debate).

There needs to be fundamental, wholesale change. Otherwise, I fear the league is toast.

FlatLand Flyer

Hell NO!!

He has taken what was a damn good league and thrown it into the crapper. First their is the instigator penalty that threw accountability out the window.

Then there was over expansion. Florida does not need any team, neither does Nashville, Atlanta, or Anaheim. There are too few Candian teams, but that may not be his fault.

He tried to make the game like the NBA. It seems like everybody gets into the playoffs. The old, traditional divisons and conferences are gone.

I hate this man.

Ace_O_Spades

If he can get a cap in place, then yes.

If he folds like a chair he's a fucking pussy son of a bitch... and the answer is no.

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Feh.

Hard8s

Tough question. On one hand they over expanded, too quickly too I might add. On the other hand he did see this lock out thing coming from the last CBA. They couldn't get what they needed then, but they played into it. They do need a better system, but they also need to do better advertising, which in turn will mean more NHL fan base. They have a great game and a great league but they do not promote it well at all. They say they are going to do one thing then only enforce it during the preseason, its like telling kids they can't smole and then turning your back on them when you find them smoking. Its one of the reasons people do not like to watch hockey. Their is too much clucthing and grabbing and the trap. Slows games way down. This all comes from overexpansion and diluting the player pool. But on the other hand they have brought hockey to places no one would have ever thought of it. Phoenix, Florida, Nashville, come on, but look how many ice rinks have gone up in those areas, look how many kids have started playing roller and ice hockey? I'd have to say that that is his biggest accomplishment. At this point I have to give him a yes, but if he kills hockey for an entire season, he would lose all that he worked for, and I would have to vote no

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ledsam

I agree with Ace_O_Spades. If he doesn't get the cap, his entire tenure with the NHL will have been a failure. If he does, his NHL resume will still look awful, but he will have saved hockey. Sad but true.

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canuckguy

expansion killed hockey imo. there are players playing on the second and third lines now that would have never even got an invite to a training camp 10 years ago. i blame expansion and the greedy owners who love to collect expansion fee's.

Daoust

I agree about too much expansion, even if it does mean a dozen little kids in Nashville are playing roller hockey in their driveways. Did anyone see Rick Mercer talking to the residents of Tampa Bay after they won the Cup? Hardly anyone even knew there was a professional hockey team in Tampa. If Toronto won the cup our whole Country would still be going crazy about it. It's a fact.
The problem is that Bettman is trying to Americanize a Canadian game. Hockey is Canadian. The majority of the interest in hockey comes from the Canadian teams, the Original Six teams and a few teams in teh Northern States. I agree there are exceptions. San Jose for example has had a great fanbase for a while. But it's clear to see that there are too many teams in too many weak markets. Brian1975's comment about diluted talent is exactly right. All I need to say is Jonas Hoglund. Or Nik Antropov ( a first round pick!) Both of those useless tits do not belong in the NHL imo.
It's apparent that hockey is not selling well in the US. And as we know if a product doesn't sell well in the US it dies. I don't know how Bettman plans to get Americans reinterested in hockey, but I hope he doesn't think that expansion is the only way. Retraction to me seems the best solution at this point. Hopefully not at the expense of a Calgary or Vancouver.
The quickest way to get some American interest and $ in hockey is for Detroit, New York and L.A. to stop sucking and start winning.

GO LEAFS GO! Leafs in 200_????

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OFKU0

This is from todays news. Personally I don't think Gary Bettman is qualified to spread cream cheese on a bagel but then again Bob Goodenow hasn't been a star either interms of doing his job. Both these idiots should be fired for complete incompetence.

Also I think these two have lost sight of the big picture as to their respective roles and have let their megalomaniacal egos take precedent in a two player game of who is gonna win. Pathetic beyond ruin.
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NHL boss one of the worst
http://g.msn.com/0US!s6.73430_734763/32.c9746/5??cm=TodayonMSN

Magazine ranks NHL boss among worst managers

CTV.ca News Staff

In a call few hockey fans would likely argue with, an American business magazine has named National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman one of the worst managers of 2004.

In BusinessWeek's list of the seven worst managers of last year, Bettman ranked fifth because of his league's ongoing player lockout, poor finances and weak U.S. television deal.

"NHL finances are in shambles," the magazine wrote, suggesting that under his leadership the league has been "skating on thin ice for years."

Also included in the BusinessWeek list, determined by its 130 writers and editors around the world, were Vioxx-producing Merck & Co. CEO Raymond Gilmartin, and ousted Disney chief Michael Eisner.

Unfortunately for Bettman, that dubious honour was not his only one.

According to The Sporting News, the hockey honcho ranks just below Janet Jackson's right breast when it comes to the 100 most powerful people in sports.

Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction," the magazine wrote, was so important because of the way it changed how sporting events are broadcast.

Bettman's performance was still good enough, at least, to rank him 40th on the list, slipping from his 13th-place ranking a year earlier.

Since the NHL locked out its players on Sept. 15, there has been little cause for hope the two sides will resolve their disagreements over salaries and revenue in time to salvage this hockey season.

With files from The Canadian Press

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" In Canada, you can tell the most blatant lie in a calm voice, and people will believe you over someone who's a little passionate about the truth." David Warren, Western Standard.