Has Gary Bettman Cup presentation night run its course?

[TheNumber4]

The owners didn't want the players to go the Olympics because they don't gain anything from it. In fact they're risking a lot. The health of their most marketable and valuable products which quite honestly makes total sense from their point of view. And the owners are the ones who wanted a lockout. Thats what a lockout is, the owners telling their employees not to come to work. They wanted to control player salaries, and needed to force the NHLPA to accept the structure they wanted.

Plus selling the rights to Sportsnet made the league money. They don't give a **** about HNIC, and CBC has been driving that ship into the ground on their own for over a decade. Who cares? TSN losing national rights is more of a travesty than HNIC going to sportsnet.

Bettman doesn't make these decisions in a vacuum anyway. He hears what the owners want, gives his advice, then executes their orders.

If the commish was a better mediator and/or leader and/or negotiator, maybe he's able to reach an agreement with the Olympics. Maybe he sees more value in the marketing aspect of it. Maybe the lockout doesn't happen cause the commish gets right to the point where Gary got because he has a better sense of where the negotiations would go anywats. Point is we had 20 years of Bettman, you have no idea where we'd be if we had someone else.

 

[dkhockey]

Hell no!!!

Bettman is legend! He gives absolutely zero ****s if he gets booed and seems to feed off of it. It is the only reason I watch the presentation, as soon as he is done getting booed and making a snide comment I turn off the tv.

absolutely not.... he gets nervous and rattled..... you must be thinking of former NBA boss David Stern

 

[Howie Hodge]

I think it has. The booing is very old by now. Many fans aren't even doing it because they hate him, it's just a tradition you must do. Time to move on.

Exactly. It is boorish now. Next work stoppage will rekindle the booing though...

 

[powerstuck]

He's also had 3 lockouts, multiple team relocations, outright franchise failures, bad TV Ratings, selling out to Rogers and ruining a Canadian classic HNIC, the loss of NHL involvement in the Olympics, a stupid rule book that fans, announcers, coaches. and players are still confused by. Thank GOD, they kind of sort of defined what slashing was this season.

I'm the first to criticize Bettman...but let me ask you one question...Do you actually have any idea what Gary Bettman is paid to do ?

3 locksouts...sure it sucks, but he represents the owners, he managed to get the revenue split to 50/50, so a gain for owners of at least 7%.
Selling out to Rogers ? Yep, he got 12 billions in revenue for the league instead of getting only 3-4 billions over the same period. It may have killed a classic, but owners don't give a flying f*** about the HNIC, they care about their own pockets and that's what Gary did.

 

[MartyOwns]

can't wait to revisit this thread, and specifically the 'leave bettman alone!' posts, during the next inevitable lockout in a couple of years

 

[SEALBound]

I really wish the boo'ing would stop. It sickens me to no end when the crowd does it at such an important moment of the season.

 

[YEM]

the booing is awesome & deserved

 

[wgknestrick]

What do ya want him to skip?

The part where he needless comes out of his hole to ruin what should be a glorious, celebratory moment for a team and their fan base?


I understand why people boo the guy.....he's a rat that you can't possibly like on a personal level. I also understand why people hate the boos, as it ruins the moment and angers the crowd at the crescendo of the season. Get him the F out of the spotlight in this moment and we might forget that he runs the NHL, which would be good.

Does the Olympic commissioner award gold metals?
Did Bernie Ecclestone ever award first place trophies in F1?
Vince Lombardy trophy is handled by a broadcasting team (with a mention of the NFL commish).

The other idea that would be cool is to have the captains of every team line up in order of finish and pass the cup down the line to the winning captain. It involves every team and shows a bit of class and respect to the entire league of players. Maybe it also gives OV a chance to touch the cup too.

 

[HanSolo]

 

[HunterSThompson]

What happens when Vegas wins this season?

Shipachyov

 

[Gnashville]

Cup brought out suspended 25 ft over the ice, 20 ft ladder placed at center ice. Winning Captain must climb up to retrieve the cup, unless the lottery winning Captain appears and cashes in the money in the bank 1st overall pick. Then it becomes a TLC match for the cup.

 

[Butch 19]

Just pointing out that other commissioners get hated on as well, that's all. And this was about a decade or so ago, I think.

And the buck stops at Gary. He runs the league, appointed by the owners, and under his watch there have been more work stoppages than under any other pro sports commissioner that I know of. Sure the PA is partially to blame as well, but it's Bettman who let it get that far, every time.

"partially to blame?" how much blame do you put on the PA? seriously, how much?

90% minimum.

 

[Dr Pepper]

"partially to blame?" how much blame do you put on the PA? seriously, how much?

90% minimum.

Pardon me for not knowing the innerworkings and intricacies of every single work stoppage we've seen under Bettman.

My point is that there have been too many with him at the helm. He could have zero blame and it's still happening under his watch. That much is undeniable, and to Joe Hockeyfan, as the commish of the league he's also the figurehead and the person you look to for answers when things go south. Bettman's been a big help for generating league profits, very popular among the owners no doubt, but in terms of overall hockey enjoyment by the fans and Bettman's impact on the game he's about as popular as Trump.

 

[Cygnusx1018]

It would be awesome if they could schedule a hockey legend from any team (with a chance to win it) to hand it over. I guess that doesn't really work well if NSH/SJS/VGK win though.....just use Gretz/Lemieux/Orr for those instances. Bettman should NEVER be a public face of the NHL. Look at it.

Imagine Lemieux handing it Crosby, or Lecavalier? handing it to Stamkos, Orr to Bergeron, Mike Gartner/Bondra to OV(hey it may happen), etc.

I wouldn't be against it suspended via cable from the ceiling either and just have it magically drop down from heaven either. I'm not going to boooooo that awesome spectacle.

Ducks: Kariya or Selanne to Getzlaf
Coyotes: Doan to whoever
Bruins: Orr to Chara
Sabres: Perreault or Lafontaine to whoever
Flames: Iginla or Kiprusoff to Giordano
Hurricanes: Francis to Faulk/Staal
Blackhawks: Mikita or Hull to Toews
Avalanche: Hejduk (Sakic is GM) to Landeskog
Blue Jackets: Huselius? Lol to whoever their captain is
Stars: Modano or Nieuwendyk to Benn
Red Wings: Lindsay or Lidstrom to Zetterberg
Oilers: Gretzky to McDavid
Panthers: Jagr? to MacKenzie
Kings: Gretzky or Dionne to Kopitar
Wild: Fernandez? to Koivu
Canadiens: Lafleur? Dryden? Roy? to
Predators: Carrie Underwood? to Josi
Devils: Elias or Brodeur to Greene
Islanders: Bossy or Potvin to Tavares
Rangers: Leetch or Ratelle to whoever
Senators: Alfredsson to Karlsson
Flyers: Clarke or Parent to Giroux
Penguins: Lemieux to Crosby
Sharks:
Blues: Pronger? to Pietrangelo
Lightning: Lecavalier or St. Louis to Stamkos
Maple Leafs: Clark? Keon? Someone from when they won cups who is still alive? to whoever
Canucks: Naslund or the Sedin Twins to whoever
Golden Knights: Some celebrity to Engelland
Capitals: Gartner/Bondra/Jagr to Ovechkin
Jets: Selanne or Hawerchuk to Wheeler

For the teams without one, just have it be Jagr.

 

[McDLT]

Seeing Gary Bettman get booed with the Stanley Cup is the main way I know that summer has begun.

 

[Kranix]

The part where he needless comes out of his hole to ruin what should be a glorious, celebratory moment for a team and their fan base?


I understand why people boo the guy.....he's a rat that you can't possibly like on a personal level. I also understand why people hate the boos, as it ruins the moment and angers the crowd at the crescendo of the season. Get him the F out of the spotlight in this moment and we might forget that he runs the NHL, which would be good.

Does the Olympic commissioner award gold metals?
Did Bernie Ecclestone ever award first place trophies in F1?
Vince Lombardy trophy is handled by a broadcasting team (with a mention of the NFL commish).

The other idea that would be cool is to have the captains of every team line up in order of finish and pass the cup down the line to the winning captain. It involves every team and shows a bit of class and respect to the entire league of players. Maybe it also gives OV a chance to touch the cup too.

Why do you say this? He's the employee of the owners. They hired him to run the league for them. He does what they say. What has he done to warrant this abuse?

 

[TheNumber4]

I'm the first to criticize Bettman...but let me ask you one question...Do you actually have any idea what Gary Bettman is paid to do ?

3 locksouts...sure it sucks, but he represents the owners, he managed to get the revenue split to 50/50, so a gain for owners of at least 7%.
Selling out to Rogers ? Yep, he got 12 billions in revenue for the league instead of getting only 3-4 billions over the same period. It may have killed a classic, but owners don't give a flying **** about the HNIC, they care about their own pockets and that's what Gary did.

Yay for owners? Boo for fans?

Maybe a better commish could have avoided the lockouts and reached the exact same deal. Who know since 20+ years of Bettman.

 

[Cletus Marley]

I don't have an issue with Bettman doing it. I love to watch the presentation of The Cup. It's one of my favorite parts of NHL hockey. Seeing in person is def on my bucket list.

 

[Panthera]

No, given that the commissioner is essentially the guy who represents the league itself rather than any given team, he's the most sensible choice to be the guy presenting the Cup

 

[powerstuck]

Yay for owners? Boo for fans?

Maybe a better commish could have avoided the lockouts and reached the exact same deal. Who know since 20+ years of Bettman.

As a fan quit, there are hundreds of thousands waiting to take your tickets.

Btw, Bettman works for the Owners, not the players nor the fans.

 

[Rorschach]

We don't boo Bettman in LA so if you need a change of pace, let LA win.

 

[ES]

At least Bettman has the iron hide to take it. What are we going to do when some visiting team wins the Cup in Philly and they roll Bobby Orr out there to present the Cup? Do we really want to see that moment?

Rangers winning the Cup against Canucks (again). But this time the clincher in Vancouver. Messier to present the Cup.

 

[JamieG19]

The booing is so predictable and stupid.

I'll become an automatic fan for life of the fan base that bucks the trend and instead of booing, gives him a standing ovation! Do something different, be original people!

 

[Rich Nixon]

No, they should just drop the Cup from the scoreboard when the clock hits 00:00 in the deciding Finals game. Catch it if you can.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

This year, they should proceed as normal. But at the last second, the presenter pulls off his mask and it's Daly .. bettmans little bitch