The Gary Bettman Appreciation Thread

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Randy May

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Here Here. Gary Bettman does not nor will not get enough credit for what he has done for the league. I do not like the # of expansion clubs that continued after he was hired nor do I like the change of division and conference names but none of that was entirely his doing...he works for the owners...and he did a kick ass job on this CBA.
 

ktaylor57

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Jul 14, 2005
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I'd have to agree. I'm not an Edmonton or Calgary fan, but it would be a shame that these teams would have to move because they're in a small market. Same with any other small market team out there.

This cap WILL be better for the game than the old free market system..
 
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JayPSU

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It's a shame your beloved boy has destroyed the sport itself. Who gives a crap about Edmonton if the sport has gotten so bad in the last 10 years?
 

Realm

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He has done alot of positives things for the game, some negatives. He has gotten the revenue for the league up. The big owners took advantage of the system in a good and bad way. He has brought competive balance now, and I thank him for that. Now he just has to find a better way of promoting the game.
 

ktaylor57

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Sharks territory!
JayPSU said:
It's a shame your beloved boy has destroyed the sport itself. Who gives a crap about Edmonton if the sport has gotten so bad in the last 10 years?

I knew it wouldn't take long.

Sport has gotten so bad? How? The clutching and grabbing and neutral zone trap and whatever, is that what you're referring to? If so, you're going to blame Bettman for Jacques Lemaire inventing a defensive system that works (although boring) and 20 other coaches getting the mindset "It's better to allow one goal then score four?" What's next, you're going to blame Bettman for some coach benching a player?
 

SuperUnknown

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JayPSU said:
It's a shame your beloved boy has destroyed the sport itself. Who gives a crap about Edmonton if the sport has gotten so bad in the last 10 years?

I think "the sport has gotten so bad" isn't that accurate. 10 years ago, obstruction and hooking was even worse than today. I still remember the Florida squad headed by Brian Skrudland (who made a career out of hooking). It was completely terrible and disgusting to watch imo.
 

Crazy_Ike

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FLYLine4LIFE said:
You havn't shaved in 315 or so days? :eek:

I wonder if that is far enough to get you to "desert island castaway" look...

I've never managed to go more than two weeks before the shagginess becomes too much to handle. :)

Agree with OP, good job Gary at bringing economic sanity back to the league. Though a few ignorant "magic wand" theorists will poo poo the thread, the truth will always be Bettman saved hockey in Edmonton and Calgary. Pity he couldn't have salvaged Winnipeg too, but oh well. They were starting even further behind.
 

Hockey_Nut99

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JayPSU said:
It's a shame your beloved boy has destroyed the sport itself. Who gives a crap about Edmonton if the sport has gotten so bad in the last 10 years?

Says the Big Market fan.....
 

Hockey_Nut99

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Does the NHL have a marketing committee or something like that? Isn't it their job to promote the game and do all that stuff? Why does Gary get the blame for not marketing the game properly? I thought companies hire people to do that.
 

First Line

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Aug 21, 2002
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Edmonton repeated what Quebec said 10 years ago, too bad no one believed Aubut back then( or cared). But if hockey is still played in Edmonton then that lockout thingie was worth it.
 

Crazy_Ike

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Hockey_Nut99 said:
Does the NHL have a marketing committee or something like that? Isn't it their job to promote the game and do all that stuff? Why does Gary get the blame for not marketing the game properly? I thought companies hire people to do that.

He gets the blame because a lot of shortsighted people who know nothing of what they're talking about just repeat what they see on message boards or on TV from talking heads. The main concern is that there is no big TV deal.

The fact is revenues have tripled. That means Bettman marketed the game as well as he reasonably could have.

The TV contract never materialized because nationally too few Americans care about hockey and, because nationally it has no grassroots support (kids don't grow up watching or playing it), a high enough level of them can never be made or even encouraged to care about it to anywhere near the same level as basketball, football, or baseball. People will just have to accept that of the nearly 300 million people in the US, far too few give a rat's arse about hockey no matter how entertaining WE think it is. It was a good try, though, increasing national presense; probably the only way that even had a snowball's chance in hell of working.

With luck the new amount of influence the players have along with a greater sense of urgency in the management segment, the dinosaurs will no longer be able to prevent the changes that are necessary to making hockey interesting again. This will revitalize the regional side of things which is most important right now.
 

Hockey_Nut99

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Crazy_Ike said:
He gets the blame because a lot of shortsighted people who know nothing of what they're talking about just repeat what they see on message boards or on TV from talking heads. The main concern is that there is no big TV deal.

The fact is revenues have tripled. That means Bettman marketed the game as well as he reasonably could have.

The TV contract never materialized because nationally too few Americans care about hockey and, because nationally it has no grassroots support (kids don't grow up watching or playing it), a high enough level of them can never be made or even encouraged to care about it to anywhere near the same level as basketball, football, or baseball. People will just have to accept that of the nearly 300 million people in the US, far too few give a rat's arse about hockey no matter how entertaining WE think it is. It was a good try, though, increasing national presense; probably the only way that even had a snowball's chance in hell of working.

With luck the new amount of influence the players have along with a greater sense of urgency in the management segment, the dinosaurs will no longer be able to prevent the changes that are necessary to making hockey interesting again. This will revitalize the regional side of things which is most important right now.

Really Good Post... :clap:
 

syc

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Yeah way to go maybe in the next 6 years he can make this sport more popular then bowling on American T.V.

The cap is good but give me a break!!!!! The guy has done nothing for hockey in 10 years but now that big teams can't buy small market team players hes the savior to the NHL?

Great job Bettman the NHL has never been stronger.
 

OilerFan4Life

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Feb 27, 2004
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syc said:
Yeah way to go maybe in the next 6 years he can make this sport more popular then bowling on American T.V.

The cap is good but give me a break!!!!! The guy has done nothing for hockey in 10 years but now that big teams can't buy small market team players hes the savior to the NHL?

Great job Bettman the NHL has never been stronger.

Try to view this whole process from a "smaller" market perspective. If Bettman/owners had caved and not gotten the cap/linkage then Edmonton, Calgary, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, as well as many other franchises would be done...you man not give two $hits about these teams but many many fans do, so stop spewing your hate for Gary Bettman already.
 

nyr7andcounting

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OilerFan4Life said:
Try to view this whole process from a "smaller" market perspective. If Bettman/owners had caved and not gotten the cap/linkage then Edmonton, Calgary, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, as well as many other franchises would be done...you man not give two $hits about these teams but many many fans do, so stop spewing your hate for Gary Bettman already.
Why would they be done? Ever heard of revenue sharing?

The Green Bay Packers weren't done without an NFL cap, because the big markets share their revenues.

Bettman saved one thing and one thing only...a lot of money for the owners. He works for them and this was about money, and he did his job really well. Aside from that he hasn't done much for this league or the sport...especially the sport though. It has been as boring as ever for the last couple of years and they haven't fixed it. The best thing Bettman did for the sport was get a national TV contract, which the league no longer has anyway.

However, if they fix the rules and make the game more exciting and this new CBA can make it more affordable for teams to be in hockey-rich markets like Winnipeg rather than Nashvile, than it was worth it at least
 

c-carp

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OilerFan4Life said:
Thanks Gary, for saving NHL hockey in Edmonton.

I tried not to get sucked into commenting here but who cares. Gary didnt save ****. The Owners just decided to clean this mess up on his watch. He got lucky with the timing that he was commmisioner. Nothing more nothing less.

I am glad that they got a CBA that will help Edmonton and all smaller markets though.

Cheers
 

c-carp

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Randy May said:
Here Here. Gary Bettman does not nor will not get enough credit for what he has done for the league. I do not like the # of expansion clubs that continued after he was hired nor do I like the change of division and conference names but none of that was entirely his doing...he works for the owners...and he did a kick ass job on this CBA.
Anyone with a law background could have done this. The Owners finally got unified and didnt crack.
 
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