Bettman on CBC near start of 2013-14 NHL season

[BayStreetBullies*]

1. Garber

2. Selig





3. Bettman



4. Goodell





5. Stern

Don't understand the hate for Garber, as MLS becomes increasingly popular every year. Selig hasn't done anything THAT stupid recently other than allow Jeff Loria to destroy the Expos/continue to own a team. Bettman seems determined to keep a team away from QC, which is a strike on him. Goodell has successfully ********* the NFL and has made it a shell of its former self, and Stern has turned the NBA into a corrupt mafia/gambling operation. Not to mention stealing the Sonics and refusing to let a team go back there.

I think Howard Schulz deserves some blame for selling the franchise to Clay Bennett and believing that he would keep the franchise in Seattle.

 

[rojac]

Not to mention he made it a priority to expand into the Southern US markets before expanding into more viable Canadian markets.

Gretzky has done just as much for the game as Bettman has. All arguments in favour of the latter has to do with either the owners or TV contracts. Well if that's all a commissioner's merit is based on, no wonder we've had 3 lockouts since Bettman took over.

Did Bettman set that priority or did the Board of Governors?

It should be no surprise that there have been more labor issues under Bettman than the NHL presidents who preceded him. You have to remember that until not long before Bettman was hired, the NHLPA was in the hands of Alan Eagleson who was in bed with the NHL. So, while labor strife hit the other major leagues in the late 70s, it didn't really hit the NHL until the early 90s.

 

[BayStreetBullies*]

Did Bettman set that priority or did the Board of Governors?

I don't see what the point of having a commissioner is if everything somehow goes back to the Board of Governors. That would just make 'Commissioner of the NHL' sounds more like a job title than an actual job, similar to "President of Hockey Operations". Also, the board of governors includes the owners from Canadian franchises. I don't see what vested interest they would have in bringing hockey to the Southern US. Same goes for owners of US NHL franchises which aren't affected by the South in anyway.

 

[Wingsfan2965*]

Don't understand the hate for Garber, as MLS becomes increasingly popular every year. Selig hasn't done anything THAT stupid recently other than allow Jeff Loria to destroy the Expos/continue to own a team. Bettman seems determined to keep a team away from QC, which is a strike on him. Goodell has successfully ********* the NFL and has made it a shell of its former self, and Stern has turned the NBA into a corrupt mafia/gambling operation. Not to mention stealing the Sonics and refusing to let a team go back there.

And there's the reason Selig sucks. He's done nothing... Except keep baseball stuck in the dark ages and more or less stunted it's growth, giving it by far the oldest audience among the four major sports.

People can hate on Bettman all they want, and frankly I wouldn't blame them, but it gets tiring seeing him vilified for every decision he makes. The salary cap which ended up producing the most competitive we've seen the league be. The horrible idea of turning down ESPN to sign with some bum network like OLN, which ended up being the best decision the NHL has made in at least a decade.