Gary Bettman "We think the format we have works extremely well ... unless you're a Leafs fan."

[GBLeaf]

Sorry, but someone in his position can't be seen to publicly make that comment.

Doesn't look good on him imo. Hugely unprofessional.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Sorry, but someone in his position can't be seen to publicly make that comment.

Doesn't look good on him imo. Hugely unprofessional.

It's funny and true though

 

[GBLeaf]

It's funny and true though

100% it's true.

Just think it's not something that should come from his mouth. Doesn't look good or professional.

 

[mallory67]

I agree with him.
We are not going to whine and complain our way to cup.
The road to a cup runs through Boston or Tampa or Buffalo.

 

[AreBe]

It doesn't even matter if the Leafs make the playoffs or not, the format is flawed, there's no way that two top teams should face each other in the first round, case closed.

Not flawed.
Make sure Canadian teams take each other out.

The American Association of United States Ice Hockey Teams and their commissioner, Gray Bettman, are seeking a US TV network deal. Clearly, the AAUSIHT needs to show the American networks that no Canadian team is likely to make the finals and that two Canadian teams making it are pretty much impossible. The AAUSIHT must show the American TV networks that they need not fear a toxic Winnipeg vs Ottawa Stanley Cup final

 

[Blanche Blanche]

You can double the ticket prices and cut the Leafs wins in half and the place will still be filled. Why? Corporations. They need to wine and dine big fish and they couldn't care less about the costs, it's not their money. Most of them never played sports, some of them don't know the rules. Corporations also overpay for TV rights. Overpay for ads.

So, the reality is, the old "we should boycott the Leafs" won't work. It's the most corporate team in the NHL. As a kid we could catch a Marlies game, watch a Leafs (or opponents practice) and buy a ticket from a scalper, sit in the greys and listen to guys scream "Argoooos" as the Leafs got hammered again. That was the old Gardens. Those days are long gone.

That's the nature of business. It's not right or wrong, it just is what it is. It's sad because the most hardcore Leaf fans aren't represented in the stands, while other teams (especially in the unusual markets where it's an anomaly to be a big NHL fan over say, NFL or NBA) have their most staunch fans in the stands, and they pay a reasonable ticket price.

So as Steve Stavros said famously about getting Gretzky (when he wanted to come here before heading to St. Louis) "and how many seats is he going to fill?" He didn't want to overpay for him even at a discount. The NHL thinks, "we're not going to bend over for this spoiled, wealthy team".

If we were a franchise on the brink of collapse, maybe. I'm not saying they don't listen, but they feel we are about sour grapes and have a perspective of self righteousness just because of the economic clout. MLSE should use it and keep applying pressure, but the league doesn't seem to really care.

You get whats goin on, and are not in denial like some. Good Job.

Here is an excerpt from an ESPN Article about Bettman and his history and it does seem that most of our suspicions are true :

GOOD: Supporting the NHL's southern strategy

One of the great misconceptions of Bettman's tenure is that he was the catalyst for the NHL's "Sun Belt Strategy," when in fact expansion to California, Florida and the Stars' move to Dallas all predated him. What Bettman did for these teams, and others like the Nashville Predators, was stand by them through whatever challenges they had in attendance and ownership to help foster their success, citing the necessity for the NHL to have a wide "footprint" in the U.S. for television purposes.
As a result, the NHL has made billion-dollar TV deals, teams like Tampa and Nashville are blockbuster successes, and generations of new American hockey players are emerging from these markets, inspired by watching the local NHL teams -- Auston Matthews, Seth Jones and Shayne Gostisbehere among them.

GOOD: Bailing out Canadian franchises
Bettman is often portrayed as an adversary of Canadian markets, which might have been unavoidable as established teams migrated south and expansion teams were handed to warm-weather cities. But Bettman has never hesitated to step up for Canadian teams, as was evident when the nonpartisan NHL waded into Calgary's 2017 mayoral election in an effort to secure the Flames a new arena.
But the greatest example of this was in the late 1990s, when several Canadian teams -- the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators chief among them -- were in dire financial straits and Bettman's NHL created revenue sharing to stabilize them. "There was a point in the early 1990s when some said there was only going to be one team left in Canada," Bettman told MacLean's in 2009. "We never believed that, and everything we did with the Canadian Assistance Program, and with the new collective bargaining agreement, was to ensure that small-market teams -- particularly small-market Canadian teams -- not only could survive but could be fully competitive."
Oh, and not for nothing, but Winnipeg got its team back after the NHL's experiment in Atlanta failed. Quebec City, on the other hand ...


I'm reading between the lines, and taking the two stories which are separate chronologically in the history of the NHL and taking them into today's NHL. In summary one can conclude that if any of the struggling markets in the NHL need some help ( Expansion and Southern USA markets ), they are willing to bankroll you - by a business model of helping you gain a crowd, fanbase, and an influx of revenue, all for the purpose of a more intricate and marketable product to the USA Television consortium.

Sounds like if youre from a small hockey market USA, and youre playing Leafs, Montreal, which do not contribute to the US TV network deals. Having the refs tilt the ice isn't a evil conspiracy. Its actually in the business model of Bettman NHL.

 

[hoglund]

Not flawed.
Make sure Canadian teams take each other out.

The American Association of United States Ice Hockey Teams and their commissioner, Gray Bettman, are seeking a US TV network deal. Clearly, the AAUSIHT needs to show the American networks that no Canadian team is likely to make the finals and that two Canadian teams making it are pretty much impossible. The AAUSIHT must show the American TV networks that they need not fear a toxic Winnipeg vs Ottawa Stanley Cup final

That's what people said in 1993 when Kerry Fraser screwed the Leafs from playing Montreal in the finals. I don't think that the flawed playoffs format is intended to screw Canadian teams, it's just flawed.

 

[Cor]

It was a joke, so whatever.


I doubt you would see Adam Silver take a jab at Laker fans, or Rob Manfred take a jab at Yankee fans, or Roger Goodell take a jab at Patriot fans.

Seems like a needless thing to do.

 

[Steven1562]

I hate this guy!

 

[egd27]

Some pretty thin skins amongst the Leaf faithful.

 

[Alex1234]

Boston-Toronto should have been the Eastern Conference Final last year...why boot the best teams in the first round?

But tell us more, Gary!

Probably not the best team if you go down in the first round no?
Or did you mean Tampa-Boston?

 

[IPS]

You can double the ticket prices and cut the Leafs wins in half and the place will still be filled. Why? Corporations. They need to wine and dine big fish and they couldn't care less about the costs, it's not their money. Most of them never played sports, some of them don't know the rules. Corporations also overpay for TV rights. Overpay for ads.

So, the reality is, the old "we should boycott the Leafs" won't work. It's the most corporate team in the NHL. As a kid we could catch a Marlies game, watch a Leafs (or opponents practice) and buy a ticket from a scalper, sit in the greys and listen to guys scream "Argoooos" as the Leafs got hammered again. That was the old Gardens. Those days are long gone.

That's the nature of business. It's not right or wrong, it just is what it is. It's sad because the most hardcore Leaf fans aren't represented in the stands, while other teams (especially in the unusual markets where it's an anomaly to be a big NHL fan over say, NFL or NBA) have their most staunch fans in the stands, and they pay a reasonable ticket price.

So as Steve Stavros said famously about getting Gretzky (when he wanted to come here before heading to St. Louis) "and how many seats is he going to fill?" He didn't want to overpay for him even at a discount. The NHL thinks, "we're not going to bend over for this spoiled, wealthy team".

If we were a franchise on the brink of collapse, maybe. I'm not saying they don't listen, but they feel we are about sour grapes and have a perspective of self righteousness just because of the economic clout. MLSE should use it and keep applying pressure, but the league doesn't seem to really care.

Leafs really are the perfect cannon fodder.

 

[leafsfan5]

Some of ya'll need to learn how to take a joke lol

 

[rojac]

Bulletin board material.

Bulletin board material is usually something negative about the team that motivates them. This is a quip about Leaf fans. I can't see the players being motivated by it. I think they're well aware what their fanbase can be like.

 

[rojac]

I vote the Leafs set ticket prices to line up with other sections profits and expenses so we end up a $0 team.

We can afford it, right??

Maybe Gary will notice 200M dollars missing... Ya, that’s our profits every year... And good ol Gary has the nerve to say a ****ing word!

So, MLSE should do something stupid just because the commissioner made a little joke about Leafs fans complaining about the playoff format. Wow. Unbelievable!!!

 

[rojac]

It's interesting how some, I assume, Leaf fans equate a crack at them as being a crack at the Leafs. Are you honestly that arrogant? Do you really consider yourselves the same as the actual team? I suspect that Leafs ownership and management at least chuckled at the comment as I'm sure they, unlike some of the fanbase, realize how silly some of their fans can be at times.

Some people on the Leafs board wonder why I dislike the Leafs fanbase at times. Some of the replies by Leaf fans in this thread are a good example of why.

 

[IPS]

It's interesting how some, I assume, Leaf fans equate a crack at them as being a crack at the Leafs. Are you honestly that arrogant? Do you really consider yourselves the same as the actual team? I suspect that Leafs ownership and management at least chuckled at the comment as I'm sure they, unlike some of the fanbase, realize how silly some of their fans can be at times.

Some people on the Leafs board wonder why I dislike the Leafs fanbase at times. Some of the replies by Leaf fans in this thread are a good example of why.

Huh? It is.

When you take a crack at the Leafs fans, you are taking a crack at the people who cheer and invest their money in the team they cheer for. You can't see the obvious connection here? Said Leafs ownership and management have their salaries paid by the fans. All the players have their salaries paid by the fans. This team's - every other team's - lifeblood is the fans.

Blows my mind how uneducated some of the takes are on this board.

 

[rojac]

The abuse this guy takes is for a reason. You know Canadian teams have been shook for 25 years. The south flow has gotta stop. Canadians will have to sell kidneys to see games that are less and less physical and entertaining every year. Gary is coming to town to sell that snake oil though, he'll be knocking looking for hockey obsessed Canadian folk to pay for his next Bettmansion.

Absolute nonsense! If Canadians don't like the NHL, then they should just stop watching. Nobody is forcing them to watch or buy tickets. If a Canadian sells their kidney to buy an NHL ticket, that Canadian is an idiot. Now, maybe you think most Canadian hockey fans are idiots but I don't.

You clearly don't like the current NHL. Why are you still watching and discussing it? Why not move on and spend your time more constructively on something else?

 

[Peiskos]

Just go back to the 1-8 system, there was zero problem with it. NHL just wanted to change for the sake of change, ridiculous.

 

[rojac]

Huh? It is.

When you take a crack at the Leafs fans, you are taking a crack at the people who cheer and invest their money in the team they cheer for. You can't see the obvious connection here? Said Leafs ownership and management have their salaries paid by the fans. All the players have their salaries paid by the fans. This team's - every other team's - lifeblood is the fans.

Blows my mind how uneducated some of the takes are on this board.

They buy a consumer product. They don't invest in the team. Do you consider someone to be investing in Walmart when they shop there? Are you investing in Mirvish and company's business when you buy a ticket to a theatrical production?

And the "I pay your salary" is always pathetic -- whether it be from a sports fan or someone stopped by a cop.

 

[IPS]

Absolute nonsense! If Canadians don't like the NHL, then they should just stop watching. Nobody is forcing them to watch or buy tickets. If a Canadian sells their kidney to buy an NHL ticket, that Canadian is an idiot. Now, maybe you think most Canadian hockey fans are idiots but I don't.

You clearly don't like the current NHL. Why are you still watching and discussing it? Why not move on and spend your time more constructively on something else?

They buy a consumer product. They don't invest in the team. Do you consider someone to be investing in Walmart when they shop there? Are you investing in Mirvish and company's business when you buy a ticket to a theatrical production?

And the "I pay your salary" is always pathetic -- whether it be from a sports fan or someone stopped by a cop.

Safe to say at this point that you just don't understand the dynamic whatsoever. No point in continuing the discussion. Good day.

 

[rojac]

It doesn't even matter if the Leafs make the playoffs or not, the format is flawed, there's no way that two top teams should face each other in the first round, case closed.

So, Team A is clearly the league's top team and has a great season. Team B is almost as good but loses several key players to injury and barely squeaks into the playoffs because those key players all return fully healthy just before the playoffs. The two teams are set to meet in the first round. How should the playoffs have been set up so this wouldn't happen?

 

[Morbo]

For the "Leaf fans have thin skins" crowd...do you seriously think it's appropriate and professional for a pro sports league commissioner to take shots at one of the league's teams? If so, why?

 

[rojac]

For the "Leaf fans have thin skins" crowd...do you seriously think it's appropriate and professional for a pro sports league commissioner to take shots at one of the league's teams? If so, why?

He didn't take a shot at a team. He took a well-deserved shot at a team's fans. Fans do not equal team.

 

[Morbo]

He didn't take a shot at a team. He took a well-deserved shot at a team's fans. Fans do not equal team.

this is so sad.

Leaf fans are so beaten down and lifeless they think this kind of crap is normal and acceptable.