Is it time for Gary Bettman to leave?

[AdmiralPred]

Point being in hindsight it did not matter that NHL hired a "marketing man" like Bettman because hockey is still a fringe sport in the US. It made no difference. So next time I would rather see a Gretzky or Lemieux go for the job over an NBA employee.

Where does "marketing man" come from? He's a lawyer, was in the commissioner's office in the NBA when David Stern negotiated the NBA cap and a got a CBA that created a more economically competative system, and was brought into the NHL to do the same. I don't believe that Bettman's decisions on competition or marketing were/are his alone, if he had the authority to make such decisions for the League. To my knowledge there are committees appointed by the owners to oversee these areas of League business.

How well is Gretzky going to act as commissioner? What credentials does he have for such a position? Being a "hockey guy'? Judging by the personnel and the on and off ice results in Phoenix, I'd say he doesn't seem to have that "management" quality.

 

[realgoodleafs]

I give up. What is so unspeakable about Bettman?

I don't consider him much of a hockey fan when he couldn't even recognize Brendan Shanahan.

haha so recognizing Brendan Shanahan>>>>>>>>>>Law Degree

I hate this idea that somehow a person who played hockey would be the only person who could be successful in a hockey position. In fact its probably one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. What the **** does knowing who Brendan Shanahan have to do with implementing a salary cap? What does growing up playing hockey have to do with any administrative work whatsoever?

Hockey skills have nothing to do with business skills.

 

[JoeP]

I think the opposite, as a long term fan, the salary cap without a luxury tax really penalizes the big market teams which the NHL needs for not only revenue sharing but the growth of over-all revenue. I think the current CBA will be a disaster long-term for the NHL, having said all that it is the short term cure needed (cost certainity) and only needs tweaking. Heck the last two Stanley Cup champions have come from the south-east and that area is still not a hockey hot-bed.
The NHL NEEDS strong teams in the strong markets or it will implode.

So the NHL is in bad shape now because there is a level playing field.

sorry, I don't buy it. Obviously some attention that bigger markets would get winning the cup would be better, but how much so? It's not worth have a rigged sports that works against smaller market teams.

You're either a league where every team can compete or you're not.

Baseball is not legitimate and finally hockey is.

Team success should be determined by management decisions and player performance, not by outspending others and ****** smaller markets of talent.

Some teams will excel and many won't, but all have the opportunity to make smart decisions and get the most out of the players that they have (and make smart trades etc)

 

[Timmy]

Hockey skills have nothing to do with business skills.

You've clearly never had to deal with the sudden death of a majority shareholder, employees wanting less overtime, or a business that has gone through three rough periods in a row.

 

[realgoodleafs]

You've clearly never had to deal with the sudden death of a majority shareholder, employees wanting less overtime, or a business that has gone through three rough periods in a row.

not yet at least

 

[Northern Dancer]

No. Bettman got the Salary Cap. He tried to get in in '95, but was undercut by the big market owners who basically went behind his back, and got a deal over his objections. That's why he demanded the super majority rule in labor negotiations (75% vote of owners needed to approve a deal that he opposed, 50%+1 for a deal he OK-ed) when they renewed his contract, looking ahead to the next CBA. That was what kept the owners together and in line - it took only GB and 8 owners to block a deal - and get the Cap he couldn't get in '95.

Bingo,you nailed it. Bettman did not have the tools in 95, he was armed and dangerous in 2003.
The interesting thing is will the big market teams allow the same protocol to be used the next time negiotiations come up. I think not.
Big market teams were betting on a luxury tax last time and got totally blind-sided.
Instead they now share revenue and get NOTHING in return.
The ironic thing is, small market teams need the big markets to generate revenue and the current CBA is NOT condusive to big markets generating maximum revenue.

 

[Northern Dancer]

So the NHL is in bad shape now because there is a level playing field.

sorry, I don't buy it. Obviously some attention that bigger markets would get winning the cup would be better, but how much so? It's not worth have a rigged sports that works against smaller market teams.

You're either a league where every team can compete or you're not.

Baseball is not legitimate and finally hockey is.

Team success should be determined by management decisions and player performance, not by outspending others and ****** smaller markets of talent.

Some teams will excel and many won't, but all have the opportunity to make smart decisions and get the most out of the players that they have (and make smart trades etc)

It is NOT a level playing field. Big market teams are subsidizing smaller markets and getting nothing. In baseball, the Yankees pay a huge revenue tax by going so far over the cap which benefits teams like the Blue Jays. If you want a level playing, make it fair.

 

[Wetcoaster]

When the NHL lured Gary Bettman away from the NBA and appointed him to serve as the league's commissioner, many of his colleagues worried about Bettman's profound lack of hockey experience.

"I gave Gary a hockey puck once," Orlando Magic GM Pat Williams joked at the time, "and he spent the rest of the day trying to open it."

 

[Alchemy]

LOL Bettman is destroying the NHL.... The rules didnt need to be changed..He thinks the NHL is all about the goals... its more than that..if he wanted more scoring he could have made the goalies equipment smaller like back in the Wayne days..the passion,rivalries, physical aspect of the game has suffered..You people dont seem to realize every sport has its own way of sticking out...With Football is the hitting..Basketball its the dribbling skills,dunks, and buzzard beaters,With hockey its the hitting and fighting..With that eliminated how is the NHL going to grow their fanbase??..Also the Marketing and tv coverage of the NHL is horrible..

Stop being a blind bat..Dont be surprised if there is another lockout in a couple of years..The nhl is going under the radar...

 

[AdmiralPred]

LOL Bettman is destroying the NHL.... The rules didnt need to be changed..He thinks the NHL is all about the goals... its more than that..if he wanted more scoring he could have made the goalies equipment smaller like back in the Wayne days..the passion,rivalries, physical aspect of the game has suffered..You people dont seem to realize every sport has its own way of sticking out...With Football is the hitting..Basketball its the dribbling skills,dunks, and buzzard beaters,With hockey its the hitting and fighting..With that eliminated how is the NHL going to grow their fanbase??..Also the Marketing and tv coverage of the NHL is horrible..

Stop being a blind bat..Dont be surprised if there is another lockout in a couple of years..The nhl is going under the radar...

Buzzard beaters?

The media thinks there is a lack of scoring - each sport you named went through the same phase at the same time. NBA scoring was down, NFL scoring was down, NHL scoring was down compared to 10-15 years ago. Defenses evolved, better coaches with better defensive schemes in each of those sports crimped the offenses. In the NFL the rules committee (notice "committee" and not Tagliabue alone) reduced the amount of contact between the corners and the wide-outs, enforced stricter rules making even more contact with the QB off limits. Not sure what the NBA did, or is doing, I haven't paid attention other than notice that there are far fewer 100 point scores than there were in the late 80s/90s.

If Bettman is destroying the NHL, what, in your opinion, would be the state of the League today under the former commissioners? Or one of the "good 'ole boys" who probably would have been brought in to succeed him?

 

[Hawker14]

Buzzard beaters?

The media thinks there is a lack of scoring - each sport you named went through the same phase at the same time. NBA scoring was down, NFL scoring was down, NHL scoring was down compared to 10-15 years ago. Defenses evolved, better coaches with better defensive schemes in each of those sports crimped the offenses. In the NFL the rules committee (notice "committee" and not Tagliabue alone) reduced the amount of contact between the corners and the wide-outs, enforced stricter rules making even more contact with the QB off limits. Not sure what the NBA did, or is doing, I haven't paid attention other than notice that there are far fewer 100 point scores than there were in the late 80s/90s.

If Bettman is destroying the NHL, what, in your opinion, would be the state of the League today under the former commissioners? Or one of the "good 'ole boys" who probably would have been brought in to succeed him?

if bill daly is one of the good 'ole boys who succeeds bettman, then i'd be thrilled. i think the vast majority of hockey fans would be happy to have a real hockey fan in charge (or as a puppet, depending on one's outlook). i think the league can only improve under daly.

i think gary bettman is an incredibly smart man, and capable lawyer, but imo he's not the right person to be the executive face of the nhl any longer. he had his tenure. it's time to move on.

 

[Cawz]

When the NHL lured Gary Bettman away from the NBA and appointed him to serve as the league's commissioner, many of his colleagues worried about Bettman's profound lack of hockey experience.

"I gave Gary a hockey puck once," Orlando Magic GM Pat Williams joked at the time, "and he spent the rest of the day trying to open it."

The rest of the article...

"Williams may have been joking, but it's a great quote and great fodder for all those who blame Bettman for most of what is said to be wrong with the National Hockey League these days."

You know, those monkeys who keep saying he should just make goalies equip smaller, saying he shouldnt have expanded to Florida, he shouldnt have brought in the instigator rule, calling it "Bettmans rules"...

Yup, great fodder for the feeble minded.

 

[AdmiralPred]

if bill daly is one of the good 'ole boys who succeeds bettman, then i'd be thrilled. i think the vast majority of hockey fans would be happy to have a real hockey fan in charge (or as a puppet, depending on one's outlook). i think the league can only improve under daly.

i think gary bettman is an incredibly smart man, and capable lawyer, but imo he's not the right person to be the executive face of the nhl any longer. he had his tenure. it's time to move on.

Well, my refernce to the "good 'ole boys" or "hockey guy", as some call it, was more as a successor to Stein instead of Bettman. As to your second point. Not that I am making the forthcoming statement to convey my thoughts in the regard but, I had thrown this out there as a topic earlier in this thread - Bettman was the right person for the task he was brought in for. Is the League to a point where another commissioner, possibly better suited to move the league out of the shadows of the lockout, should step in now that this CBA is in place?

 

[Crazy_Ike]

The rest of the article...

"Williams may have been joking, but it's a great quote and great fodder for all those who blame Bettman for most of what is said to be wrong with the National Hockey League these days."

You know, those monkeys who keep saying he should just make goalies equip smaller, saying he shouldnt have expanded to Florida, he shouldnt have brought in the instigator rule, calling it "Bettmans rules"...

Yup, great fodder for the feeble minded.

Well look who you're quoting in this post. Case closed right there.

 

[Timmy]

Yup, great fodder for the feeble minded.

Is there any other kind?

 

[Fugu]

Is there any other kind?

Truer words have not been written.

 

[Drewr15]

You've got to wonder, how many of the anti-GB faithful were actually watching the NHL 14 years ago, and how many were aware of the sorry state of NHL hockey in the US when Bettman took over.

The NHL had not yet recovered from the SportsChannel America fiasco, did not have ANY national US broadcast deals, and despite the hype of an unfortunate SI article, was no where near ecllipsing the popularity of the NBA. The NHL at the high point of it's hype (with the Rangers '94 cup win) was still nowhere near the popularity of the NBA, which was at it's absolute post Bird/Magic/Jordan(retirement #1) nadir - not in terms of attendance, TV ratings, or revenues.

Of course he has since repeated the sports channel fiasco by moving them to versus. I don't think bettman has been as horrible as people think but as an accountant and business analyst I fear the NHL revenue growth is akin to the.com bubble in the 90s. All this talk of growth in revenue with declining tv ratings, actual attendance at the gates and being on such a small network would make me very wary to invest in the NHL right now. I am glad he got cost certainty in a salary cap but I fear the revenue growth comes from financial spurts, like all those franchise expansion fees through the 90s, and unsustainable increases in ticket prices without equal increase in TV revenues. I don't think he should be run out, and he inherited a league that was already a mess in the US so its not his fault, but I don't think he has accomplished all that much either.

 

[Rob]

I give up. What is so unspeakable about Bettman?

He's Jewish?

 

[Rob]

All this talk of growth in revenue with declining tv ratings, actual attendance at the gates and being on such a small network would make me very wary to invest in the NHL right now.

Good point.

I am glad he got cost certainty in a salary cap but I fear the revenue growth comes from financial spurts, like all those franchise expansion fees through the 90s, and unsustainable increases in ticket prices without equal increase in TV revenues. I don't think he should be run out, and he inherited a league that was already a mess in the US so its not his fault, but I don't think he has accomplished all that much either.

Exactly. I don't think Bettman has been bad for the game like his critics say but I don't think he has really been that great for the game either. He certainly hasn't lived up to the hype that some of the sports writers were giving him when he came into the league. To bring the NHL to the "promised land". (or was that Gil Stein)

 

[Stoney La Rock]

When Gary Bettman took the reins as Commish, the Rangers had just won the Cup. Interest in the NHL was at an all-time high. He capitalized on that. For chrissake, Mickey Mouse could have been appointed Commish at that time and he would have done well. His tenure over the last five or six years has been lukewarm at best, and he has managed to alienate existing fans by courting the corporate dollar instead. Time to go, Bettman. Even hockey insiders have mocked his ignorance, hence the classic, "I sent Gary Bettman a hockey puck, and he spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to open it."

 

[213 Sentinel]

Is the League to a point where another commissioner, possibly better suited to move the league out of the shadows of the lockout, should step in now that this CBA is in place?

YES!

You've asked the $64,000 question, and that's the answer. I'm not in the camp that says GB has caused the league harm, but I don't think he's capable of doing the things necessary to elevate the league's status, including developing consensus among the BOG and owners for a clear direction, getting the right TV deal done, and surrounding himself with really good marketing people to sell the game better (or, in this case, at all).

Not GB's biggest fan, but not a hater, either. It would be nice if he could move on to the next logical step after getting the cap in place, which is increasing revenue through fan interest, but I for one can't point to anything he's done since the lockout that can be directly linked to an increase in fan interest, either in the arenas or on television. If he's not ready or willing to get the right people around him to augment the effort in this area, perhaps someone else should be given an opportunity.

 

[kdb209]

When Gary Bettman took the reins as Commish, the Rangers had just won the Cup. Interest in the NHL was at an all-time high. He capitalized on that. For chrissake, Mickey Mouse could have been appointed Commish at that time and he would have done well. His tenure over the last five or six years has been lukewarm at best, and he has managed to alienate existing fans by courting the corporate dollar instead. Time to go, Bettman. Even hockey insiders have mocked his ignorance, hence the classic, "I sent Gary Bettman a hockey puck, and he spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to open it."

Sigh. So much misinformation, so little time.

1. Bettman was named commish on Feb 1, 2003 - 16 months before Messier lifted the cup.

2. If "Interest in the NHL was at an all-time high" how come the league did not have a US national network TV deal (and hadn't since the 70's) and no national cable deal when GB took over.

3. That GB hockey puck story did not come from a "hockey insider" - it came from Orlando Magic (NBA) GM Pat Williams, and guess what it was a freakin' joke.

4. And I hate to burst your (and all those other true beleivers out there) bubble, but Bettman WAS a hockey fan long before he was named commish.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCM/is_8_31/ai_102103257

The Board of Governors quickly realized that Bettman--a big hockey enthusiast--was their ideal candidate. And on February 1, 1993, Bettman became the NHL's first--and so far only--commissioner.

Bettman first discovered hockey as a youngster growing up on Long Island where he rooted for the New York Islanders. His interest in the sport intensified during his college years. "Hockey took on a much more significant place in my rooting interest when I went to Cornell," Bettman says. "Cornell was a collegiate hockey powerhouse, and I was a season ticket holder each of my four years there, which necessitated sleeping out a couple of nights just to get tickets."

But you true believers never let pesky things like facts get in the way of a perfectly good rant.

I think it is very safe to say that Bettman knows a hell of a lot more about hockey than you (and 99% of the posters here on HFBoards) - it's his job.

 

[Stoney La Rock]

Sigh. So much misinformation, so little time.

I think it is very safe to say that Bettman knows a hell of a lot more about hockey than you (and 99% of the posters here on HFBoards) - it's his job.

Yeah, okay, Mac. Thanks for the info. And when Bettman finally drives the league into the ground and leaves empty arenas dotting the North American landscape (especially that new luxurious one in Newark, NJ), be sure to check in with us about what a great Commish and hockey fan he was.

Have a nice day!

 

[Weary]

4. And I hate to burst your (and all those other true beleivers out there) bubble, but Bettman WAS a hockey fan long before he was named commish.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCM/is_8_31/ai_102103257

The Board of Governors quickly realized that Bettman--a big hockey enthusiast--was their ideal candidate. And on February 1, 1993, Bettman became the NHL's first--and so far only--commissioner.

Bettman first discovered hockey as a youngster growing up on Long Island where he rooted for the New York Islanders. His interest in the sport intensified during his college years. "Hockey took on a much more significant place in my rooting interest when I went to Cornell," Bettman says. "Cornell was a collegiate hockey powerhouse, and I was a season ticket holder each of my four years there, which necessitated sleeping out a couple of nights just to get tickets."

But you true believers never let pesky things like facts get in the way of a perfectly good rant.

When Islanders played their very first game, Gary Bettman was a junior at Cornell.

When trying to make an argument based upon facts, one should probably avoid using Hockey Digest as a primary source.

 

[kdb209]

When Islanders played their very first game, Gary Bettman was a junior at Cornell.

When trying to make an argument based upon facts, one should probably avoid using Hockey Digest as a primary source.

Actually, I just googled the Cornell connection. I've read multiple accounts of him having been a Big Red fan at Cornell. Yes the Hockey Digest is a rag, but I doubt that they fabricated GB quotes - note that the Isles aside was from the Digest writer, not Bettman.