LeafErikson
Schwifty 24/7
Ever think that the USA TV situation would be magnitudes worse if there was a Commissioner that was not Bettman?
The NHL has made many changes in the last few years. Shootouts, calling penalties much more strictly but you say Bettman won't address the NHL's problems.
Bettman would get criticized regardless of what he does. The fact that a bunch of hack reporters on Sportsnet think he will get fired is beyond irrelevant to the situation.
There was a player comittee that was put together a few years ago, started in large part by Brendan Shanahan, who took it upon themselves to discuss, and help the league come to better conclusions on what would make the game better. And Bettman has little, to nothing to do with those dicussions. He's not a hockey guy, I wouldn't even call him a Basketball guy, he's a lawyer, that happens to deal with sports, who got hired by the NHL. His main concern should be with puting the right people, in the right jobs, to make the league better, in which case, in certain, very large areas, ie the TV contracts with VS/OLN which is a joke, and the disasterous Eastern Conference Final coverage on NBC, etc.
And I point to a team like Chicago, and I know some people disagree with me, that the NHL has a place in this, but I really believe it should be put upon the NHL to ensure the teams aren't handcuffing themselves, like Chicago has (due to one pigheaded owner), by blacking out it's local viewers.
I just really believe this man is the worst salesman in sports. He's done a horrible job with TV contracts, with team locations (I won't point out which cities I believe that applies to), and just overall selling of the game as a whole. And I wonder why, really, that owners are content with the situation as it is. There has been rumours that they are looking at someone from NASCAR, to come in to replace him, but nothing concrete from the owners suggesting they're ready to make a move like that, which baffles me, regardless of the league making money. They league has glaring issues, which this man refuses to aknowledge.