the next nhl commissioner

[White Pine]

I understand the Canadian sentiment, as sometimes Canadians tend to feel almost persecuted by the league, but really it doesn't really matter who it is so long as they appreciate and understand hockey, and would do a decent job.

 

[Gnashville]

Stu Grimson

 

[edog37]

Bettman has helped grow the game over his tenure as NHL commisoner. Record revenues, the new TV deal, and people actually care about the sport in the United States now compared to before.

Bettman is bashed to much as a commisoner, and has done a better job than it seems.

I do believe that he's been commisoner for to long, and we need a younger leader with fresh ideas.

Bettman has been the best commissioner/President the NHL has ever had....billion dollar TV contract, Winter Classic, revenues never higher, salary cap, competitive balance, & now a proper alignment. Ziegler navigated the league out of the costly NHL-WHA war, but then it stagnated even when it had a prime Lemieux vs a prime Gretzky at its disposal. Bettman did not make the same mistake when Crosby-Ovechkin came along. Yes, mistakes were made (i.e. Southern Expansion), but getting Minnesota & Winnipeg (& possibly Quebec) back into the league is pure genius. For all the crap he gets on here, people should remember all that he has done for the game. Right now, if I had to rank commissioners all time, here's my list:

1) Pete Rozzelle
2) Paul Tagliabue
3) Gary Bettman

 

[Eaglepride*]

Said it before and will repeat it I want a hockeyguy someone who loves the game its integrity and the tradition. Buttman for sure doesn't. Screw him and his stupid hard cap rewarding losing with revenue sharing and top draftpicks.

That said a guy like Messier could do wonders.

 

[Fehr Time*]

Take a quick look at the Bob Goodenow Manual of Negotiations and see why exactly there was a season-killing lockout.

Teams have always been in trouble. Bettman and the NHL bent over backwards from 1997-2002 to keep several teams that were in dire straits where they were....of course, because those teams were Edmonton, Ottawa, Buffalo, and the NY Islanders, this was "necessary and proper" rather than somehow a bad thing.

Many NHL teams would have been better off listening to Goodenow and what he had to say/offer instead of Bettman.

 

[Fehr Time*]

Said it before and will repeat it I want a hockeyguy someone who loves the game its integrity and the tradition. Buttman for sure doesn't. Screw him and his stupid hard cap rewarding losing with revenue sharing and top draftpicks.

That said a guy like Messier could do wonders.

One of the major issues that I have with Bettman (other than the failed CBA) is the fact that he did nothing in terms of being proactive to try and improve the quality of the product on the ice when it was sliding in to the crapper heading in to the mid to late '90's. Instead he actually did the opposite, whenever people, including players, spoke out he would attack them with lame denials and fines.

 

[Jackets Woodchuck]

JOHN COLLINS!!!

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was responsible for the Super Bowl Halftime Show the year of the infamous "Wardrobe Malfunction."

He became President of the Cleveland Browns and screwed up the uniforms (The NFL equivalent of taking over the Habs and putting them in Navy Blue home sweaters with a new logo).

If he can't even figure out something as simple as "these uniforms have looked the same for 60 years, don't screw with them!", how is he supposed to run a whole league?

Maybe we'll have the Maple Leafs in black and teal and NBC and CBC getting fined out of existence for airing a "Wardrobe Malfunction"-tainted performance prior to the All-Star Game.

 

[Kimota]

Why does it have to be either/or? You need a lawyer type to do the commisioner's duties, and the NHL could always use better marketing. Those are 2 separate skill sets, which you rarely find in 1 person. Furthermore, each one is a full-time job, and I don't think that 1 person would have the time to do both properly.

Dana did it with the UFC. That's why he's a genius. He took an enterprise that was viewed negatively everywhere, UFC had a worse perception than the NHL and made it the most-growing sport in the World by turning the negative into a positive. That's what i've been saying the NHL should do all along, instead of trying cancel the physicality to look good to the media, make the physicality the appeal and promote it to people that like this stuff. If you control your product better and you're good at it, the press will follow suit.

 

[edog37]

Said it before and will repeat it I want a hockeyguy someone who loves the game its integrity and the tradition. Buttman for sure doesn't. Screw him and his stupid hard cap rewarding losing with revenue sharing and top draftpicks.

That said a guy like Messier could do wonders.

yes, we haven't had nearly enough former jocks with no executive experience to run a professional sports league....

 

[Grudy0]

Bettman has been the best commissioner/President the NHL has ever had....billion dollar TV contract, Winter Classic, revenues never higher, salary cap, competitive balance, & now a proper alignment.

Let's say I can agree with this.

I also believe Bettman has done a fairly decent job, considering the hardline Governors he's had to deal with. I'll just argue some points separately.

Ziegler navigated the league out of the costly NHL-WHA war, but then it stagnated even when it had a prime Lemieux vs a prime Gretzky at its disposal.

I'm not too sure about stagnating. Look at all of the fires that had to be put out during the early 1980's, after the WHA was absorbed: the Blues almost folded, the Penguins required intervention, etc. The NHL ended up with a national TV contract in the US, on ESPN, but the true failure was in moving to SportsChannel America, a bet that just didn't work.

Bettman did not make the same mistake when Crosby-Ovechkin came along. Yes, mistakes were made (i.e. Southern Expansion), but getting Minnesota & Winnipeg (& possibly Quebec) back into the league is pure genius.

That's what happens when you move your television contract from a broadcaster that feels your product is sixth or seventh on the rung of sports broadcasting. Move the product to a broadcaster that wants to build their business by making your product their number one concern.

And regarding so-called "Southern Expansion": people forget that the League was already at 26 teams when Bettman joined as commissioner, that the North Stars already announced a move to Dallas, that there were plans to take the League to 28 teams by 2000, and that the League may have lost WHA teams to some southern markets during the mid-1990's, but that Mr. Bettman did a terrific job in helping out teams that didn't move (Oilers, Senators, Penguins, Devils). It is far from Mr. Bettman's fault.

Said it before and will repeat it I want a hockeyguy someone who loves the game its integrity and the tradition. Buttman for sure doesn't. Screw him and his stupid hard cap rewarding losing with revenue sharing and top draftpicks.

That said a guy like Messier could do wonders.

A hard-cap that a large majority of the teams wanted to implement. Mr. Bettman couldn't impose that all by himself. The revenue sharing was put into place to help teams such as the Oilers and Senators (the Canadian Assistance Plan) and the draft (rewarding losing with top draft picks) was implemented way before Mr. Bettman ever came on board.

 

[Kimota]

Bettman has been the best commissioner/President the NHL has ever had....billion dollar TV contract, Winter Classic, revenues never higher, salary cap, competitive balance, & now a proper alignment. Ziegler navigated the league out of the costly NHL-WHA war, but then it stagnated even when it had a prime Lemieux vs a prime Gretzky at its disposal. Bettman did not make the same mistake when Crosby-Ovechkin came along. Yes, mistakes were made (i.e. Southern Expansion), but getting Minnesota & Winnipeg (& possibly Quebec) back into the league is pure genius. For all the crap he gets on here, people should remember all that he has done for the game. Right now, if I had to rank commissioners all time, here's my list:

1) Pete Rozzelle
2) Paul Tagliabue
3) Gary Bettman

Actually Bettman for all the hype has done all this to come to the same point as John Zegler was: no big TV deal. You can sing Crosby as loud as you can, but if it doesn't result in the big tv money then there's no point.

 

[Brodie]

the NHL's $2b deal in the US is probably best case scenario for the league. Even most of us here on BoH were stunned by it.

 

[Grudy0]

Actually Bettman for all the hype has done all this to come to the same point as John Zegler was: no big TV deal. You can sing Crosby as loud as you can, but if it doesn't result in the big tv money then there's no point.

But the largest US TV deal in NHL history was consumated this year. It more than doubled the prior NBC/Versus deal. And if more and more people watch hockey in the States, the next one will probably more than double as well.

 

[cptjeff]

the NHL's $2b deal in the US is probably best case scenario for the league. Even most of us here on BoH were stunned by it.

Yup, with the deck of cards he's been dealt, Bettman has gotten the NHL great TV deals.

The much criticized OLN contract did what it was supposed to do and went further. On OLN's part, they wanted a big ticket item to give them more leverage in getting their channel distributed. That worked, and went further. With the NHL as the channel's core product, they got purchased by NBC with the goal of positioning them to challenge ESPN head to head. With the NHL as the centerpiece.

Going to ESPN, on the other hand, would have resulted in the NHL being a bit player, way down on the priority list, for much less money. Wider distribution, yes, but OLN was willing to give them much more money (the ESPN deal was, hey, we give you no money, and we split the ad revenue), and was willing to market the NHL as their number one product. OLN grew, gained much wider distribution, and was then purchased by NBC to challenge ESPN with the NHL as its headline act.

I don't know what the romanticism is about ESPN. I've usually been able to find Versus, and ESPN treated hockey like crap even when they broadcast it. But somehow, the unthinking types who reflexively bash Bettman think that he should have signed for less money for worse treatment.

 

[mouser]

One of the major issues that I have with Bettman (other than the failed CBA) is the fact that he did nothing in terms of being proactive to try and improve the quality of the product on the ice when it was sliding in to the crapper heading in to the mid to late '90's. Instead he actually did the opposite, whenever people, including players, spoke out he would attack them with lame denials and fines.

Why would you blame Bettman for the failed CBA? He had only been commish for a couple years at the time and there were many reports that owners went behind his back to cut the bad deal?

 

[White Pine]

I think Bettman's doing a good enough job.

 

[Fehr Time*]

Why would you blame Bettman for the failed CBA? He had only been commish for a couple years at the time and there were many reports that owners went behind his back to cut the bad deal?

I am talking about the current CBA. The one that is a failure.

 

[edog37]

Actually Bettman for all the hype has done all this to come to the same point as John Zegler was: no big TV deal. You can sing Crosby as loud as you can, but if it doesn't result in the big tv money then there's no point.

NBC says hi....

 

[edog37]

I'm not too sure about stagnating. Look at all of the fires that had to be put out during the early 1980's, after the WHA was absorbed: the Blues almost folded, the Penguins required intervention, etc. The NHL ended up with a national TV contract in the US, on ESPN, but the true failure was in moving to SportsChannel America, a bet that just didn't work.That's what happens when you move your television contract from a broadcaster that feels your product is sixth or seventh on the rung of sports broadcasting. Move the product to a broadcaster that wants to build their business by making your product their number one concern.

by stagnating, I meant the league had a golden opportunity to really push the envelope as it has the past few years & Ziegler did not. Agreed about SportsChannel. Terrible deal that was, but it got corrected.

 

[edog37]

I am talking about the current CBA. The one that is a failure.

You have some double logic here. You want a capless system, but feel that a floor system is inherently evil as well. If some owners can't reach the floor, how do you expect them to compete in a capless environment?

 

[Grudy0]

by stagnating, I meant the league had a golden opportunity to really push the envelope as it has the past few years & Ziegler did not. Agreed about SportsChannel. Terrible deal that was, but it got corrected.

I'm still trying to understand your stagnating part...

When Ziegler took over, he immediately proposed to absorb six WHA teams into the NHL, with Harold Ballard breathing down his neck. This was after a decade of rapid expansion in the NHL and the upstart WHA continuing to pluck players.

Within three years of his tenure, Ziegler was able to get the compromise: four teams from the WHA into the NHL. The issue here was stability. From 1976 until 1983, the league lost franchises in Kansas City, Oakland, Denver and Cleveland, while only gaining Hartford in the United States. Finances almost cost the league the Penguins and the Blues. If you think about it, that's pretty bad for a league that only had 14 teams in the US.

Let's remember that there were only three national TV networks in the early 1980's, and NBC ended their run of NHL hockey by 1975. The NHL was one of the early adopters in getting their national TV contract on cable, as truthfully, no one else wanted them.

The NHL finally did get on Fox, but that was when the networks realized they needed live programming in order to promote their scripted shows.

So after a long and tumultuous rebuild after the NHL absorbed four WHA teams, the league did set forth a plan for expansion in 1988. But Ziegler could never get that TV contract. And I don't believe that TV contract was extremely important, either, as one can see that ABC/ESPN totally derailed the NHL in terms of a TV contract before the lockout.

If you think about it, Ziegler's tenure has been pretty much a mirror of the past dozen or so years, minus the WHA incursion. The game grew in the '80's and Ziegler presided over the San Jose, Tampa Bay and Ottawa expansions, and the stability was there. Fast forward to now, and the attempt is to stabilize franchises since the last teams were added, and the stabilization problem has been around since the beginning of the Expansion Era.

Let's face it. The League office is usually a mouthpiece for the collective individual members of the League, but the main responsibility is the ability for the League to shop rights for dollars. Ziegler couldn't do it well. Bettman did. And other than the fact that Ziegler was probably lying on a beach somewhere while Koharski was called a fat pig and not showing up for a couple of days certainly appeared that the League was leaderless.

There was only so much Ziegler could do. I honestly believe by canning him and getting Bettman the BoG put more power into Bettman's hands to do exactly what you have suggested.

 

[FoSotC]

You have some double logic here. You want a capless system, but feel that a floor system is inherently evil as well. If some owners can't reach the floor, how do you expect them to compete in a capless environment?

Then the owners of those teams should just fold and move to Canada, the only rightful and deserving place of all things hockey.

 

[Kimota]

NBC says hi....

The NBC deal is a big joke. It's pocket changes basically. The NBA commish would commit suicide if he had gotten a NHL-type deal.

The NHL and NBC partnership is a good one..if you have noone else. It's not there that the NHL makes it money.

And as long as they won't get a big tv deal, the NHL commish won't have succeeded at his job.

 

[Kimota]

I'm still trying to understand your stagnating part...

When Ziegler took over, he immediately proposed to absorb six WHA teams into the NHL, with Harold Ballard breathing down his neck. This was after a decade of rapid expansion in the NHL and the upstart WHA continuing to pluck players.

Within three years of his tenure, Ziegler was able to get the compromise: four teams from the WHA into the NHL. The issue here was stability. From 1976 until 1983, the league lost franchises in Kansas City, Oakland, Denver and Cleveland, while only gaining Hartford in the United States. Finances almost cost the league the Penguins and the Blues. If you think about it, that's pretty bad for a league that only had 14 teams in the US.

Let's remember that there were only three national TV networks in the early 1980's, and NBC ended their run of NHL hockey by 1975. The NHL was one of the early adopters in getting their national TV contract on cable, as truthfully, no one else wanted them.

The NHL finally did get on Fox, but that was when the networks realized they needed live programming in order to promote their scripted shows.

So after a long and tumultuous rebuild after the NHL absorbed four WHA teams, the league did set forth a plan for expansion in 1988. But Ziegler could never get that TV contract. And I don't believe that TV contract was extremely important, either, as one can see that ABC/ESPN totally derailed the NHL in terms of a TV contract before the lockout.

If you think about it, Ziegler's tenure has been pretty much a mirror of the past dozen or so years, minus the WHA incursion. The game grew in the '80's and Ziegler presided over the San Jose, Tampa Bay and Ottawa expansions, and the stability was there. Fast forward to now, and the attempt is to stabilize franchises since the last teams were added, and the stabilization problem has been around since the beginning of the Expansion Era.

Let's face it. The League office is usually a mouthpiece for the collective individual members of the League, but the main responsibility is the ability for the League to shop rights for dollars. Ziegler couldn't do it well. Bettman did. And other than the fact that Ziegler was probably lying on a beach somewhere while Koharski was called a fat pig and not showing up for a couple of days certainly appeared that the League was leaderless.

There was only so much Ziegler could do. I honestly believe by canning him and getting Bettman the BoG put more power into Bettman's hands to do exactly what you have suggested.

Yet still no big tv deals and 18 teams losing money. Most of the expansions after Ziegler have been failiures and it's probably the beginning of a large scale moving of teams.

 

[edog37]

The NBC deal is a big joke. It's pocket changes basically. The NBA commish would commit suicide if he had gotten a NHL-type deal.

And as long as they won't get a big tv deal, the NHL commish won't have succeeded at his job.

Compared to other leagues, it is smaller. However, it is still the largest TV contract the NHL has ever had in the US...