Bettman interview from 1997 ASG

[Puckguy14]

For the sake of me not going insane, get the $6 million gap. As I have stated before, during the lockout, I have been converting my Sharks game tapes to DVD. One that I came acrossed as I was doing an interview (with a fellow Sharks fan and respectible reporter), was an interview by Gary Bettman during the intermission during the 1997 Heroes of Hockey game before the All-Star skills challenge. Here are quotes from that time. Please note as you read this:

> The current CBA (the one that most recently expired) was in its 3rd season, (2nd full season.)

> The sun belt had added new teams via relocation from hockey hotbeds: Minnesota to Dallas, Quebec to Colorado, Winnipeg to Phoenix

Interview was conducted by ESPN's Gary Thorne:

Gary Thorne: It (the NHL All-Star weekend) just seems to get better every year.

Gary Bettman: We're trying. It's all about trying to grow the sport and to get more and more people to watch the sport.

GT: Gary, I have to ask you. The big topic this year has been expansion. Can you give us the overview and the timeframe of this process?

GB: We have gotten 11 applications from 9 different cities. And we've spent two days this past week hearing from the applicants. And now we will digest what we've heard and we will move slowly one step at a time. If we want to expand we do it with the right cities, the right applicants, and that the league is made stronger by the moves we make. This game is very strong where we have franchises. People learn to love us very quickly. Look at South Florida, look at San Jose, look at Colorado and if we can make stronger by expansion, we will think about doing it very carefully.

GT: What about some cities like Hartford, that have had some problems of late. Are you concerned about those kind of cities and what happens if they don't make it where they are?

GB: Actually, we are stronger franchise by franchise than we've ever been. Hartford is the only franchise that is potentially on the radar screen. And we're hoping that the Whalers can stay put. The governor of Connecticut has acknowledged that the team needs a new building and they are trying to determine if it makes sense to build one. We hope they build one and the team stays, and if not, we are not certainly going to expand by nine, so there are plenty of places to go. But we're hoping to stay put.

GT: Now expansion as we said the big topic. If you take a look at the expansion applicants...

> Atlanta, GA

> Columbus, OH

> Hamilton, Ontario

> Hampton Roads, Virginia

> Houston, Texas (3 applicants)

> Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

> Nashville, Tennessee

> Oklahoma City, OK

> Raliegh-Durham, North Carolina

...these are the cities that are involved. Seemingly, the favorites here are Atlanta and you are shaking your head.

GB: There are no favorites. This is a work in progress. We haven't ranked, we have colated, we have a completely open mind. We are going to do this the right way. We don't want to expand to have problems. We want to expand to add strength to this game.

GT: I have to ask you this question. This is a BASEBALL related question. I heard a rumor from some baseball people that they are looking for a new head for their game, a new commisioner. And that you are one of the people whose name has come up. Are you interested? Have you been approached? Any truth to it?

GB: *Points to himself* This is where my heart is. I love my job, I love this game. And we've got a great opertunity ahead of us with the NHL. So uh I'm not looking at this to go anywhere.

GT: I think its an honor that your name comes up.

GB: Nah, you're just trying to flatter me.

GT: Gary, thank you for joining us.

GT and GB: *laughs*

[DarthMan]

hes such a jerky

[mac]

fast forward 8 years GB: It seemed like such a good idea at the time, I mean a team in Miami, and Phoenix, how could that go wrong.

[CaolinaJoe]

Am I missing something? This seems pretty bland. What does it have to do with the lockout?

[DEAD!]

Am I missing something? This seems pretty bland. What does it have to do with the lockout?

Well anything that comes out of Bettman's mouth is pretty bland

I think this has more to do with expansion and how it affected the salaries.

[CaolinaJoe]

Arbitration, IMHO, effected salaries more than expansion.

[appleclock]

Maybe expansion if anything helped prolong the inevitable because of the cha-ching expansion fees the league collected? Or was it not that much money? Mighta been just enough to keep Buffalo and Ottawa around in hard times!

[randyc]

GT: Now expansion as we said the big topic. If you take a look at the expansion applicants...

> Atlanta, GA

> Columbus, OH

> Hamilton, Ontario

> Hampton Roads, Virginia

> Houston, Texas (3 applicants)

> Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

> Nashville, Tennessee

> Oklahoma City, OK

> Raliegh-Durham, North Carolina

...these are the cities that are involved. Seemingly, the favorites here are Atlanta and you are shaking your head.

out of curiousity, does anyone know what other cities have applied for franchises in the past?

[Puckguy14]

I brought this up, because it's amazing that 8 years ago, everything looked so promising (the exception being the Whalers eventually dimise in just two months time, to an expansion city candidate Raliegh, with a pit stop in Greensboro.)

Also, you wonder if he was asked about the commish job with MLB if the NHL would have the similar problems.