hockey

[JQK]

Betteman is ruining the sport, that is why.

He should not be in charge of the NHL. Maybe the Wendy's on Rt. 611, but not the NHL.

I don't think he should be in charge either but in reality the owners love him so he'll stay -- just like the mlb owners love bud selig so he'll stay (who, btw, is doing a pretty good job, compared to how he is portrayed as doing)

Finally! Someone who thinks Selig is an alright commish! I was begining to think i was the only one...

[CaolinaJoe]

Betteman is ruining the sport, that is why.

He should not be in charge of the NHL. Maybe the Wendy's on Rt. 611, but not the NHL.

Ref's and Linesmen are ruining the game. Rules were meant to be enforced not reinterpreted from period to period and month to month.. The trap defense is ruining the game. Whoever determines goalie pad regulations is ruining the game. Owners with out financial restraint are ruining the game

All Bettman has done is try to grow the game.

[wheateater]

Selig? An "okay" commish? He allows the Yankees to spend $200 million while many others (either by will or by constraint) can't even eclipse $50 million? What "okay" commish would allow that?!? If he gets a cap when this CBA expires, then he might be an okay commish, but there's no way he can be even credited with a "satisfactory" grade in terms of economics. Rebuilding the game after the '94 debacle? Maybe. But not when it comes to the area of cold hard cash.

[JQK]

Betteman is ruining the sport, that is why.

He should not be in charge of the NHL. Maybe the Wendy's on Rt. 611, but not the NHL.

Ref's and Linesmen are ruining the game. Rules were meant to be enforced not reinterpreted from period to period and month to month.. The trap defense is ruining the game. Whoever determines goalie pad regulations is ruining the game. Owners with out financial restraint are ruining the game

All Bettman has done is try to grow the game.

Grow the Game?

His expantion-madness has absolutly crushed this game. His rule changes have crippled the game. Every decision he has made had progressivly brought the sport down. He is without a doubt the worst President/Commissioner in the history of the NHL, if not all of sport.

[slapshot]

You're trying to blame the downfall of the league on REFEREES? The refs' hands are tied by the rules created by the league. The refs aren't using the trap to keep scoring down. I think they need to be enforcing the obstruction and interference rules a little more, but they have nothing to do with the way the game is being played.

Bettman is an and needs to be fired.

Goodenow is an and needs to be fired.

[CaolinaJoe]

No, I was blaming coaches for the trap.

Refs should call it a little more? That's my point. They should just follow the rules ALL game and season. Not change the rules in the 3rd and in the playoffs.

Which rules has bettman written?

Expansion didn't crush the game. Owners not knowing how to control their new found money is what turned expansion into a bad thing.

[NJTank]

Well lets see what happens next but they are saying the season may be uncancelled and they reached an agreement.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1994750

[JQK]

How can you defend him?

He has shown through his leadership (or lack thereof), that he can not run this league...

...and The Trap is a thing of beauty. Then again, i like defense.

[Cashcleaner]

I generally reserve the label of " " for more closer-to-home enemies, but I will agree both should hand in their letters of resignation for their combined failure to deal with this labour issue.

The problem with expansion is that the league relied far too heavily on expansion revenue to maintain operating costs and the overall bottom line. With little attention paid to any possible problems in the long run, cities were awarded teams all too hastily. The common analogy within the league was simple:

If you have the money up-front and can guarantee adequete facilities, you get a team.

As it has become painfully apparent, operating along that logic has failed all parties involved.

[NJTank]

The trap is great, figure a way to beat it, and stop whinning. Theres nothing illegal about it. JQK just between you and me I think part of the reason people hate the trap is its made the Devils win 3 Cups while the Rangers have down the Dolan scuffle.

[CaolinaJoe]

How can you defend him?

He has shown through his leadership (or lack thereof), that he can not run this league...

...and The Trap is a thing of beauty. Then again, i like defense.

It keeps the convo going. As the point man he gets all the blame. His job is to sell the game on Wall Street, Madison Avenue, and get a TV deal. He has virtually nothing to do with writing rules. And really what rules have changed?

The thing that has changed is coaching. The emphasis on D, intead of skilled offense. Goalie pads growing. Fighting shrinking. It's like going to a Broadway play where all the understudies perform.

Trap is a thing of beauty? Must be a Devils fan. right?

[wheateater]

The trap's widespread popularity is a direct result of the over-expansion of the league. The talent pool has become so diluted with over 700 players that teams who don't have the talent to score big must rely on keeping the puck out of the net, and the most efficient way to do this is with the trap.

[NJTank]

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[wheateater]

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Precisely.

[Gary]

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SUCK

signed,

Redwing Fan

yeah i'm still bitter over the 95 ass whoopin

[CC97]

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SUCK

signed,

Redwing Fan

yeah i'm still bitter over the 95 ass whoopin

Oooh, way too many recent Stanley Cups floating around for me to get involved in this battle... continue

[NJTank]

1995 Stanley Cup Finals How Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep It was

[Ez Street]

AVALANCHE!

no further need for discussion.

[Brian in Boston]

His expantion-madness has absolutly crushed this game. His rule changes have crippled the game. Every decision he has made had progressivly brought the sport down. He is without a doubt the worst President/Commissioner in the history of the NHL, if not all of sport.

Talk about an oversimplification of the National Hockey League's problems. Gary Bettman is nothing more than a fall-guy for the growth of problems that have been inherent to the National Hockey League for several decades.

The NHL and its fans are caught between a rock and a hard place... particularly the fans. They want the league to be considered one of the so-called "Big Four" of North American professional sports, enjoying all the perks that such status conveys (i.e. national media coverage, big money media broadcast contracts, major corporate partnerships). However, they piss and moan if any member of the NHL brass dares to try and expand the league's footprint outside of the "traditional" markets in Canada and the U.S. Northeast/Rust Belt or implements rules that threaten "old time hockey".

Well, I've got news for the "old school", "die-hard", "traditional" fans: the NHL is on the verge of becoming nothing more than a niche sport... a National Lacrosse League or Major Indoor Soccer League or World Team Tennis played on ice. Retrenching back to a line-up of franchises in Canada and the Northern tier of the United States isn't going to magically restore the health and welfare of the NHL. Embracing the wonders of the neutral zone trap isn't going to win new fans to your sport. The Canadian economy isn't going to allow Canadian-based franchises to compete with U.S.-based squads that are paying their players in American dollars... not unless the economies of both countries are in for some radical, long-term changes. Further, if you think that the NHL's broadcast deals - both network and cable - suck now, wait until you see what the league is able to negotiate when its U.S. "footprint" isn't nearly as large.

The only thing that Gary Bettman is "guilty" of is believing in the National Hockey League's future enough to fight for it: through the insistence that the league get its financial house in order... by trying to grow the sport in the U.S. enough to garner the attention of the national media and major corporate sponsors.

Is his track record perfect? No, particularly on the latter front. For instance, if you're going to set up shop in the Carolinas, the franchise should have been located in Charlotte, not Raleigh-Durham. The fan base in Southern California wasn't yet developed enough to support two franchises in such relative proximity to one another.

However, at the end of the day, Bettman's plans for the NHL haven't been realized because the league's more fragile markets - including some in Canada - haven't had the opportunity to grow in a system made more promising by the presence of a salary cap... and the financial certainty such a system promises.

So, call for Bettman's head all you like. Shrink the league back to 16 or 20 teams, with so-called "problem" Southern franchises relocated to the so-called "promised lands" in Quebec, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Hartford. Trap, trap, trap your way to 1-0 scores every night. But when the media coverage on ESPN and in Sports Illustrated shrinks to the equivalence of agate type in the back pages of the sport section... when major corporate partners want nothing to do with a league that looks like a glorified version of the UHL... when the once "proud" NHL resembles a 1940s bus league... well, don't go bitching about what "might have been".

[jkrdevil]

Bettman needs to be fired because as the commissioner you are in the spolight and represent the league. Here's Bettmans problem everyone hates him, he's the only commissioner I've seen get booed when he is giving the home team the championship trophy. I remember when the Kings retired 99 when he came out on the ice. Isn't he the league's spokesman? How can the game accuratly promote the game when the commissioner is precieved to know nothing about the game, and doesn't care? When he is precieved to be a mole from the NBA? Bud Selig isn't well liked by baseball fans, but I have yet to hear that he doesn't care about the game of baseball and that he knows nothing about baseball.

Bettman has expanded the league but has failed to promote the league in order to ensure that the new team as well as the older teams are succesful. Instead he over expanded to untraditional markets, (Did Florida really need 2 team, did LA need 2 teams. The NHL should have just left the Kings in the Market and only put 1 team in Florida). Bettman drove away loyal fans with his first act of renaming and reformating the playoffs, that drove away a few real harcore hockey fans and brought in 0 new fans. The worst thing he did was the 95 lockout, after the greatest playoffs the NHL was in position to pass the NBA, what did Bettman do he then had a lockout killing all the momentum from the previous year. That ended with owners going behind his back and signing an agreement. What's happening this year, some owners are pissed at him and are going behind his back. What makes this worse is that the 2 guys going behind his back are the most respected people in hockey, 2 of the people that built up the game in the 90's.

Just look at hockey's popularity from when he took office to know. It was a growing sport then it's a dieing sport now.

As for this, I have gained alot of respect for Gretzky. Before I didn't think he would be a good person for a management position in the NHL but know I think he would do a great job.

As far as rule changes, they do nothing to bring in new fans. Why would a fan start watching a game because of a rule change they don't even know what it does. It's all about marketing and promotion.