NF-Happy Anniversary Mr. Bettman

[SlowPoke]

A scathing Yahoo Sports article to 'celebrate' 15 years under the Bettman regime in the NHL has inspired this poll.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=dw-b...o&type=lgns

 

Please feel free to add your Bettman blunders or Gary's Greatest Moments

[blaque]

The article forgot to mention the 99' no goal call against the Sabres!! LOL!! Sorry, something Ill never forget. Everyone in the room looking at each other like, is this for real.....No.....the refs will get together and call no goal......SOMEONE will get in touch with SOMEONE and tell them to get back at center ice and drop the puck again. Like i literally just sat back knowing it wasnt a goal. It set in about 6 months later lol. Myself and many others went to the NHL awards that year at the Air Canada Centre and Boo'ed the man the best we could.

 

As far as the all-star game. I have to say that it lacks any emotion to become at all marketable. The All-Star game was slightly better than the Young Stars game in that respect. The YS game was just embarrasing.........all i thought of while watching it, was.......how in Gods name would someone whos just tuned in to their first YS game react to this. And honestly......if it were me, Id change the channel lol. Its almost like watching the WWF lol (fake). Defensemen letting forwards go by them cuz they dont want to wrinkle their uniforms, ugh, it was just ridiculous. The All Star game was a little better, but i dunno.....play the freakin game man. Whats the point of even picking defensive all stars, they cant play anyway. Their out there on pins and needles just pretty much exercising and getting a skate in. The goals arent even called with any enthusiasm. The players score and just look at each other, and barely crack a smile, cuz they know its a pointless goal. I dunno, i say play the game man..........just like any other game in teh season. Do you need to take someones head off, no.........but you can certainly play an entertaining game of hockey wilthout killing each other. The Skills comp. YAWN! The fastest skater competition didnt even have a working laser timer. They had to bring a guy over with a stop watch LOL!! Ill stop there.

[lunkerbasshunter]

i persoanlly dont liek the guy as the commissioner. the league (most teams) is healty finacially for the first time in years so you have to give him credit for that.

 

What i do not like is the game is not a team sport anymore. Its the team with the best pp and pk or the team with the best shootout players.

 

The biggest draw the NHL has is players like ovechkin and crosby. When they are in toronto the game is blacked out becasue of the senators region. vis versa when in ottawa. How do you promote your best marketing tools when your biggest hockey market can only watch your best players sometimes?

 

Futrhur to that our friends south of the border only know crosby exists because of espn. try wathcing a hockey game in the states its not that easy to find one on. the nhl is lacking there big tv deal. oln is not a big tv deal its a joke.

 

My last rant about the NHL is the candy a-- play they are wanting to promote. There is hardly any hitting, hardly any fighting. Now alot of people complain about the fighting but seriously you want tv money bring back the hard hitting, fighting but keep the fast paced play. If you dont agree with the fighting take a look at the biggest up and coming sport in thesa now. Mixed martial arts. the yanks love that stuff!!!

 

Anywya that is my 2 cents sorry i got off track a but about bettmen. HE sucks but its not his fault the board of governers vote on everything so they are just as bad.

 

Cheers!

[Puckhead]

Bettman's an idiot.

 

Hockey was a major player in the sporting world when he took over. It's border line obsolete in the US market. How he still has a job is beyond me...

[cisco]

The Gretsky era will be hard to top. He alone attracted players to skate with him. He coulda made Tie Domi a 50 goal scorer as long as ole Wayne could see the stick blade to bank a shot off of! Wayne packed arenas wherever he played.

 

What's happened is they've made hockey into a form of entertainment. All for the $$$

 

The salary cap is gonna even things out even more. Gone are the days when the team with the most $ has a better shot at the cup. Gone are the days when the Canadians got 1st pick of the Quebec up-and-comers.

 

Now there's foreign players that I can't even pronounce the names of. Less and less of the "that player is from my hometown where we played shinny together!"

No more stacked teams means more shootouts and stuff to decide outcomes from games which by league design will likely end in a tie.

 

I'll watch the playoffs a bit, but now enjoy my viewing time staring at real stuff like guys rebuilding cars or creating motorcycles. To me, the closest thing to reality TV is the loopy family on Orange County Choppers.

 

People are loyal to things they like. That's why the NHL Board keeps Bettman on, and why some fans are leaving, and why some committed fans want to get things back to the way they were.

 

Taking shots is one thing, but let's also hear of what can be done to get back to the old days.... while still maximizing profits for the groups who own/control the teams..... like wasn't the Teacher's Federation somehow owners of the Leafs a short time ago?! Like they care about anything more than the payout!!

 

I don't see how we can get there from here.

[reno]

bettmann has done a good job here in the states promoting the game.

although his recent union struggles has labled him a knucklehead, there's more hockey on tv than ever before here in the states.

 

creating that awareness is necessary to promote the game. hockey simply does not have the following it does in canada.

sad but true.

we who love the game have to trust mr bettman's judgement.

 

reno

[turtle]

You mean Gary Buttman (character from movie Bon Cop Bad Cop who conspires to move the Canadiens to the USA).

[Garyv]

All I will say is he almost ruined basketball and the NHL hired him....

[holdfast]

Did you guys enjoy the Leafs MTL Game. No Hitting, guys like Pletanic, Marcov,Sun Beam (Yea I cant spell because the game was a European Game) were flying untouched. Where is the NA hitting. Nil Nil Nil. It was boring, just like the ALLstar game. I tryed to watch a game where both teams have no hope for the cup. NO Grit. Bettman has ruined the game that was once ours. Maybe harold and Cherry had a point way back. The Womans game is more exiting