people can hate on bettman all they want, but the sport has grown so much in the united states since he's taken over. the amount of american players in the draft has increased.. just a few years back the first two players in the first round were american (kane and johnson i think). that's never happened before. not to mention there are players from untraditional markets being drafted. i think las vegas was one last year or the year before. how about the winter classic? the draft lottery? managing to keep the sport alive after the lockout and then actually making it better?
granted, he did mess up by putting so many teams down south. a few isn't a bad idea, but he flooded the market.
many canadians will probably comment saying that my post is biased towards americans, and yes it is. as a canadian, i know that the majority of canada will follow hockey no matter what. it's like many of us are brainwashed... jesus, they aired that stupid game where people skate down a hill of ice wearing hockey equipment on TSN instead of march madness... don't worry, march madness was on TSN 2, a channel that no one watches.
The outdoor game at a football field concept was swiped from NCAA hockey. The success of the Cold War at Spartan Stadium between Michigan and Michigan State gave the NHL the idea for the first Heritage Classic and eventually the Winter Classic. All Bettman had to do was pick a date and slap a huge advertising budget on it.
The outdoor game at a football field concept was swiped from NCAA hockey. The success of the Cold War at Spartan Stadium between Michigan and Michigan State gave the NHL the idea for the first Heritage Classic and eventually the Winter Classic. All Bettman had to do was pick a date and slap a huge advertising budget on it.
but the point is is that he still did it regardless of where the idea came from.
people can hate on bettman all they want, but the sport has grown so much in the united states since he's taken over. the amount of american players in the draft has increased.. just a few years back the first two players in the first round were american (kane and johnson i think). that's never happened before. not to mention there are players from untraditional markets being drafted. i think las vegas was one last year or the year before. how about the winter classic? the draft lottery? managing to keep the sport alive after the lockout and then actually making it better?
granted, he did mess up by putting so many teams down south. a few isn't a bad idea, but he flooded the market.
many canadians will probably comment saying that my post is biased towards americans, and yes it is. as a canadian, i know that the majority of canada will follow hockey no matter what. it's like many of us are brainwashed... jesus, they aired that stupid game where people skate down a hill of ice wearing hockey equipment on TSN instead of march madness... don't worry, march madness was on TSN 2, a channel that no one watches.
While i don't hate bettman, i don't agree with you. Bettman didn't really have a major role in getting more Americans to play. many owners have actually said that it was the great one who did more for hockey in the states. I don't know who was drafted from vegas last year but i suspect you might mean how the NHL awards was in vegas. The winter classic was made up now by the NHl but between 2 canadians teams but i will grant you that it is a big ratings boost for the NHL.
Under bettman rule, how many teams are either close to broke or broke. Bettman made dumb mistakes that hav ecost the NHL alot of money.
The outdoor game at a football field concept was swiped from NCAA hockey. The success of the Cold War at Spartan Stadium between Michigan and Michigan State gave the NHL the idea for the first Heritage Classic and eventually the Winter Classic. All Bettman had to do was pick a date and slap a huge advertising budget on it.
but the point is is that he still did it regardless of where the idea came from.
A monkey could have done it. It wouldn't make the monkey a good commissioner. And I think Gretzky being traded to L.A. did more for hockey in southern California than anything Bettman ever did. (Edit: It looks like the person above me touched on that.)
I'm biased against Bettman because he moved the schedule for the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals up one week when a banged-up Red Wings team that was missing key starters really needed some rest that was well earned ... and then made them play back-to-back nights (If Malken or Crosby were injured on the Penguins, that never, ever, ever, ever, ever, would have happened). But what really confirmed to me that this guy is a doofus, was his comment on the future of NHL participation in the Olympics:
“I know the players are passionate about representing their countries — we have a long history as a sport in international competition and that’s something that’s important to the players. But we have to decide, on balance, ‘is it worth it?” he asked.
In addition to the problems of shutting down the league for two weeks, Bettman expressed concerns about the NHL getting enough publicity during the event.
“In some places, the benefits are greater for the Olympic participation than others. When you’re in Vancouver or Salt Lake City and you’re in North American time zones and you’re getting that type of coverage, then you are getting coverage that may be commensurate with shutting down,” Bettman said.
Has there ever been a better platform to push hockey in the U.S. then the last Olympics, at least since 1980? People at work were talking about hockey. My mom was talking about hockey. Hockey was on the front pages of major newspapers for weeks. Yet Bettman is unsure if it is worth it.
people can hate on bettman all they want, but the sport has grown so much in the united states since he's taken over. the amount of american players in the draft has increased.. just a few years back the first two players in the first round were american (kane and johnson i think). that's never happened before. not to mention there are players from untraditional markets being drafted. i think las vegas was one last year or the year before. how about the winter classic? the draft lottery? managing to keep the sport alive after the lockout and then actually making it better?
granted, he did mess up by putting so many teams down south. a few isn't a bad idea, but he flooded the market.
many canadians will probably comment saying that my post is biased towards americans, and yes it is. as a canadian, i know that the majority of canada will follow hockey no matter what. it's like many of us are brainwashed... jesus, they aired that stupid game where people skate down a hill of ice wearing hockey equipment on TSN instead of march madness... don't worry, march madness was on TSN 2, a channel that no one watches.
While i don't hate bettman, i don't agree with you. Bettman didn't really have a major role in getting more Americans to play. many owners have actually said that it was the great one who did more for hockey in the states. I don't know who was drafted from vegas last year but i suspect you might mean how the NHL awards was in vegas. The winter classic was made up now by the NHl but between 2 canadians teams but i will grant you that it is a big ratings boost for the NHL.
Under bettman rule, how many teams are either close to broke or broke. Bettman made dumb mistakes that hav ecost the NHL alot of money.
jason zucker, drafted by the wild. i do agree with you that gretzky being traded to LA had a huge impact on hockey culture, i just don't understand why everyone refuses to acknowledge some of the good bettman has done for the league.
teams go broke in every league under any type of ownership... just ask the sacramento kings. correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't the vikings in financial trouble, too? not to mention that teams went broke in the league before bettman became commissioner, and they'll go broke long after he's gone.
I'm biased against Bettman because he moved the schedule for the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals up one week when a banged-up Red Wings team that was missing key starters really needed some rest that was well earned ... and then made them play back-to-back nights (If Malken or Crosby were injured on the Penguins, that never, ever, ever, ever, ever, would have happened). But what really confirmed to me that this guy is a doofus, was his comment on the future of NHL participation in the Olympics:
“I know the players are passionate about representing their countries — we have a long history as a sport in international competition and that’s something that’s important to the players. But we have to decide, on balance, ‘is it worth it?” he asked.
In addition to the problems of shutting down the league for two weeks, Bettman expressed concerns about the NHL getting enough publicity during the event.
“In some places, the benefits are greater for the Olympic participation than others. When you’re in Vancouver or Salt Lake City and you’re in North American time zones and you’re getting that type of coverage, then you are getting coverage that may be commensurate with shutting down,” Bettman said.
Has there ever been a better platform to push hockey in the U.S. then the last Olympics, at least since 1980? People at work were talking about hockey. My mom was talking about hockey. Hockey was on the front pages of major newspapers for weeks. Yet Bettman is unsure if it is worth it.
What a tool.
lol you make a good point, but the reason why the coverage was so good is because it was in a strong hockey market and the gold medal game featured an amazing rivalry.
remember torino in 2006 when the usa and canada were both defeated early in the tournament? honestly, did you watch one game after that? i didn't.
lol you make a good point, but the reason why the coverage was so good is because it was in a strong hockey market and the gold medal game featured an amazing rivalry.
remember torino in 2006 when the usa and canada were both defeated early in the tournament? honestly, did you watch one game after that? i didn't.
I may have watched, but mainly because the Sweden national team is the Euro version of the Red Wings.
Still, he was making these comments during the middle of the Olympics when everything was going excellent on the PR front. I can see positioning yourself six months later because you are obviously working in the owner's best interests (avoid injuries to stars in non-sanctioned hockey), but to do it right after a great game between the US and Canada on live TV????
I just looked it up. 5 years, $7.2 million a year. It's like my one friends said, "He gets paid more than Lidstrom, but he does everything wrong." I actually heard that, for game 7 in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch made Bettman purchase a ticket. He refused to just give him one for free. Ilitch offered him a ticket at market value, gave him a window of time to buy it, and if Bettman refused to purchase it, he was going to release it for sale to the public.
Its not just us regular folk.
A good friend of mine works catering at rogers arena.
During the olympics she worked the player's suites... Served a lot of NHL'ers.
She said nearly every one of them shit talked Bettman once he turned his back.
I'm biased against Bettman because he moved the schedule for the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals up one week when a banged-up Red Wings team that was missing key starters really needed some rest that was well earned ... and then made them play back-to-back nights (If Malken or Crosby were injured on the Penguins, that never, ever, ever, ever, ever, would have happened). But what really confirmed to me that this guy is a doofus, was his comment on the future of NHL participation in the Olympics:
“I know the players are passionate about representing their countries — we have a long history as a sport in international competition and that’s something that’s important to the players. But we have to decide, on balance, ‘is it worth it?” he asked.
In addition to the problems of shutting down the league for two weeks, Bettman expressed concerns about the NHL getting enough publicity during the event.
“In some places, the benefits are greater for the Olympic participation than others. When you’re in Vancouver or Salt Lake City and you’re in North American time zones and you’re getting that type of coverage, then you are getting coverage that may be commensurate with shutting down,” Bettman said.
Has there ever been a better platform to push hockey in the U.S. then the last Olympics, at least since 1980? People at work were talking about hockey. My mom was talking about hockey. Hockey was on the front pages of major newspapers for weeks. Yet Bettman is unsure if it is worth it.
What a tool.
That's just an excuse...when I first started watching hockey in the late 70's it was quite common to play back to back playoff games. I love Mike Babcock quote last year when the Wings were eliminated in the second he said the guys could use the time to get more rest because they went to the conference finals and finals in 3 years...excuses... Montreal won 4 in a row late 70's, Islanders early 80's 4 in row 5 final appearances and Edmonton 5 in 7 years.
I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
That's just an excuse...when I first started watching hockey in the late 70's it was quite common to play back to back playoff games. I love Mike Babcock quote last year when the Wings were eliminated in the second he said the guys could use the time to get more rest because they went to the conference finals and finals in 3 years...excuses... Montreal won 4 in a row late 70's, Islanders early 80's 4 in row 5 final appearances and Edmonton 5 in 7 years.
Excuses maybe, but key players missed games they would have not missed had the original playoff schedule been met and Lidstrom skated the series with a ruptured testicle ( ) from the previous series. I don't know about you, but if Patrick Sharpe spears me in the nuts and causes a testicle to rupture, I'd like some extra time off work if I earned it.
My complaint is that the league manipulated the schedule and it gave Pittsburgh an advantage. If it was set up originally to play all seven Finals games back-to-back, so be it.
Anywho, unless I'm able to generate 1.7 gigawatts of energy, I'm not going to be able to change anything. Time to focus on this years events.
That's just an excuse...when I first started watching hockey in the late 70's it was quite common to play back to back playoff games. I love Mike Babcock quote last year when the Wings were eliminated in the second he said the guys could use the time to get more rest because they went to the conference finals and finals in 3 years...excuses... Montreal won 4 in a row late 70's, Islanders early 80's 4 in row 5 final appearances and Edmonton 5 in 7 years.
Excuses maybe, but key players missed games they would have not missed had the original playoff schedule been met and Lidstrom skated the series with a ruptured testicle ( ) from the previous series. I don't know about you, but if Patrick Sharpe spears me in the nuts and causes a testicle to rupture, I'd like some extra time off work if I earned it.
My complaint is that the league manipulated the schedule and it gave Pittsburgh an advantage. If it was set up originally to play all seven Finals games back-to-back, so be it.
Anywho, unless I'm able to generate 1.7 gigawatts of energy, I'm not going to be able to change anything. Time to focus on this years events.
They should be manipulating the schedule...hockey should be done at end of May or first week of June. I was camping our long weekend in May in like '79 and the Montreal-Rangers finals was being played, and they played with injuries then and it was a much rougher game then.
I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
Came across some funny Bieksa quotes, this one was my favorite:
"There's no referee, I don't know why he was trying to draw a penalty."
-Bieksa joking about Roberto Luongo going down after taking a shot from him in practice.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Comments
granted, he did mess up by putting so many teams down south. a few isn't a bad idea, but he flooded the market.
many canadians will probably comment saying that my post is biased towards americans, and yes it is. as a canadian, i know that the majority of canada will follow hockey no matter what. it's like many of us are brainwashed... jesus, they aired that stupid game where people skate down a hill of ice wearing hockey equipment on TSN instead of march madness... don't worry, march madness was on TSN 2, a channel that no one watches.
kane and JVR
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6395598
you gotta think hes winning that. the total turnaround tampa has had has been impressive. Stamkos blossoming doesnt hurt either.
but the point is is that he still did it regardless of where the idea came from.
While i don't hate bettman, i don't agree with you. Bettman didn't really have a major role in getting more Americans to play. many owners have actually said that it was the great one who did more for hockey in the states. I don't know who was drafted from vegas last year but i suspect you might mean how the NHL awards was in vegas. The winter classic was made up now by the NHl but between 2 canadians teams but i will grant you that it is a big ratings boost for the NHL.
Under bettman rule, how many teams are either close to broke or broke. Bettman made dumb mistakes that hav ecost the NHL alot of money.
A monkey could have done it. It wouldn't make the monkey a good commissioner. And I think Gretzky being traded to L.A. did more for hockey in southern California than anything Bettman ever did. (Edit: It looks like the person above me touched on that.)
“I know the players are passionate about representing their countries — we have a long history as a sport in international competition and that’s something that’s important to the players. But we have to decide, on balance, ‘is it worth it?” he asked.
In addition to the problems of shutting down the league for two weeks, Bettman expressed concerns about the NHL getting enough publicity during the event.
“In some places, the benefits are greater for the Olympic participation than others. When you’re in Vancouver or Salt Lake City and you’re in North American time zones and you’re getting that type of coverage, then you are getting coverage that may be commensurate with shutting down,” Bettman said.
Has there ever been a better platform to push hockey in the U.S. then the last Olympics, at least since 1980? People at work were talking about hockey. My mom was talking about hockey. Hockey was on the front pages of major newspapers for weeks. Yet Bettman is unsure if it is worth it.
What a tool.
jason zucker, drafted by the wild. i do agree with you that gretzky being traded to LA had a huge impact on hockey culture, i just don't understand why everyone refuses to acknowledge some of the good bettman has done for the league.
teams go broke in every league under any type of ownership... just ask the sacramento kings. correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't the vikings in financial trouble, too? not to mention that teams went broke in the league before bettman became commissioner, and they'll go broke long after he's gone.
lol you make a good point, but the reason why the coverage was so good is because it was in a strong hockey market and the gold medal game featured an amazing rivalry.
remember torino in 2006 when the usa and canada were both defeated early in the tournament? honestly, did you watch one game after that? i didn't.
Still, he was making these comments during the middle of the Olympics when everything was going excellent on the PR front. I can see positioning yourself six months later because you are obviously working in the owner's best interests (avoid injuries to stars in non-sanctioned hockey), but to do it right after a great game between the US and Canada on live TV????
Fuck Bettman, and fuck the Gretzky 'trade' too!
And while I'm at it, fuck the 94 Ranglers for winning our last cup.
A good friend of mine works catering at rogers arena.
During the olympics she worked the player's suites... Served a lot of NHL'ers.
She said nearly every one of them shit talked Bettman once he turned his back.
That's just an excuse...when I first started watching hockey in the late 70's it was quite common to play back to back playoff games. I love Mike Babcock quote last year when the Wings were eliminated in the second he said the guys could use the time to get more rest because they went to the conference finals and finals in 3 years...excuses... Montreal won 4 in a row late 70's, Islanders early 80's 4 in row 5 final appearances and Edmonton 5 in 7 years.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
And you were worried
Just superstitious.
Now you can focus on getting your team out of the cellar in the 5 Hole Against 1 playoff hockey challenge
My complaint is that the league manipulated the schedule and it gave Pittsburgh an advantage. If it was set up originally to play all seven Finals games back-to-back, so be it.
Anywho, unless I'm able to generate 1.7 gigawatts of energy, I'm not going to be able to change anything. Time to focus on this years events.
They should be manipulating the schedule...hockey should be done at end of May or first week of June. I was camping our long weekend in May in like '79 and the Montreal-Rangers finals was being played, and they played with injuries then and it was a much rougher game then.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
"There's no referee, I don't know why he was trying to draw a penalty."
-Bieksa joking about Roberto Luongo going down after taking a shot from him in practice.
Come on man, you know it's 1.21. And all you need is a little plutonium.
I'm sure in 1985 plutonium is available at every cornerstore. . . .
http://www.wedg.com//Article.asp?id=2167161
it kind of has the look of the town he lives in.
Goddamit. That game made me sick.
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16