Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
I’m going to step on Gayle’s toes a little here and delve into a subject I’ve been wondering about for a couple of years now; Is the current Commissioner of the National Hockey League the best man for the job?
“Dale and Holley� got a discussion going on WEEI this morning, using a column that blasted Gary Bettman for the state of the NHL as the jumping off point. (I missed the beginning of the segment, so I don’t know where the article they were talking about is…if you know, please pass that info along). The gist of it; when Chicago is sometimes drawing only 6,000, Boston often gets only 9,000 and hockey crazed Philadelphia has more no-shows a nun’s hemline, perhaps it’s time for a change at the top.
I couldn’t agree more! The fact the All-Star game is on a Wednesday night on a network most of
Taking games off ESPN was a disastrous move. Doing it the year following a season-killing strike was suicide. Sports owners in the 50’s and 60’s mistakenly thought television would hurt the live gate. On the contrary, they found television exposure was the greatest advertisement any league or franchise could get.
It’s a basic rule of any sport, and yet the Commissioner of the NHL, a man who learned at the feet of David Stern, thought it was a great idea to take miniscule money from a no-name network instead of getting whatever he could from the most visible cable sports outlet in the world. He should have known better. After 13-years in charge, the league he runs should be in much better shape.
It’s time for Gary Bettman to step aside for the good of a great sport!
What do you think? Should Bettman hand the reins over to someone else? Is there even anything that can be done to save the NHL? Notice, I said the NHL, not hockey?
Comments (8)
Ouch, I thought I felt something land on my big toe of my right foot - LOL.
Funny thing is I was actually listening to the same thing on 'EEI this morning and will touch more on it later.... look for my Back To Work post which shoudl be up in a few hours
Posted by Lady Bruins Fan | January 25, 2007 2:25 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 14:25
I don't think there's a near-term future for pro hockey without the N. There isn't another premier league that could fill the void if the N implodes. The AHL will go down with the parent league. It would take years to retool the ECHL, CHL and UHL to take on the big city markets, they have to stay regional to stay afloat. And please don't make me ROFL by dreaming about reviving the WHA or WHA2 or WHAtever. Better to salvage the N.
I didn't like Bettman before the lockout, don't like him now. But he was in a tough position. And I think ESPN didn't want the NHL back after the year-long hiatus, poker and billiards were drawing so well by comparison. :P So I don't believe Bettman had a choice about TV markets. Of course there's the question of whether he did everything possible to avoid the lockout. If not, the loss of ESPN is certainly his doing. Should he lose his job for that? Depends whether you think anybody else could fix the mess. Do you know of a good candidate for the job? Nobody from New England, I suppose?
Posted by Terri | January 25, 2007 2:46 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 14:46
The ESPN thing was definitely his fault, with or without the lockout. He should have just taken what was offered because incentive based money from ESPN is better than what OLN/Versus was giving them. They were just coming back off a lockout...they needed exposure, not to be hidden in the darkest closets of cable television. Versus isn't even available on Dish Network.
Should he lose his job just for that? Well, it's not just that. February will be his 13-year anniversary on the job, and the National Hockey League is in much worse shape than when he took over. Ultimately, the buck stops in the commissioner's office.
Replacements? Your guess is as good as mine, but he'd better be a visionary with enough business sense and clout to get a bunch of backward looking owners to start looking toward the future and the long-term good of the league instead of the short-term cash that comes with lousy TV deals and too many expansion teams.
Posted by Teddy Panos | January 25, 2007 4:30 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 16:30
The thing is... I think the actual product is MUCH, MUCH better than in prior years now. The game is more wide open, there is less of the clutching and grabbing going on, etc. Just get those darn goalie pads down to something less than the size of the broadside of a barn and you'll be in business.
LOTS of good young players: Crosby, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, and even a local in Phil Kessel (why not more "feel good" stories about him???). They need to lose about 8-10 teams (maybe move all of the teams in the south to Canada???) Seriously- I was on a business trip to Atlanta in December and took in a Ducks/Trashers games and was amazed at the speed/skill of these teams yet the PA actually announced the icings and offsides!?!?!
Posted by dboisver | January 25, 2007 5:41 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 17:41
They can't even have the nhl allstar game on a big network?? What the heck is channel 65?? I didn't know my tv channels went up that high. Another observation, (this has no meaning) but it seems that all of the contributers to blogs with hockey themes are female. Is it popular amongst females?? Not that this is a bad thing but where are the women on the rest of the blogs?? The last time i remember was when one of you discussed the stupidity of pink sports attire when no pro teams have pink in their uniforms. That was right on. Hockey, by the way has gonedown the toilet. They should fire everyong involved and start all over
Posted by BIG ERN | January 25, 2007 6:35 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 18:35
Congrats...you are now in the running for NHL Commissioner. In that brief posting, you've shown more common sense than the guy running the league all these years.
Anyone second the motion?
Posted by Teddy Panos | January 25, 2007 6:39 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 18:39
I DO like the way he stuck it to the players union. Bud "NO SPINE" Selig should take note.
Posted by Legend Killer | January 25, 2007 8:19 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 20:19
Bettman is awful. Between expansion, the new rules and the network, the NHL has become awful. All the players are the same (can skate, handle and skate more). Gone are the different type of role players (fighters, scrappers, real PK-specialists) that made it so fun. NHL stinks.
Posted by Greek Thunder | January 25, 2007 9:53 PM
Posted on January 25, 2007 21:53