CTV News: Gary Bettman won't apologize for NHL lockouts during his tenure

#450711958 / gettyimages.com

This is an interesting article about NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman. Apparently, he's not going to apologize for the NHL's previous lockouts. Personally, I have always thought that Bettman is an unlikable figure that gets booed in almost every NHL city that he shows up in. That being said, if the owners didn't want him, he would have been gone already.

Stephen Whyno, The Canadian Press -- Gary Bettman was walking down a Toronto street recently when a fan approached him.

"Some guy walks up to me and says, 'I really don't like you,"' the NHL commissioner recalled. "And I said, 'But you don't know me.' And he says, 'Yeah but I don't like work stoppages, and I go, 'Well neither do I, so we have that in common."'

Bettman will forever take a popularity hit for three lockouts during his tenure, but he won't apologize for them. Ten years after the league ground to a halt and the 2004-05 season was cancelled, he maintains it was necessary for the health of the sport.

NHL proactive about off-ice conduct, Gary Bettman says.

Pointing to the '04 Stanley Cup final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames in which the team to score the first goal won each game of the series and contrasting that with the 2013 playoffs and its unpredictability, Bettman believes the on-ice product is better than ever.

To get to this point, though, Bettman said implementing the salary cap -- which came out of the 2004-05 lockout -- was essential.

"We had teams with 80-, 90 million-dollar payrolls and we had teams with 20-million-dollar payrolls," Bettman said at a recent Canadian Club luncheon. "And I would talk to the managers and coaches of the 20-million-dollar teams and go, 'How are you doing this?' And they would say to me, to a man, 'We clutch, we grab, we hook, we hold and we do everything possible to neutralize skill for 50 minutes and then we try to steal the game.'

Saturday night humor

Spector on NHL: Bettman, you're fired

This blog post is for my good buddy Redwing77 – being a self-professed Gary Bettman hater I am sure that he will like this article by Mark Spector from Sportsnet.CA. I do agree that it’s time for NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to go and tomorrow wouldn’t be soon enough.

When it comes to the National Hockey League and its incessant lockouts, there are still a couple of questions we've never found the answers to:

Like, how is it that the average NHL salary of $2.4 million sits between Major League Baseball's ($3.4 million) and the National Football League ($1.9 million), when hockey's revenues are nowhere close to those other leagues?

And we're still seeking an answer to why one side of this hockey debate gets 57 per cent of the revenues and doesn't pay any of the bills, while the other side gets the 43 per cent, all of the expenses, and carries the financial risk.

But, there is one thing we are absolutely certain of today, as hockey winds through its third lockout in the past 18 years:

It is time for Gary Bettman to go.

Get this thing squared up, Gary, then call it a day. See Human Resources, sign the papers, and move on with your life.

The only thing that would make it better would be to have Donald Trump to send Bettman his walking papers in the form of a video telling him that he’s fired.

You are not effective anymore, Gary, and the time has come to go in a different direction.

Pack up your things. We'll be in contact.

You're fired.

Like I have said in the past, any counter proposal that the NHLPA puts forward to the NHL Owners should include a proposal to have Bettman removed from his position as Commissioner of the NHL. Nothing good can come from Bettman remaining in the Commissioner's position. I also think that by Bettman being removed as Commissioner of the NHL would go a long way in healing the hurt feeling between both sides. It would also be interesting to know how many of the owners feel this way about Bettman who has become a very polerizing figure in the NHL.

Lockout Humor

#nolockout #bettmansucks #nohockeyleague

Tweets from today.

@_markmarino @goon48 @themikemoonan @_timrosenthal @bruinsdaily Keep it going everyone. #FireBettman
— Chris Wassel (@ChrisWasselTHW) September 1, 2012

Guessing NHL might shut down camps well before then RT @renlavoierds: Meeting on Sept 12 & 13 in New York for NHLPA members
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) September 1, 2012

Fehr -- if you can get an agreement on big conceptual issues the rest of a deal can be done pretty quickly#NHL #NHLPA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 31, 2012

Bettman -- we got stonewalled today so we're not in position to move ahead on other issues#NHL #NHLPA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 31, 2012

agent on NHLPA: “Back in 2004, the NHLPA was synonymous with apathy. That's changed since then. It’s a whole new world right now."
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) August 31, 2012

Fact: NHLPA proposals do more to help small market teams with $100M industry Growth Fund than last NHL offer. @puckinghockey
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 31, 2012

Fehr & NHLPA want revenue sharing but have to believe there are numerous NHL owners who oppose that, or at least a few of the big ones
— Ed Frankovic (@EdFrankovic) August 31, 2012

For the rest of us, lager heads in order. RT @sn_nhl: Talks resume, end quickly as NHL, union remain at loggerheads dlvr.it/24wlF3
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) August 31, 2012

NHL players stand their ground, talks break off #NHL #NHLPA #CBA #badnews tinyurl.com/9l3rodo
— Pat Leonard (@NYDNRangers) August 31, 2012

Bettman points out MLB's 8 work stoppages. Mentions player strike before World Series. Mark today as the day it got ugly.
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) August 31, 2012

Here are some of the tweets that I found today that relate to the NHL CBA Negoiations - as most of you know already, talks broke off today and it appears that there is a huge gap between the NHLPA and the NHL owners. While there is still time to get a new CBA agreement in place it would appear that is not going to happen and the fans should think about making other plans for at least the start of the hockey season. This is beginning to look a like 2004-05 all over again.  

Players indicating NHL 1st CBA proposal looked to reduce player salaries by 24%, 2nd proposal by 19.3%.Reason for NHLPA counter today #tsn
— Aaron Ward (@aaronward_nhl) August 31, 2012

How long is the lockout going to be?

The NHL owners are not doing themselves a favor if they lock themselves out – they are also taking the fans for granted if they think that their bottom line won’t suffer more from having a work stoppage. The fans remember that not too long ago there was a lost season. In case anyone is counting - this would be the third work stoppage under the tutelage of Gary Bettman – that there was a work stoppage – the fans don’t have short memories.

That being said there is some home – not all is lost – the fact that the NHL makes a boat load of money off of the Winter Classic gives the owners some incentive to get a deal done before the "whole" season is squandered away and the work stoppage start cutting into their precious bottom line and their 3.3 billion dollars profit that they experienced this past season.

David Shoalts, The Globe and Mail --- Now that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has ripped the scales of optimism from too many eyes, the only question is: How long will the lockout be?

Will it wipe out an entire season like the owners did in 2004-05 to get the salary-cap system they now say is impossible to work under? Or will the players and owners get a new collective agreement in time to save the Winter Classic on Jan. 1, the event that kicks off the NHL's U.S. television coverage and mega-millions payout from NBC?

Either unpalatable outcome is possible. The players and owners are oceans apart on the key, and perhaps only, issue - whether the money needed to close the gap between the league's rich and not-so-rich teams has to come out of the players' pockets or through revenue sharing.

Gary Bettman reduces Raffi Torres suspension

s/t to George Malik of Kuklas Korner. This action by Gary Bettman really makes my blood boil. Raffi Torres is a multiple time offender and was given the correct number of games, now Bettman decides to reduce the Torres Suspension by 4 games.

From TSN’s Darren Dreger: It appears that Raffi Torres won’t serve the 25 games he was slated to sit out for concussing Marian Hossa:

Sources say Gary Bettman has reached a decision on Raffi Torres suspension appeal.

Expected to reduce suspension by 4 games. 12 down to 8. ... Torres was suspended 25 games after a hit on Chicago’s Marian Hossa in game 3 of 1st round of the playoffs. ...

To be clear, my math shows Torres had 12 games remaining in suspension. Reduction by 4 and 8 games remain next season

So the NHL is saying by reducing this suspension that they don’t care about “Player Safety.” If not, what statement are they trying to make? You have a player in Raffi Torres that is the poster boy of what is wrong with the NHL. Torres is a dirty player that skates all over the ice taking runs at players and many times making contact with the head.

Is that Bettman or Booman?

When will the NHL come to the realization that Gary “Buttman” Bettman is ruining the image of the NHL? When ever Bettman is asked a question by fans or the press he sounds like a condescending American politician or high priced trial lawyer. What really bothers me and other is his smugness and arrogance as well.

To a chorus of boos, of course.
Why does Bettman insist on putting himself through the humiliation of hearing the catcalls? He heard them on the biggest stage when he presented the Chicago Blackhawks with the Stanley Cup in June. Tuesday he heard them at the 1,200-seat venue, which was full of children.

We understand why Bettman needed to be in the building on both occasions. Obviously, he needs to be in the house when the league’s champions are crowned.

In the Dundas instance, he wanted to show he believes in the grassroots of hockey. We get that. Not to be overly cynical about it, it was also an opportunity for TV time.

Yet in hindsight, does it really help the image of the NHL — and the future of the NHL — when the guy running the league is being booed in front of several hundred children? Why bring on the hatred by taking centre stage at centre ice?

Surely, Bettman couldn’t have imagined the crowd was going to seranade him. Remember, Dundas is only a long slapshot away from the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, the place where the NHL commissioner so steadfastly refused to consider as a landing spot for the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes franchise last year.

Dundas is, in fact, now part of the amalgamated city of Hamilton. (We can imagine Bettman was jumping for joy when a community connected to Hamilton won the rights to the game over every other Canadian possibility).[Read the whole article here]

Pronger's Antics Get NHL Front Office Endorsement (RW77)

As I stated earlier, I'm not convinced that Pronger is a worthless hack. However, I do feel that what he's done in this series isn't all legal either.... or is it?

Today on some East Coast ESPN radio affiliate, NHL head moron Gary Bettman basically endorsed what Pronger's done thus far in the playoffs and inferred that the officials got it right by not calling the game... you know... by the rulebook.

This isn't exactly news. It's no secret that Playoff rules are different than regular season rules. It's an unwritten rule, for sure.

Here's a few interesting quotes from NBA.. I mean NHL commissioner Gary Bettman:

"It depends on who you're rooting for, but he's been around long enough to know how to get close to the line without crossing it."

Why is Bettman talking about who people root for? The question isn't about what the FANS think. Quennville is questioning the LEGALITY of his acts in relation to THE NHL RULEBOOK. Screw the fans.

Ok ok... Maybe he said that because he's afraid of the Philly fanbase after what happened to the Montreal based journalist's car? That's gotta be it.

The article on ESPN.com stated that Bettman "didn't mind the publicity generated by the stunts." (Paragraph 6 of the article found at: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=5251980)

Of course he doesn't! Bettman is concerned by only one thing: Publicity. If it gets butts in the seats and people tuned in, YIPPEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I admit that viewership is a prime concern of the NHL. And I do want people to tune in to watch even if it isn't the Red Wings playing. But at the cost of the rulebook and the integrity of the game? NO FLIPPING WAY.

"It's bringing attention to the game," Bettman said. "It's showing our players have personality."

Is that so, Bettman? Is that so? That's the message we want to send to potential viewers? Watch the NHL tonight! You don't know what kind of low life behavior is going to happen tonight!

Bettman is TRULY an amazing man. And when David Stern retires, the world will find out. And the NHL will rejoice as they'll finally be rid of the most worthless excuse for a commissioner of any professional sport that hasn't been accused of breaking U.S. law.

You're pathetic Gary. You're nothing more than a different angle on the Hollywood stereotype that states that the best sleep their way to the top. I just wonder who you slept with.

I don't see why ANYONE outside of Philadelphia's fanbase would EVER want the Flyers to win the Cup.

Citation note: All quotes in this article was taken from this article written by a staff writer (unknown) out of ESPNChicago.com. The article can be found here.

Hockey Night in Canada; Scott Oake with Gary Bettman (2010-05-11)

This is why a lot of people don't like Gary Bettman, and neither do I. Bettman is one of the most pompous, smug and arrogant people and he is not good for the NHL. The NHL has been doing this dance with the Phoenix Coyotes for a long time and blowing 30 million dollars a year in losses. It's almost like Bettman is going to go down with the Phoenix Coyotes just to prove a point. The guy should run for congress because he fails to ever answer a question directly.