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Predators fiasco puts spotlight on Bettman — again

STEPHEN BRUNT

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 6:59 PM EST 18/08/08

NHL commissioner had a heavy hand in team's purchase by Del Biaggio's group of investors ...Read the full article

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  1. Allan Cup Pugh from SSM,ON, Canada writes: Gary Bettman must go.
    Fan hatred is not enough, unfortunately.
    However, as Stephen Brunt alludes to at the end of the article, this may be the issue that forces the billionaries into action.
    It's all about the money, right?
  2. Montgomery C. Burns from Springfield, Canada writes: Jim Balsillie doesn't look so bad now, does he Gary?
  3. D W from Switzerland writes: Selig and Loria had nothing on this duo;
    same results on the horizon, except Montreal has a history of pro baseball, while Nashville ....
  4. Larfing Outloud from Virgin Islands (British) writes:
    Bettman

    OUT

    NOW!!!
  5. sam themacman from Waterloo, Canada writes: All it would take to remove Bettman was ownership in Toronto, Detroit, Montreal and New York to rebel against him. Them Bettman and his basketball would be gone!

    The NHL needs a Balsilie to come in and show what money, knowledge and passion for the game can do to prosper the game. Let him buy a franchise and let him relocate it, preferably in the Waterloo region area, and then watch what happens when a wealthy owner buys a team and passionately loves the game.

    But unfortunately the NHL has no vision for such things. They are still trying to sell hockey in basketball country! Freakin' idiots!
  6. Ron Cola from Milton, Canada writes: Great article Brunt. It gives us all more proof that Bettman is as slimy as we all think he is. I have always speculated that the 'closed door' draft lottery that went on after the '05 strike was resolved may have been rigged so that the struggling Penguins would end up with Crosby. Now with this story about Bettmans dealing with Boots, it would not surprise me one bit if that draft lottery was indeed fixed by Bettman.
  7. A. W. from Canada writes: Mr.Bettman is one smart cat. Nothing sticks to him. The boos from the crowd in Ottawa did not phased him one bit. He has a very hard shell.
    IMHO, I think he love a good fight, whether it is Bob Goodenow or Jim Balsilie or even Chris Chelios
    First and foremost look at his history.
    Gary is a lawyer from Queens. A graduate fron Cornell. He is works for the owners,not the players,not the fans and not the sponsers.
    He has been the commission since 93 where the revenues went from around 400M to over 2 Billion. Imagine, Ted Lindsey was try to organize
    a union back when it was 6 teams and for his troubles got shipped off to
    the worst team in the league.
    Gary has done the same thing to Senoir RIM. Back to Waterloo buddy.(bloody shame)
    He might retire,he might resign but one thing is for sure,he will leave when he is ready and on his terms.
  8. Prussian Prince from Canada writes: Three good things I see out of all of this: 1. Nashville's precarious hold on the Preds continues, thus leaving open the possibility that this franchise may be on the move (North!) sooner rather than later; 2. Boots is now out as an oft-cited league-favoured new owner of an expansion franchise in KC or Vegas and thus the risk of league expansion (or the likelihood of the league not franchising) into those markets is even greater; and, 3. There is one less potential investor for a failing small market American franchise that would favour moving to another small market American city such as KC or Vegas.
  9. Neil No more last name from Mississauga, Canada writes: Balsilie for commissioner????
  10. Neil No more last name from Mississauga, Canada writes: Bob McCowan and Brunt and others have been going at this hard on Prime Time sports. Prime time has had a few owners from around the league on the show to discuss Del Biaggio.
    Most owners plead ignorance and state they and Bettman were dooped. I think it's bull sht.

    Kris King from the Flames went as far as saying, absolutley nothing and played the company line to a T. The Canadian owners realize they are supporting the league right now, but they also don't forget when the big market teams in the U.S. were saving their bacon. See 2 seasons ago.

    it's a mess for sure - The Ducks owners are in trouble, Tampa Bay's owners are more WWE than NHL, Melnyk has his "banking" problems, the Leafs - my Lord the Leafs, Balsilie with tonnes of dough is shut out in favour of a crook called "Boots", no one's watching hockey in over half of the American markets, they rely on Gate revenue but teams in the U.S. are virtually (sometimes literally) giving tickets away, no ESPN.

    All of this is just degrading the NHL into Bush league status.
  11. Scottish Gary from Boston, Canada writes: What I don't get is how the NHL leadership under Bettman continues to miss the boat on the revenue increases. As stated in numerous pieces, the vast majority of the revenue growth, if not all, has come from the increase in the Canadian dollar and the growth of the Canadian franchises.

    So again, why are teams not being realocated to where the market, the growth and the money is? He stopped Basille from moving the Preds to Leafland, we know that was the Leafs doing. But why he is allowing them to move to a hockey mecca such as Kansis city vs another Canadian city is beyond me.

    Hate Bettman for the decisions he's made fine, but at the end of the day he has pushed the business interests of the owners for a decade now. But how he can keep avoiding solid money making markets for southern US teams I just don't get it - please show me the business case to prove me wrong.

    Here's how I see it, move Florida to Quebec City (like Florida deserves 2 teams and Quebec 1), LA or Anaheim to Winnipeg and Nashville to Hamilton. (I'm a Leafs fan and a healthy alternative to them is what they need!).
    Just my two cents....
  12. Gary Dare from Portland, Oregon, Canada, writes: Scottish Gary from Boston writes, "So again, why are teams not being realocated to where the market, the growth and the money is?" I think that there are two issues at work ... a) relocating a team to Canada will impact franchise values in the US, and b) Bettman's policy has been to oppose relocation unless it's by a current owner. Paul Allen twice tried to buy and move the Penguins and then the Coyotes to Portland, Oregon and Bettman worked hard to find shaky local ownership for them.
  13. Greg Naydiuk from United States writes: Pat Quinn for NHL commissioner - quick!
  14. Terry Terry from Brantford, Canada writes: I keep wondering why we don't hear from Katy Hutchinson anymore on this topic. Gee I hope she's ok.
  15. Devil Bud from T.O., Canada writes: Unless the NHL gets a Constitution, you will never see a franchise within Toronto's market. This area is even larger when one considers Buffalo as well. So, arguments about Winnipeg and Quebec City are totally possible, although, maybe not from an economic perspective. Sure, these teams could get the fans, but what about corporate sponsors, T.V. deals, etc. It just isn't there. Likewise, such economic fortunes are not available in many of the small U.S. centres that currently have franchises either. I would to see it, but before the whole league goes tumbling, the Board should start to consider the options of contraction as well. There is always the possibility that there just isn't a market for that much hockey in the U.S. Bettman seems to think that the market can expand, new fans, new money, new T.V. deals, new corporate sponsors. However, if that number is static, and they have reached as much as they can, then, the only option is to find a league structure that optimizes the actual net worth of the league. I am sick of hearing about teams like Nashville, Columbus, Florida, etc. They should have no place in this league, and Bettman's over-expansion will be the undoing. Not to mention Bettman's constant assault upon the game itself. For all those owners out there...it's hockey, if you don't like it too bad. Go start your own sport if you don't like the rules.
  16. Neil No more last name from Canada writes: effin eh Devil Bud
  17. Toby Maloney from Canada writes: I don't think anyone in Winnipeg ever saw him as a defender of small market Canadain hockey. All we ever saw was sunbelt misadventures that spurned Canadian fans in search of potential markets that never materialized. A beer company that did the same would be swallowed by a US company, oh wait that happened too. My question is how many times can a CEO go the wrong way and not get handed the golden parachute?
  18. Baldy Cotton from Canada writes: While I do enjoy Brunt's columns, and this is a good piece, I do think that he's actually too kind to buttman here. Unlike Ziegler, this oily homunculus has been a blatantly in-your-face hoops-humper from the beginning, and his over-expansion scheme has been an unmitigated disaster (myNHL . . . please). Yes, he's very smooth, but he's been doing square peg-round hole with this game for over 15 years. All while claiming that he "grew up" as a rabid Isles fan. Uh, yeah, right. Time to take the crazy runt out behind the barn and . . . well, y'know.
  19. Original Six Fan from Canada writes: It's fine for the posters and the public to continually jeer and run on about Bettman's gotta go but as long as he has the key American owners in his hip pocket what chances are there of that happening? If he in fact Bettman played "fast and loose" with the NHL's own rules in the case of getting Del Baggage in place in Nashville and was complicit in some under the table arrangements to subsequently allow Del Baggage to move the team to KC or Las Vegas, then is it possible that a formal and legal hearing be undertaken to expose the whole thing? Surely, he very well may have broken the rules himslef in his shady dealings here and that would be grounds to turf his sorry butt out of the Commish's office.
  20. Michael Mule from United States writes: You won't hear from Katy but you will hear from me. Is everyone forgetting that Boots was already a minority owner with the Sharks and showed no signs of his current problems while being with that franchise. Of course he probably had designs to move the team to another location that has no major interest in hockey, it was known by Bettman all along in case Nashville Metro didn't approve the new lease. What wasn't known was his involvement with the previous owner who lent him money just so he could buy the Wild. It's a whole sordid mess and should be looked into. The Preds will have a new minority owner shortly to pick up the slack now that the lease has been approved and the team will be here for another five years at the least. And saying that a man who stole and was convicted of stealing intellectual propoerty for his own companies gain should be an NHL owner and have a team in Hamilton of all places is plain irresponsible.
  21. bill d from Canada writes: Bettman has reminded the fans that the NHL is a business first even if the product keeps getting less palatable and fun for the fans. One thing promised by Bettman and forgotten was to make the ticket prices more affordable for the average fan. Ticket prices for such a lame product are unreasonably high and show no signs of getting cheaper. I still love NHL hockey and I'll watch it on tv but I refuse to pay anywhere close to the current prices for tickets to line the pocket of greedy owners and players. Bettman et al can go take a flying leap.
  22. Gary Dare from Portland, Oregon, Canada, writes: Michael Mule writes, "Is everyone forgetting that Boots was already a minority owner with the Sharks and showed no signs of his current problems while being with that franchise." Boots' fortune was still rising as the pyramid scheme was still being erected. And the Sharks had a lot of minority owners so the entry cost wasn't very stiff (the dozen or so minority owners included Greg Reyes, ex-CEO of Brocade Communications who was later caught in a stock option timing scandal - a la Henry Samueli, the sole owner of the Anaheim Ducks).

    "Of course he probably had designs to move the team to another location that has no major interest in hockey, it was known by Bettman all along in case Nashville Metro didn't approve the new lease." I won't say 'told ya so' because I don't think that was primarily the case, only a remote contingency plan. Bettman's greater interest seemed to be grooming Boots to be a majority owner one day (not that an internship is required but Bettman could finish his NHL career by pointing to Boots as 'his guy').

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