RDRebelsfan
02-22-2005, 10:51 PM
I'm going to sum this up as best I can. Gary Bettman is forever going to be known as the man who drove hockey into the ground and pissed on the ashes. The man should be hung for treason.
So how did it happen?
The year was 1994. Gary Bettman was an NBA executive. As a matter of fact he was Commisioner David Stern's right hand man. The NBA owners loved him. Together with Stern, Bettman increased the owners profits like never before. He was successful as all hell and very well paid. He could have held the posistion for the rest of his career if he wanted.
And he should have.
In 1994, the NHL owners looked for a new commisioner. They saw what Bettman did for the NBA and offered him the job. He immediately took it. The Owners weren't thinking about what would be good for the sport when they made this decision, they just saw dollar signs. They thought Bettman would make them rich, richer than they had ever been. So they hired a man who previously had never even attended an NHL game.
This was 1994. The Rangers had just won the stanley cup, ending their drought. The cup was in New York City, the 2nd biggest TV market in North America. The NHL was getting loads of media attention from this and the sport was doing very well. The NHL should have fed off the momentum of a New York cup and carried that into next season. Instead,
Lockout.
I mean, could there have been a worse time for a lockout? This was a time when new fans were flocking to the NHL. The sport was growing, and Bettman, not even 1 year into his new job, calls a lockout.
Not only that, but one of Bettman's first acts as commisioner was to change the names of all the divisions and conferences. Just eliminating a part of hockey's history. I wonder if he even knew who people like Clarence Campbell or Norris even were.
And then came expansion. I'm not knocking Tampa Bay or Phoenix fans, but come on. Hockey in Florida? Arizona? Nashville? Carolina? San Jose? Why the hell does California have 3 freaking teams? Why does Florida have 2?
Unlike Football, Basketball, or Baseball, Hockey is a regional sport. You can grow up just about anywhere learning to play football, baseball, and basketball. Kids in Florida, Phoenix, and California don't play ice hockey. Why? BECAUSE THERE'S NO FRICKEN ICE.
Canada. Bettman could care less about the country that invented the sport. He took teams in Quebec and Winnipeg and moved them to Colorado and Phoenix.
Granted, Colorado is a very successful team both financially and playing wise, but it was wrong to sacrifice Quebec.
Hockey in the desert is just absurd. That is like night and day. They are polar opposites.
Moving Hartford to Carolina? Jesus Christ. Detroit Fox Sports did a segment during the 2002 Cup Finals when they pitted Detroit fans against Carolina fans on their hockey knowledge. Out of 10 Carolina fans [who signed up to be part of this by the way] only 1 could even describe what icing was.
Expansion is what really killed the league I think. It watered it down, and it just wasn't successful. Its because of teams like San Jose, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, and Florida, teams that can't fill their arenas that Owners have cried for a salary cap and cost certainty. Well dumbasses, what the hell did you expect? The NHL was doing fine before those teams came along and dragged everyone else down.
Look at Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, Colorado, and New York. They are all successful teams, they always have full arenas and GASP. They're all in the North. Anyone taking a hint here?
Bettman should have done the right thing and admitted he made a mistake by expanding when those owners started complianing. He should have bit the bullet and stepped down rather than call a lockout to satisfty some of the owners but obviously not all of them.
Do you really think the owners of the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers are going to sit back and accept another season being cancelled or the lockout going on into next season? There's going to be mutiny.
You know, honestly, I'm all for boycotting hockey until the day Bettman steps down. Goodenow too. I will be physically sick if either of them are still around when the NHL finally resumes. [If it ever resumes. This could very well be the end of the NHL]
Such a great sport, that's given us the miracle on ice, years of great players, probably the best playoffs in any sport, is just about dead. And what does the man responsible have to say? He was quoted at his press conference last Wednesday saying "I have absolutly no concerns that the fans won't come flocking back"
You ****ing idiot.
__________________
So how did it happen?
The year was 1994. Gary Bettman was an NBA executive. As a matter of fact he was Commisioner David Stern's right hand man. The NBA owners loved him. Together with Stern, Bettman increased the owners profits like never before. He was successful as all hell and very well paid. He could have held the posistion for the rest of his career if he wanted.
And he should have.
In 1994, the NHL owners looked for a new commisioner. They saw what Bettman did for the NBA and offered him the job. He immediately took it. The Owners weren't thinking about what would be good for the sport when they made this decision, they just saw dollar signs. They thought Bettman would make them rich, richer than they had ever been. So they hired a man who previously had never even attended an NHL game.
This was 1994. The Rangers had just won the stanley cup, ending their drought. The cup was in New York City, the 2nd biggest TV market in North America. The NHL was getting loads of media attention from this and the sport was doing very well. The NHL should have fed off the momentum of a New York cup and carried that into next season. Instead,
Lockout.
I mean, could there have been a worse time for a lockout? This was a time when new fans were flocking to the NHL. The sport was growing, and Bettman, not even 1 year into his new job, calls a lockout.
Not only that, but one of Bettman's first acts as commisioner was to change the names of all the divisions and conferences. Just eliminating a part of hockey's history. I wonder if he even knew who people like Clarence Campbell or Norris even were.
And then came expansion. I'm not knocking Tampa Bay or Phoenix fans, but come on. Hockey in Florida? Arizona? Nashville? Carolina? San Jose? Why the hell does California have 3 freaking teams? Why does Florida have 2?
Unlike Football, Basketball, or Baseball, Hockey is a regional sport. You can grow up just about anywhere learning to play football, baseball, and basketball. Kids in Florida, Phoenix, and California don't play ice hockey. Why? BECAUSE THERE'S NO FRICKEN ICE.
Canada. Bettman could care less about the country that invented the sport. He took teams in Quebec and Winnipeg and moved them to Colorado and Phoenix.
Granted, Colorado is a very successful team both financially and playing wise, but it was wrong to sacrifice Quebec.
Hockey in the desert is just absurd. That is like night and day. They are polar opposites.
Moving Hartford to Carolina? Jesus Christ. Detroit Fox Sports did a segment during the 2002 Cup Finals when they pitted Detroit fans against Carolina fans on their hockey knowledge. Out of 10 Carolina fans [who signed up to be part of this by the way] only 1 could even describe what icing was.
Expansion is what really killed the league I think. It watered it down, and it just wasn't successful. Its because of teams like San Jose, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, and Florida, teams that can't fill their arenas that Owners have cried for a salary cap and cost certainty. Well dumbasses, what the hell did you expect? The NHL was doing fine before those teams came along and dragged everyone else down.
Look at Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, Colorado, and New York. They are all successful teams, they always have full arenas and GASP. They're all in the North. Anyone taking a hint here?
Bettman should have done the right thing and admitted he made a mistake by expanding when those owners started complianing. He should have bit the bullet and stepped down rather than call a lockout to satisfty some of the owners but obviously not all of them.
Do you really think the owners of the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers are going to sit back and accept another season being cancelled or the lockout going on into next season? There's going to be mutiny.
You know, honestly, I'm all for boycotting hockey until the day Bettman steps down. Goodenow too. I will be physically sick if either of them are still around when the NHL finally resumes. [If it ever resumes. This could very well be the end of the NHL]
Such a great sport, that's given us the miracle on ice, years of great players, probably the best playoffs in any sport, is just about dead. And what does the man responsible have to say? He was quoted at his press conference last Wednesday saying "I have absolutly no concerns that the fans won't come flocking back"
You ****ing idiot.
__________________