Should Gary Bettman be fired?

Question

In my opinion, I believe he is the worst commissioner in pro sports. The commissioner is supposed to spark interest, and make the game grow as a whole, just look at tagaligue and stern and what they have done fo their leagues. Bettman is KILLING his league. In the mid '90s, everybody was talking that hockey might get so big it might become bigger than basketball, while I never believed it to going that big. Bettman and the players, and the league have the worst time connecting to fans after the strike. Bettman's worst dcison as the commissioner is giving the TV deal to VS. VS is a channel in the 600s at my satelittle at home, and is very hard t find. If Bettmann were smart, he needed to realize if he was going to be on that channel, ESPN, the major sports channel, was not going to give the league a ton of attention that the game deserves. Bettman is driving the game of hockey to the ground, and is probably not even in the top 4 sports anymore. NHL needs2 ad youngguys2becomebig

Answer 1

I dont watch anymore . He has created hid drem the NBA on Ice. It is horrid and perhaps his stupidest move of many was "placing" Sydney Crosby in Pittsburg which now he wants to move the team. Remember he changed the draft rules and it should have been (based on previous record) The NY Rangers pick. I see more of the officails than players EVERY GAME!!!! Did you like Domi,Probert,Langdon,Odgick,Byers, Nystrom, Dave Brown, Nilan etc etc etc...YOU WILL NEVER SEE A CHARACTER PLAYER AGAIN. F Bettman, F the NHL, and I wish it a good death.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

YES! Gary Bettman is a horrible commisioner for the game of hockey. Not only was he suggested for the job by NBA commisioner David Stern to reck the NHL (seeing that the NHL actually was doing better than the NBA in the early-mid 90's), but looking back at his 15 year tenure, what good has he done? None. He changed the game to fit his marketing strategy instead of changing his marketing strategy to fit the game, causing the sport we all love to become very commercial. Before Bettman came along, the NHL actually was more popular in New York than the NBA was. Bettman has caused a lockout, overexpansion, out-of-wack schedules, and fightless rivalries. Bettman shows zero respect for the game of hockey. The only good thing he has given to the NHL is a salary cap, the shootout, and the no red line rule.

Answer 4

He should.....WHEN and IF somebody is found who will do the things it will take to improve the game.

Most of you have not given any examples of what HE PERSONALLY has done to mess the sport up, he is just your whipping boy for everything. Bettman did NOT put Crosby in Pittsburgh. Bettman did NOT order Bertuzzi and McSorley to commit assault. Bettman did NOT tell the New York Rangers to give everyone multi-million dollar contracts and miss the playoffs 7 straight seasons. Bettman did NOT decide that enforcers use up a valuable roster space that could be given to a player with more skill. Bettman did NOT tell the Chicago Black Hawks, Los Angeles Kings, and Philadelphia Flyers to lose games so that the largest cities lose interest in hockey. Bettman DID change the rules (shootout and obstruction calls) to what EVERYBODY said they wanted.

Before I want a new commissioner, I want to know what it is he plans to do. And just watch, a year from now at this site you'll be complaining about Brett Hull, Wayne Gretzky, Don Cherry, or whoever it is.

Answer 5

Gary Bettman...Fired?? OF COURSE he shouldn't be fired.

I "REALLY" enjoy seeing the Oilers, Canucks, Wild, and Avalanche 8 times a year.

I "LOVE" it that I won't see Crosby or Ovechkin for another couple years at home.

I did "GREATLY ENJOY" finally seeing the Lightning for the first time since the 03-04 finals just a couple of weeks ago.

And what I really love the most?

Is when I travel to the States, stay in a upscale hotel room with all the channels that can be offered in that city and still have to use my slingbox to see a hockey game...oh that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside for Mr. Gary Bettman.

Of course he shouldn't be fired folks!! He has made the greatest game on earth, Canada's National Sport (after Lacrosse...or before??) a disgrace. Treats it like the NBA (which are two VERY similar sports), never takes blame (just like most lawyers do), it is a very admirable trait, do you not agree?

Mr. Gary Bettman is a commissioner like no other pro sport has ever had the pleasure of having.

He SHOULD NOT BE FIRED!!!

He should be skinned alive with a very dull knife, thrown in a tub full of citrus acid, left outside in Winnepig or Quebec (whichever is colder at the time), and fed to the Penguins.

Answer 6

I agree...Gary Bettman needs to be ousted b/c he has no repsect for the game. He has done nothing good for it and only makes sure items on his agenda are getting done. The T.V. issue is big too. I think the NHL should go to a T.V. deal like the NFL has, FOX, CBS, NBC, ESPN. The NHL should do VS. on Monday and Tuesday, sign a deal with ESPN for Wednesday and Thursday, and on the weekends while football is in action have ABC carry games on Saturday and Sunday, and when football season is over have NBC carry the weekend games. I know its harder to do for hockey to get all that coverage but it can be done if Bettman REALLY wants the league to succeed. And I also think that he needs to go but won't b/c the owners vote who they want and why should they kick him out, Bettman only got them a salary cap and everything else they wanted. Bring back fighting as part of the game, and get rid of the worst penalty in hockey, the instigator penalty. It is going to take the NHL many years to fix it once Bettman is gone b/c of all the damage he has done to the league.

Answer 7

I do not think he should be fired. He has done a good job with the product at hand. I am not happy with the expansion, but he has made good changes recently.
The problem is the game itself. There is no audience for the game on television. That is why it is stuck on Vs. channel. The television ratings are pitiful. Another problem is the players themselves. They are really trying to sell Sid the Kid, but other than that, not many people know players by name. And Sid is no Gretzky or Mario. So what the league needs is a superstar.
Gary also needs to change the schedule. I live in Chicago, and we do not see Pittsburgh this year come in. But we play Columbus about 50 times. More balance!

Answer 8

Absolutely! His marketing "miscalculations" has helped to take arguably the most exciting sport in the world not only off of televisions across America, but even sports pages. Horse Racing gets better coverage in our local paper (and that's New England).

If he managed the affairs of a for-profit corporation the way he has led this league, he'd have been fired long ago.

You won't find many people who'll be sad to see him go, but how long must we wait? Is there anything the fans can do to speed up the process? Sadly - it's out of our hands.

Answer 9

He used to work for the NBA, at the time (1993-94) when Hockey was gathering momentum, and threatening the NBA. He has systematically torn down our game and ruined it. Unfortunately, greedy corporate owners will never fire him. It would take government intervention, and proving the conflict of interest. I'd like that to happen. All Star Game on VS???? proof positive that he does not have the game's best interests at heart. That, and dozens of other moves he's made.

Answer 10

In hockey hating Gary Bettman is a pastime interior of itself so shall we provides quite everyone who participates in this pastime a chance to win the equivilent of the triumphing the Stanley Cup by technique of firing him.