OK, YOU are the NHL commissioner, what would you have done?

Question

It's 2004. The NHL owners have given marginal players multi-million dollar contracts and now they come whining to YOU that they are losing money!!! Since you all think it is Bettman, and only he, that has ruined the game, what do YOU do differently? Feel free in your answer to mention other things that have happened and what YOU would have done instead. C'Mon, you have the benefit of hindsight................

C'mon everyone. You all claim everything that has ruined Hockey is HIS fault. Here's your big chance. Let's hear all about what you would have done differently. You have the benefit of hindsight that he did not have. You all love to talk about how he has ruined the game. Let's hear what you would have done instead. You need not confine your answer to the work stoppages.

trombass08, where are you on this one? I'm VERY disappointed. C'mon, this is your big chance!

Answer 1

Hello, sorry I'm late. Doing something else. I feel honored that you would single me out (in a weird bizarre way).

Let's see, I'm Gary Bettman, what do I do....I'll skip the obvious smart-*** answer of shooting myself. I'll also skip the other smart-*** answer of building a time machine to stop the over-expansion of the NHL.

Actually, let's explore the latter for a second. When Bettman came into office, the league was in the process of expanding to 26 teams. Now, putting a team back in Minnesota was okay but it came at the cost of weak talent through the league. He could have said no to that, allowing for better quality of play for the fans. And maybe I'm just bitter about the Jets moving to Phoenix but I think that there was more than just money involved (after all, his chief job was to make the NHL more attractable to Americans; what better way than to steal a beloved franchise from the north and put it down south in a place where it is so hot that there wouldn't be ice there in an ice age).

But, unfortunately/fortunately (depending on how you see it), the time machine wasn't invented during the 2004-05 season.

Back to the subject. First, I would've tried to negotiate this at least 3 years before it ever got as bad as it did. Now, if I recall correctly, the players and owners were just a couple million apart before he officially canceled the season. If I were him, I wouldn't have taken such a hard-line on that. I would have gotten the owners into line and told them to accept losing some money now to gain a lot later. Then I would've given the Salary Cap offer (with a temporary soft cap for the year) that was the exact amount the players were willing to go as low as they were (another thing Bettman didn't do). If that didn't work, I would have done everything to make sure that a season could've been played. Finally, if I had failed as bad as Bettman, which I guarantee I wouldn't have done, I would have quit and let the greedy people fix the mess that we all made (yes, I said "we all made", you, me, the players, owners, Goodenow, Bettman... we all contributed in some way).

And if you look at my previous answers, I said that Bettman was an idiot and a major problem but I never said he was the only problem. Greed has plagued the NHL and had taken the sport into a year long coma. The thing is that greed and losing money happens in all leagues. It's just that the other major leagues are so much better at managing money (case can be argued against MLB) that it makes the NHL and Bettman look bad, really bad. And, frankly, Bettman didn't do anything to fix it until it was too late.

If anything, he did have close to 600 people living the "American dream"...make a **** load of money as quick as possible with no regard for their actions.

He was brought in to make it more American. I guess he was successful, in a way weird way.

Oh, what happened to the "genius" who created the glowing puck? If Bettman didn't fire him (like he should have) then my major beef with Bettman would all translate as: "HE'S GOT NO BALLS! (none whatsoever)

Answer 2

I have to go back further and look at the state of the game before he took over,he came on in like 93' and the game was thriving and growing in popularity. The poster above me has some GREAT POINTS. 2 work stoppages didn't help to be sure. As for mediocre players getting obscene amounts of money, that has changed how? Salaries are almost up to where they were FYI. Just instead of the Rangers spending 60 million and the Preds spending 20 million-they each spend 40 million-still 80 million of salaries going around BUT it helped the smaller market teams and SCREWED the large market teams. To this I say, they are large market teams for a reason. I'll take the dynasty over parity-this isn't the NFL so stop trying to make it as such. The owners had nobody to blame but themselves (as another posted to protect themselves from themselves). Here is a novel idea, they could have just stopped giving out such outlandish contracts. Don't even get me started on the changes to the game because the game now stinks. Also, boo-hoo if the owners were losing money-#1 it is their fault and #2-they are rich as hell. I definitely don't let it escalate to a lost season.

Answer 3

First of all you are only bringing up ONE issue. For the record I was in favor of the Salary cap, if anything I would have canceled the season sooner. What good did it do to sit on their hands about canceling it? Maybe I'm wrong and there is something I don't know. After that I'd ***** slap all the owners. Hey they want lesser salaries then STOP PAYING THE PLAYERS. Amazingly enough a player can't go in and write a contract and forge the owners signature.
Oh and Mel I'd agree to contract the Pens IF they have to move, although then I would talk to Mario as Commish. When Betteman got involved in the talks if I was Commish I'd say ok we have two choices here we either get a deal done or I disban the team at the end of the year. Then both sides can work out with out either exactly having an upper hand.

Answer 4

The owners came to Bettman and said "Save us from ourselves." The players didn't want to be locked out, they were not going to strike, they wanted to play and collect their paychecks. They even offered to a salary freeze while they continued negotiations, but the league decided to cancel the season.

So all you folks blaming the league's problems on the players' union, you are just wrong. If the owners couldn't afford to pay what they were paying, the solution was to not bid so high. If the league thought the small market teams needed help to compete, they could have instituted a revenue sharing agreement without any agreement from the NHLPA. It was a market solution, just what every good capitalist should be dreaming of. But they didn't want a market solution, they wanted to suppress salaries to below market levels. So instead of making a compromise that would have saved the season, and made them money, they decided to screw the fans by cancelling the season to try to make the NHLPA look bad.

The problem is, they didn't accomplish that. What they accomplished was that we lost a full season of NHL hockey, the owners (most of whom would have made money under the NHLPA's proposals) lost a year's worth of revenue, and many of us hockey fans got to see a lot of good junior hockey. Now I skip Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night that my local junior team is playing. I hope the NHL owners like that.

What would I have done differently? I would have accepted some version of salary freeze in order to have a season. Then in negotiation, get a revenue sharing deal and/or luxury tax instead of a hard cap.

In case anyone wonders, a luxury tax is a progressive contribution to the revenue sharing pool based on the team's payroll so that as the payroll goes up, the high payroll team has to also pay the other teams a percentage of its payroll. It is a market incentive to depress payrolls.

In response to your edit: I do not think Bettman has ruined the game. The owners were 100% responsible for the lockout. The new rules enforcement is a GOOD thing. They need to get rid of the crap like the Bertuzzi incident, the recent Neil hit on Drury, etc. That may sell tickets, but it doesn't sell tv nor does it sell in new markets. So unless you are willing to see a bunch of clutch and grab, boring crap punctuated by a few fights, the rules enforcement initiative is a good thing.

Answer 5

If I were Bettman,
I would have put a gun in my mouth so someone competent could have taken over the job
His rule changes are what ruined the game
A stick in the area of the waist is NOT hooking
His ideas of obstructing are idiotic
Shoot-outs are great for PeeWee and Bantam Tournaments, but have no place in the NHL
The REDLINE is there for a reason
Two line passes keep the gutless cherry pickers in their own end backchecking like they are supposed to
The trapezoid behind the net is very pretty, but it serves no purpose except to keep skilled goalies out of the game
And a point for losing....... C'mon
These are just a few of Gary's changes that turned the NHL into the NBA on Ice
AND RUINED THE GAME
Thanks Gary

Answer 6

first thing I do is eliminate some teams. too many and the parity is watering down the game. Dallas, San Jose go right away, maybe NJ & Pitts. You could argue NASH, CAROL, etc.
Then, with less teams to pay the contracts, the players will want and ask for less money.

Answer 7

The answer is simple, I would have increased the price of Hot Dogs and Beers to like 7.50$ and 12.00$ respectively.

That ought to finance all those contracts, good lord I don't mind guys making decent money but from there to making 10million a year to play a sport.

Answer 8

Salary cap and whatever the owners want. It is their businesses on the line and they have the right to do what they want to make it work. Players unions that have a lot of power destroy the sports they are in.

Answer 9

..should hv contracted back to 21 teams....Seeded playoffs without respect to Western or Eastern conference affiliation...