Give me your reasons Bettman is bad for hockey.?

Question

Give me your reasons Bettman is bad for hockey.

I am all ears.

Answer 1

Wow. I can't believe you guys are going to make me come to bat for this moron on a couple of issues BUT to be fair, Bettman was not responsible for expansion contrary to popular belief. He is partly responsible for the rule changes but there is a rules committee.
Ugh. OK now onto the bad- The biggest thing I blame him for is the bargain agreement. Basically it is structured in a way to help the small market teams but at the same time he SCREWED the big market teams and IMO they are big market teams for a reason. Did anyone suffer more than the Flyers and the Blues?? Restructuring of the divisions. Not negotiating a deal with ESPN but the Outdoor Life Network instead. He is a pompous little puke that has never been on skates and doesn't appreciate the tradition of the game.

He should have stepped down with Goodenow.

The best reason of all-he has overseen 2 work stoppages. What is worse for the game than that?? How long did it take for baseball to get going again??
He doesn't care about the fans. Arrogant little puke. It should be someone who has a knowledge of the game not just some lawyer to work on making money for the owners. Dryden, Gretzky or Messier come to mind. And if his main job is to have a healthy thriving league and avoid any work stoppages then just look at how bad he has failed.
He took over in like 93'-funny but the league was thriving then, how is it doing now?

Answer 2

To be fair, if people want to place blame anywhere, it should be placed squarely on the 30 team owners. They are the ones who have the option of keeping or getting rid of Bettman. Apparently they are satisfied with the job he's done as they continue to keep him as commissioner.

Also, despite popular opinion, Bettman was not responsible for the majority of the league's southern movement. The decision to expand to Miami, Tampa, San Jose, and Anaheim were all made BEFORE he took over as Commissioner. In fact, the only cities that the league expanded to under his watch were St. Paul, Atlanta, Nashville, and Columbus. So theoretically, the talent was already washed down BEFORE any expansion occurred under his tenure.

In '93 Bettman did land a 5 year contract with FOX & ESPN.
His predecessor John Ziegler, didn't have that. Ziegler had each team rely on regional coverage only. Granted Bettman couldn't nail down a national contract since the lock out but some of that blame falls on TV and the fans. Ratings have ALWAYS been horrific for the NHL.

It's funny, how people think just because one has never played the game, they don't know anything about it. Many of us have never played one sport or another, yet we understand it's traditions, how it's played, etc. etc.
Bring a better argument to the table.

Answer 3

He has riuned the rivalries in the NHL. Today we see rivals playing each other eight games a year. The division games are way too much, and there needs to be more games outside of conferences and divisions. The WNBA generates more revneue in the States than the NHL in the past year. Right there it says a lot about Bettman. Now Simons got a longer suspension than Bertuzzi who premeditated his action against Moore.

Answer 4

Number one: He's killing the game by abandoning traditions.
Number Two: He's never played the game so he doesn't understand it.
Number Three: He's turning Canadians off the game. Let's face it without a strong supply of talent from Canada the game dies and in Canada today the NHL is not the buzz it once was.
Number Four: He's trying to sell sled dogs to southerners. It isn't gonna fly. The game was in better shape before he came along. Of course attentance is up, there are 30 teams now and it couldn't get any worse but those markets with a good team today will dry up again in a year or two when their team drops off again.
Number Five: He's an arrogant jerk. People hate him and so they hate his product. Hockey needs a former player as it's representative face. Stevie Y anyone?

Answer 5

i latterly switched to Dish community and don't have as against anymore...yet im no longer crying. The allstar sport insurance became terrible. Clement is the only authentic announcer they have yet hes in the studio. The highlite applications of alternative nhl video games for the time of intermissions are poorly built. the only good characteristic they have is stay streaming video on line of another nhl video games on that evening that are out of your viewing section. Being a Leafs fan living in Ohio, its astonishing to observe see them on there as quickly as a month or so. Gary Bettman dropped the stick after the lockout. He would have had ESPN yet he became asking too lots money. we could face it, hockey is a huge sport yet complicated to industry in todays society. human beings dont like the combating and such. i in my opinion like it by way of fact hockey hasnt replaced lots over its direction (different than shootouts and helmets and such). Bettman became good for the sport 10 years in the past...yet i think of its time to get an ex-participant in workplace that is conscious the authentic sport of hockey. For gods sake, do no longer renew the settlement with as against!!

Answer 6

He expanded the league too much, too many teams and not enough talent. He adds too many dumb rules(what the F is that trapezoid about?) In general I think people want a scape goat and blame him for things that aren't all his fault though. Like teams moving, it isn't his fault the Canadian dollar was weak and the cities weren't supporting the teams. I don't know who picks where the teams are put but they are making some really stupid choices there.

Answer 7

the nhl has slowly become less popular since he's came in

it actually used to be kinda big, rappers were wearing jersey's in their videos, how often does that happen anymore
the ratings were battling that of the nba, and the nba's commish recommended bettman for the job, and the nhl has been declining ever since. see any "coincidence" there?

Answer 8

Three words Columbus Blue Jackets, could you think of a smaller market to put a team, hell it's not even the biggest market in Ohio.

Answer 9

1) he has no clue about hockey.
2) he couldn't land a tv contract if his life depended on it.
3) he is trying to market the NHL in garbage markets where they couldnt exist before.
4) he is trying to change the game to much at one time.
5) he doesnt even look like an athlete. he looks more like a computer geek who should be working for microsoft.
GRETZKY FOR COMISH!!!

Answer 10

Simple. Because of the rule changes to attract the "entertainment fan" to games where they would not normally be played.

The game is a laughingstock. They should change the name from NHL to the No Hands (on Sid the Kid) League.