Who has been the biggest disgrace in NHL history?

Question

Over the long, rich history of the National Hockey League, there have been many people of honor and dignity. Men such as Wayne Gretzky, Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, and Ron Francis have given hockey fans a little something extra to root for. However, for every Yzerman or Francis there have been a number of unsavory characters that have given the league a black eye.

I turn to you the hockey fans out here to weigh in on the people who have been a disgrace in the league's history, the folks who have embarrassed the NHL at every turn. Who is among the sullied masses of the worst?

Answer 1

Bettman, for putting teams in Nashville, Miami(the Panthers), Tampa Bay, Carolina, Phoenix and all the other southern US teams struggling for attendance. Sure Tampa and Carolina have won the Stanley Cup, but no one started going until they made it into the playoffs.

Answer 2

Jenni's right, there are no sissies. Jaromir Jagr's a diva. That doesn't mean he's made the league look bad. Just himself. LOL.

There have been quite a few players who have done "disgraceful" things...and the NHL has looked bad because of it, but if it's because of an off-ice incident I truly believe people need to take into account that every player is only human and humans make mistakes. Besides, off-ice incidents are fleeting drama that goes to the back of peoples' minds until it's convenient to bring it up again. On-ice incidents are the real threat to the league. (I've always been proud of how little hockey players get in trouble with the law compared to players of other sports, like football and basketball...)

Hmm, Todd Bertuzzi's incident was no doubt a disgrace and a huge embarassment to the league. Todd Bertuzzi has not embarassed the league at every turn, but the people (media, fans) who bring up this incident over and over are doing a good enough job of that...

His incident was a disgrace not just on HIS part for doing something so unsportsmanlike, violating both unwritten honor codes and the official rules of the game at once, but it also exposed a nasty view of the NHL. I'm not saying what Bertuzzi did was right, it WASN'T, but you can bet it wouldn't have happened if not for the actions of every player involved, members of the Canucks coaching staff, and the inaction of the NHL.

No one seems to remember that Steve Moore hit Markus Naslund in the head and gave him a concussion and he chipped a bone in his elbow after falling to the ice. Head hits and head hunting in general were/are disgraceful. That is why the league is NOW cracking down on head hits and has implented an instigator penalty. (The instigator penalty kind of sucks, but it isn't instituted without reason; the league just needs to find the right balance, perhaps by listening to the voices of the fans and the players...)

So I would say that the INCIDENT, not the player (or players!) will go down as one of the biggest disgraces.

There are players who have a history of not seeming very classy. For example, Eric Lindros. His attitude or whatever makes someone refuse to play for the team they're drafted by and to have "problems" with various coaches has always made him sound like a jerk, but it's never got me heated. I think the way he has gone about things has made him far less successful than he potentially could have been.

Answer 3

These men are the reason the league is not great :

Gary Bettman: screwed up this league

Goodenow: had a helping hand in screwing up the league for the players and the fans

The Rules Committee: change the rules of hockey to something like street hockey.

Jacobs, Snider, Wirtz: Old time hockey guys who should sell their teams. They still are stuck in the 60's and early 70's

Hockey Hall of Fame voters: They have voted in some players that have no reason to be there. Example is Clark Gillies.

Dave Frost: agent of Mike Danton/Mike Jefferson of the Blues for screwing up a young man that had potential coming out of the OHL and now he sits in jail for trying to plot a hit on Frost.

Finally, owners who have moved their teams to get more money. New Jersey Devils, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Atlanta Flames former or current owners are the reason that current or future ownership in Nashville and Pittsburgh can/will move on their fans .

Answer 4

Todd Bertuzzi is today's poster boy for ugly hockey incidents but his fame is mostly due to the fact there is far more media coverage of games today than 30 years ago and I think I would nominate an incident 30 years ago as one of the ugliest moments in NHL history.
The Bruins were playing the Blues in an exhibition game and a collision between Bruin tough guy Teddy Green and Blues forward Wayne Maki lead to a scuffle that turned into a jousting match as neither player dropped his stick or gloves. I'm not sure what was going through Maki's head but he ended up delivering a two handed chop to the top of Green's head with his stick and Green crumpled to the ice and started twitching. You have to remember that in those days no one wore helmets. The end result was Green had permanent brain dmage that left him a virtual vegetable. Green however did manage to recover and play hockey at the NHL level again. According to doctors the blow drove chunks of Green's skull into his brain. To Green's credit, once he awoke from a long coma he began a hard journey of relearning how to do everything including the simple things like eat or talk. Doctors believe Green rewired his brain during rehab enabling him to recover to the point where he played again for the Bruins.
As for Maki he received a lengthy suspension but was never the same guy after the incident and his career in hockey was basically over. In a strange twist of irony, Maki died of brain cancer a few years later.
If this had happened in today world, it would have been broadcast nonstop by the media for weeks. In those days, the story was gone and forgotten by most people after a couple of days.
Truly one of the ugliest moments in the history of the game.

Answer 5

I do not understand why people are calling Todd Bertuzzi a disgrace. Steve Moore put a cheap shot on Markus Naslund, and no one says anything about that. Moore got what he deserved, because he was a piece of trash in the NHL. Moore was a by-product of the clutch-and-grab NHL who didn't have a future in the post-lockout league. Bertuzzi actually did the league a favor by getting rid of that little sh*t, opening a roster spot in Colorado for a deserving player of considerable skill and talent.

The biggest disgrace? Try Harold Ballard. That bastard was extremely cheap in "running" the Toronto Maple Leafs. He set back the team a few decades by spending less on drafting new talent, bringing in proven talent, and not paying star players their worth. Not to mention, he alienated the retarded Maple Leaf fanbase (who turned out to games anyway...dumbasses).

Answer 6

I'd start with almost any chief executive of the NHL, but mainly Clarence Campbell. He was an arrogant jerk who kept the league tiny for decades and limited its television exposure, shutting out fans in any city other than Original 6 towns, and thereby badly limiting the game's potential broader appeal and its financial health -- and then, after finally allowing more TV coverage and a sensible league expansion, oversaw its gross overexpansion in a franchise war with the WHA, and did nothing to prevent the game's devolution into mayhem-infested pro wrestling in the 1970s. A snooty lawyer who conducted himself as if he were aristocracy, he was charged and convicted of tax evasion as well.

Frank Selke, Alan Eagleson, Bill Wirtz, P D Ross, Harold Ballard, all league executives at some level also and all of them worse than Bettman.

Most villainous player, tough call between Bobby Clarke, Sprague Cleghorn, and a hundred other vile candidates, several of them actually great players in their own right.

Answer 7

Paul Higgins, a Left Winger with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 80s.

Let me sum up his career
25 GP
0 G
0 A
0 Pts
4 SOG
32 shifts
26 fights

In a game between the Leafs and Detroit, the Red Wings were down a man (Colin Campbell was in the box) and a brawl started. The extra man on the ice was Higgins, he skated over to Walt Poddubny who was fighting John Barrett and cold-****** Barrett in the face. Typical of Mike Nykoluk at the time to put Higgins on the ice in late stages of games. He also had a couple of great tussles with Kevin McLelland of Pittsburgh that year as well.

One of the few players I can think of over the last 40+ years who truly was a disgrace to the game.

I see a lot of people have mentioned the names of people I can only assume they are mentioning because they hate them. Just because you dislike a particular player or a particular referee, or a league president, doesn;t make them a disgrace.

As for the poster who said that Bettman has presided over 3 lockouts.............I can only recall him presiding over two lockouts. 1994 and 2004. The 1992 lockout (10 days in late March) was under the tenure of John Zeigler and the 1968 walkout (2 days in training camp) was under the tenure of Clarence Campbell.

Answer 8

In response to a previous poster..."ALL ENFORCERS?" That is awful. Hockey is a game of skill, but it is also a game of toughness, heart and guts. That is what separates it from other sports. Sorry to be tangential, but I had to get that off of my chest. FIGHTING BELONGS IN THE GAME!!!

As for disgracing the game...without question Darcy Tucker. He is scum. He turtles more often than he drops 'em. He cheap shots (part of the problem with the instigator rule now is this crap is allowed to continue) and cannot take a hit. I thought the most hypocritical thing I'd ever seen was the game where Janssen drilled Kaberle (cheap shot by the way) and Tucker was running down the hallway talking trash and condemning the hit. WHAT A JOKE!

Keep hockey for the real fans. Bettman must go!

Answer 9

I also agree that Capitals fans are pretty undeserving even though i am one. There fans always complain that their goalies aren't good enough when they let in one goal! Also I don't want to offend any Pittsburgh fans because i respect them, but I also think Pittsburgh is also undeserving. Back then before Sidney Crosby, when they were rebuilding, they almost ran out of business and relocated because not many people supported them. However they still had loyal fans. Then they got good and the bandwagoners came and now their suddenly in good financial shape.

Answer 10

Allen Eagleson
Norm Green
Mike Danton
Bill Wirtz

Answer 11

the former NBA assistant general counsel, Gary Bettman, who changed many things in the NHL to mirror the NBA (renaming of the divisions and conferences, changing the playoff format and altering the rules). In 10 years under his reign the NHL has lost 1.8 billion dollars, 4 different teams have gone bankrupt and as a commissioner or assistant he has overseen 3 lockouts.