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Saturday night’s CBC pre-game show featured Ron MacLean interviewing our favorite hockey snake, Bettman. Ron touched on several hot NHL topics and a few of dim-wit’s nerves. MacLean asked a question about Boots Del Biaggio’s troubles with a federal fraud investigation. Ron asked what the NHL position was given ol’ Boots’ recent part ownership of the struggling Nashville Predators. Shyster boy immediately went on the defensive and stated that he believes that Boots has not been charged, but only under investigation. Quickly distancing himself with “I don’t know anything more than was in the papers”. Ron then asked about the decision to push out Balsillie over the Boots Group. With more than a little more squirming the miniature shark said he was not involved in that process and then, without need, said the Canadian Competition Committee had conducted a year long investigation and concluded that no rules were broken. (Funny, why did he have to offer that last part without being asked?) Hiding something Gary? Here is the video:
Ron also brought up the fact that Canadian teams are providing the bulk of the revenue and asked Gary if he had seen the Toronto Star article which reported the disparities in revenue. “I haven’t read that article” was Ding-dong’s response. (Of course, why would the commish read anything from the top revenue team’s home town newspaper? gimme a break!) Our little Napoleon then got testy and cut-off Ron when asked about American teams in (financial) trouble. “Whoa, whoa; trouble’s a funny thing” spewed out of the hole in his face. Funny when you’re a Coyotes owner losing $30 million? Funny when the two bottom-earning Canadian teams are producing more revenue than eight, yes, eight, American teams? Yes, our ignorant commish has a great sense of humor. Too bad he doesn’t have any honor (and resign).
There is more to the interview including Numb-nut’s cheap patronizing of Ron and Don, Wipe-oid’s ever-prescient employment interview of Colin Campbell, and more commish double talk.
Coaches Corner star Don Cherry noted that Ron did a fine interview and followed his advice by “takin’ it easy on him”. With all the squirming and double talk witnessed in the interview, one gets the feeling that Bettman wouldn’t agree with Don.
“miniature shark” LOL!! I want a shirt of that!
The two-faced double-talkin’ jive this man is capable of is astounding.
Man I wish he’d just admit the Southern US thing isn’t working (for the teams where it isn’t), and move some teams back to Canada. We need at least 2 more, and could probably support about 4 or 5.
I was hoping Ron would ask him how are fans supposed to react every summer when half their team’s players go elsewhere for more money? The turnover rate is astounding, and it’s all key players too. It pretty much has ruined any meaning of having your team win the Stanley Cup, and don’t bother buying a lettered jersey, cause the player you love is likely headed out of town July 1st.
Also, forget about Dynasties, that idea is dead. This league wants a different regional winner every year (especially not Canadian teams, since we’ll watch regardless, right?).
I’ve talked to more and more people who just have favourite players, as opposed to teams, and that’s probably how I’ll watch the NHL next year.
The only thing I would say he did right is the salary cap, which was a necessity, and the NHL’s Online division. They are really taking advantage of the Internet, so that’s good. On the other hand, it sounds like the players want to re-open the agreement after next year (or whenever it was they’re allowed to). So who knows, another lockout could be coming right up.
And he’s dead wrong about the length of the season. The Stanley Cup should be handed out in March. Too many fucking games. He doesn’t see that in order to make every game have meaning, you need fewer of them.
‘Trouble’s a funny thing’…sounds like a country song.
Sorry for the length of this! I hope Balsillie buys the Coyotes.
Everyone should also check out the CBC’s website (www.cbc.ca/sports) to see the Hot Stove from later in that broadcast. Alan Strachan points out that the teams making the money are not happy having to ship out upwards of $10M a year to prop up the teams in the South. And the teams in the South aren’t happy now because they thought after the lockout the salary cap would be $40M and now next year the salary FLOOR will be $40M/yr which they can’t afford. As Strachan says, this is reminiscent of the beginning of unrest and the end of John Zeigler. So maybe the end of Mr. NBA Reject is closer than we think! Strachan is as big a supporter of Buttman as we all are (I wouldn’t be surprised if he quietly gives you guys support in the form of money).
I agree, Bettman’s double-talk and over-optimism is sounding more and more like bullshit every day. The new CBA was supposed to be the end of all finaincial problems, yet half the teams still need hefty welfare checks just to break even. Some markets are simply not viable (Florida panthers? failure after failure for almost 15 years now.), but instead of admitting this simple reality, he just tries to blind people with rose-tinted glasses. His manlove for Nashville is nothing but pathetic.
The games are very good as the rules have definitely been cleaned up, still far from perfect but at least it has become actually possible to score once again. So I’ll enjoy that. But I really wish for the commisionner to be fired some day soon so the sport can become healthier and even better.
Blah, blah, blah… will arsejack the commish ever shut his damned cakehole? What’s with this obsession with Southern clubs? With the exception of Dallas & Tampa, all southern NHL markets should either be relocated or contracted especially that failure called the Nashville Predators. Speaking of the television situation, Versus (which by the way is seen in 100 homes) is doing a better job than what ESPN did? (Oh I almost forgot, only arsejack would say such a thing) I agree with OddyOh that Jim Balsillie should buy the Coyotes. If that miniature shark stops a sale of the Coyotes to Balsillie, Butthead should be investigated by the FBI and should be sent to prison for a very, very longtime because we all know that arsejack will be convicted of fraud (i.e. Nashville and Leipoid buying the Minnesota Wild) Gary might have forgot, but true hockey fans haven’t forgotten.
Gary, please resign you little arsejack
Good stuff, guys. That interview was amazing, and definitely the highlight of that night’s hockey. I wrote a post about it a couple days ago. It’s definitely fun to watch Gary squirm on the air, especially now that Boots looks to be in more trouble than ever. The NHL now has three owners or part-owners in trouble with the SEC to some extent: Boots, Eugene Melnyk in Ottawa and Henry Samueli of the Ducks.
There’s another article in today’s Toronto Star by Rick Westhead about Bettman’s boys in trouble. Here’s the link for it.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/436550
Good article cragar77.
I think in a lot of cases failing NHL franchises become a tax dump for their respective owners. I’m not sure if the tax system works the same in the US as it does in Canada, but up here it never hurts to have a few failing businesses in your portfolio to offset the taxes paid on profits from other, profitable businesses.
The NHL has such a longstanding reputation for allowing dirty owners it’s started to attract the lowest kind of sleazebags (eg. Boots Del Baggio). Who is this douchebag? And how is it even possible that Gary Bettman didn’t know the guy was broke. He’s a weasel, just like Bettman. They probably sleep together.
On a positive note, I loved the playoffs this year. I was hoping for Pittsburgh to win just because it would have been the icing on a great season for the young team. It might be too early to speculate, but if one of their big three centres gets moved in the next year or so I’m betting it’s Malkin. His attitude seems to get in the way of his play under pressure. I’d say it’s just his maturity level, but just look at Jordan Staal–He’s be a force with first or second line minutes, regardless of the pressure. Anyway, just something to get the rumours started in the wake of the playoffs.
well, I said it once and I’ll say it again.
“Don’t bother arguing with someone who doesn’t use reason, because you’ll never win the argument.”
That’s what we’re seeing from Bettman here as he does not use reason to support his claims that the league is in great shape in the Southern U.S. markets like Nashville, Phoenix, and Atlanta.
Today’s Toronto Sun has a good column from Steve Simmons asking the question why Buttman keeps Ballsillie out of the league while allowing Boots Del Baggio in, a guy who now has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Here’s the link
http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/06/08/5810351-sun.html
Boots is now officially bankrupt. Bettman is a moron for letting this guy get a stake in a team instead of Balsille.
I hadn’t listened to the whole thing before… Ron thinks we undercharge for tickets? Well, we’re Buffalo, we’re not New York, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, or Montreal. We are not a big market. People here can not afford to shell out what people in Toronto or the City can. Same with Detroit, the prices are too high so they don’t eve sell out the Joe 100% of the time. We’re doing the best we can. Our cheapskate owner who doesn’t care about winning can’t pay to keep our top players, and we still sell out games. Vs. probably loves us because we’re one of the only three cities in the U.S. that watch their games. We also (I think, correct me if I’m wrong) led the league in merchandise sales in 06-07 and were near the top this year.
In Gary’s world, American teams need help and Canadian teams need to be shown the door.
When the Pens, Sabres, and Islanders were in trouble, he did everything to save them. When Winnipeg and Quebec were in trouble, he did everything he could to rail them out of town.
A seven year old playing EA NHL 08 could run this league better.
Morris said:”A seven year old playing EA NHL 08 could run this league better”
Personally, I think NHL 2k8 is a better game, but I digress.
Gary might have forgotten but hockey fans haven’t forgotten that the 2008 NHL Entry Draft is taking place at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. I’m personally looking forward to this Friday night. By the way, would anyone like to take any bets on how much shit will be thrown in Buttman’s direction on draft night?
Here’s another article from Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star. Can you say a strike is coming soon? LOL
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/445105
I think Buttman will be drowned out at the draft.
Note to the Buffalo fan who wrote earlier- that is one great hockey city and I might root for the Wings in a matchup, but deep down the fans all have one thing in common. The simple love of a game and the players who make it great. The Gilbert Perraults, the Pat LaFontaines, and on and on. Every hockey city has them and their ranks are legion.
I’ve played and studied the game my entire life, which goes back to mighty mite league in 1962. Never have I seen such lunacy going on. Taking the chess aspects in and out of the game. Crippling the ability of a defenseman who has dreamed all his life of a shot at the big time, only to discover all he had learned was tipped over “in the interest of hockey”. Let’s toss in the goalie restricted areas just to make goals add up- after all, there should not be any defensive ability or the need to pay the price for a glorious chance, just pull the D out of the game and hand goals for no effort to Gary’s Cinderellas. And about that fighting thing- boys can no longer be boys and stand up against the cheap shot of their star players, we need napkins and table etiquette on the ice. Without political correctness, we might not be perceived as the game the socialites in attendance would want to witness.
I say this. Every lover of hockey from every small Canadian or American town, European village, Swedish town, or Russian Steppe wants to play the game as it was meant to be played- with passion, energy, skill, stamina, and emotion. Oh yes, by the way, according to the rules.
Everywhere I go I meet people who would like to see the rules headed back the other direction. Scoring goals and building superstars from around the world is fine- the NHL should reward these players. That alone does not justify consistently changing the nature of the game for the sake of the new generation of prima donnas. Imagine Billy Smith or Ron Hextall not taking a hack at some overpaid and oversold “next Gretzky” because we wouldn’t want to hurt the league image or reduce scoring.
Bettman’s rules change as often as the back-flap on a goose’s behind- way too much, way too often.
Somehow the delusion that the game is getting better all the time needs to be enforced, and I would fully support a five-year moratorium on all hockey by the players association to get Bettman removed permanently.
at Lafayetteeddie:
Bettman’s trying with all his might to destroy hockey as it should be played by essentially artificially increasing scoring that should not exist. Crosby dives and whines too much and he is the player the league is marketing as the perfect player. Push players like Iginla, Chris Drury, and the like who are warriors, good in both ends, and still can score. Before long we’ll end up with a game that is a grotesque caricature of what hockey once was. Superstars who are true superstars should be rewarded, but superstars should not be created by inflated, artificial scoring. Greatness is earned, not bestowed. Gretzky, Lemiuex, Howe, Messier, Plante, Sawchuck, both Espositos, these players earned their reputations. Crosby was given the title of the “Next One” by league marketing executives although he has done nothing to truly deserve it yet.
As a defensive defenseman myself, I totally agree with you. Too much importance is placed on goals per game totals and not enough on the quality of the actual play. Why can a great defensive play or a great save not be celebrated just as much as a goal? The defensive instincts and the toughness are being phased out of the game. Take Brian Campbell, for example. He’s essentially a fourth forward on the ice but he is valued far more than a true warrior like Jay McKee. I disagree strongly with the direction Bettman is taking the sport as a whole. All the leagues down to the youngest kids imitate to considerable extent the NHL’s rules and style.
I agree with many of your points and I feel that you and I could probably go on and on with this topic but it’s getting kind of late and I have to wake up early tomorrow.
For Sabresownurlives:
Thanks and very much appreciate your response.
I’m grateful that there is another voice of reason out there who sees the defense as a major part of the game and not merely as window dressing.
Although I am certainly happy for Nicklas Lidstrom on his repeated Noris trophy win, I wish the league would stop looking at who is scoring points and look at who is playing the very best defensively in support of their team- regardless of what the standings reflect.
You are spot on with the Iginla and Drury analogy. These players, along with newbies like Mike Richards, have not forgotten that champions are made by blood, sweat, and tears and not by media style over substance.
Hockey lore in the future will not reflect great credit and appreciation to Bettman for his misguided measures taken to “improve the offense and thereby generate revenue”. I’m glad some of us recognize the fallacy of the approach- it’s like a sad, creaking house shored up with a coat of fresh paint.
You mentioned some great examples of players who are very defensively sound (the Jay McKee’s, the Chris Chelios’, the Scott Stevens prototypes, et al) and other examples of those who are, in my opinion, too offensive-minded (the Brian Campbell’s, the Paul Coffeys, and the Mike Greens). Too bad the current generation on defense is having to re-learn strategy and tactics due to the inability by regulation to be fundamentally sound in their own zone. Lots of Blue-line power play heroes and not enough bull work on “D”.
Lidstrom, to his credit, seems to be able to adopt to both sides of the game, but it sure is easier when you have had the luxury of Hall-of-Fame level offensive support throughout one’s career. I take nothing from him, just wonder where he would be today if he was a New Jersey Devil all these years instead.
So, my new-found hockey friend, a toast to keeping defense as much a part of today’s game as it was 25-50 years ago! Be well and safe!