Gary Bettman continues to be one of if not the most hated commissioners among players and fans in all of major sports. Lets not forget that Bettman before coming to the NHL used to work under the tutelage of, David Stern. Stern, the NBA commissioner, is definitely in the running with Bettman as the most hated commissioners presently and of all time .
Bettman saved face this year by the thinnest of margins when he brought back hockey for a 48-game season. However, his lack of compassion towards the players, personnel and the hockey fanatics around the world really exemplify what kind of business Bettman runs. And that is bad business, as we watched 510 games get cancelled collectively.
Bettman has been the NHL Commissioner for 20 years and one or 100 million could say his tenure has been controversial. Bettman has often been criticized for relocating teams into non-traditional hockey markets such as Carolina and Atlanta at the astonishment and bewilderment of the more traditional markets in Quebec, Winipeg and Hartford. Mr. Bettman was also a key cog in the three labor stoppages; including the 2004–05 NHL lockout that saw the entire season canceled. We also know that if it wasn’t for Super Mario, the Penguins would be gone. These controversies as we know have made Bettman very unpopular with many connected to hockey.
The 113-day lockout ended on January, 6th 2013 with a new 10-year deal in place. Even though it was short, the regular season was very exciting that was followed up with one of the best playoffs in recent memory. So instead of building on that momentum, Bettman does exactly the opposite when he announced Metropolitan. Metropolitan? It makes zero sense that the Metropolitan name was used when it doesn’t describe the geographic location of its teams like the other division names. Furthermore, Columbus is the 32nd largest metropolitan area in the United States and Raleigh, NC home to the Hurricanes is 47th.
Three years ago, hockey enjoyed a huge explosion of popularity as Sidney Crosby lifted Canada to a 3-2 overtime thrilling victory over the United States to win the gold medal at the Vancouver Games. The ending could not have been better for the world of hockey with the U.S. and Canada in the final as we got to watch the best players in the world give us amazing end to end action . Bettman being Bettman was considering not allowing NHL players to go play for their home countries because of the stoppage in the regular season. “This costs us money and it disrupts our season.” said Bettman. Bettman’s main focus is driving this mult-billion dollar business, as he once again shows his lack of passion to the players and the fans.
At some point in the very near future, Bettman must be changed for the good of Hockey. Bettman, is bad for business.
