Bettman, pissing people off worldwide

by blue with age on May 20, 2009 11:03 AM EDT Comment 14 comments

Making the news here in Quebec City this morning are the possibly dubious claims of a certain russian gazillionaire. The local interest in the story is due to Alexander Medvedev's previously expressed desire to bring an NHL team back here. Seems Gary told him that being Russian disqualifies him from playing in Gary's sandbox. Does Gary also secretly wear his Grandma's curtains? Does ownership of an NHL team involve the of respect of some kind of 'code'?

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I still don’t get how on earth he still has a job

"miss u, CR baby...u want 2 get back 2gether?"

by sleza on May 20, 2009 11:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i'm confused...

I thought everyone believed we had too many teams and that the talent base was diluted.

Now we want more teams, or are OK with the amount of teams, so long as they’re in Canada…?

As far as Bettman not wanting to play ball with Medvedev, let’s not forget whose league was offering and in some case, signing NHL talent to ridiculous contracts. Screw him…

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on May 20, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Look

We don’t need you ~~Americans~~ Canadians living in America coming here and asking us about our ‘logic’.

Just kidding.

I’d love to see fewer roster spots and more teams in Canada. I think the dilution argument is a reaction to people seeing goons getting 3 minutes of ice-time a night. There are a few ways the league can get those guys out or at least to ensure that if they are going to fight that they also know how to play hockey.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on May 20, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

there is absolutely a way to reduce “goon-ism” in the NHL. don’t sign them, and don’t play them.

I like Burke’s thinking of hockey. It can be a hard hitting, nasty, and chippy affair, yet still have skill to spare. Skill and pugnacity are not necessarily independent of one another.

As far as the rest goes. I’ve said on countless occasions, I’m a fan of hockey. I’d love to see it be a popular sport again. I don’t understand my fellow Canadians fascination with needing to horde the game and make it a Canada only, or mostly thing, Rarely do you ever hear the same discussions occurring within baseball, football or basketball circles. hockey fans are by and large the worst enemies of growing the game. Why is that?

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on May 20, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as ‘do not sign goons’. Very few teams choose to go that route and we saw last year what that meant for the Leafs who were not tough to begin with. Games looked like a driving range the way people were constantly teeing off on the Leafs.

I don’t think that the “our game is terrible” vibe is unique to hockey. I think that we come across it much more because we are more immersed in hockey. I read a lot of sites that cover the EPL and my god do they bash the game, the refs, the league management, the players, and on and on. It basically reads like any anti-NHL screed you’ll see in Canada. The difference I find is that there are other leagues that are competitors and if you suggest one of them is better those same fans will tear you a new one.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on May 20, 2009 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i should have clarified...

football to be NFL. no need for another soccer tangent.

I understand the bashing of the game, league, owners etc. I don’t understand the need to minimize exposure of the game and reduce it’s overall influence. Those are arguments never made in other sporting venues.

If you love hockey, why wouldn’t you want it to be as popular and as readily available as an MLB or NFL game? Why would you want to limit it’s media exposure to being Canadian-centric? Those are issues unique to the NHL.

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on May 20, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hahaha

football to be NFL. no need for another soccer tangent.

But it’s probably the most applicable comparison. The EPL is trying to do a lot of things to expand the reach of the league especially in Asia and North America and everywhere they turn they are faced with the red-faced Englishman trying to keep their league to themselves.

I think it’s also a reaction to years of Americans’ disinterest and downright hostility to hockey. Honestly, as someone who played every sport under the sun growing up I find it hard to understand preferring basketball or baseball to hockey. After years of reading wholly uninformed articles from the US trashing the game some fans would just rather not have to deal with them anymore.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on May 20, 2009 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but

lots of well informed hockey fans buy into the whole “if you don’t like our game, then we’ll take it back” attitude.

there are passionate hockey fans all over the globe, and if the league has done anything right, it’s been it’s acceptance of hockey’s hardcore fans being pretty well wired into the net.

i can create a hockey fan in about 1.5 hours time, just by taking them to a game, and now with HD broadcasts, I can cheaply convert them by watching a game on TV (albeit, one with CBC coverage preferred.)

As a fan base, I’d like to see a more unified approach to fixing the issues that hinder the games growth and acceptance than taking the “pout and take our ball home” road. That’s why I’m very supportive of the Phoenix fanbases efforts to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix. I love that the Predators appear to have turned a corner. I hate to see the inept ownership in Tampa ruining what was once a very promising franchise.

I know I’m a lone voice here, spitting into the wind, but I truly believe that if you’re a fan of hockey, then you want to see it succeed where others thought it would fail. instead, we buy the MSM’s take that no one cares about the game, so why bother trying…

Someday, you’ll come around to my way of thinking…

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on May 20, 2009 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think that you’re necessarily a lone voice here. I don’t want Phoenix to leave more because of what I think is a bad precedent for all of the Canadian teams not named the Canadiens or Leafs but your reasons are just as true. I’ve always said that the league needs to commit itself to a franchise location for at least a generation because that’s when you start seeing the kids grow up with the game and become consumers of the game.

The league should also have mandates on things that each franchise should be doing as well as best practices. It’s in every team’s interest that every market is as strong as possible. One innovative thing that the Leafs did was sell single ticket packages this year. That’s one way to get hockey fans that might not have friends that enjoy the sport attending. Make it a section like Ladies Night and get the guys together.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on May 20, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Everyone seems to forget

That when the WHA was at its peak, there were 30 pro hockey teams at the major league level, and we’ve not got the old Soviet bloc to draw from.

Hockey’s better than it was.

Leaf, the universe and everything.

by 1967ers on May 20, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

dear confused

I can’t speak for we, but I watched the ’78 Leafs upset the Islanders the other night. The game is definitely, dare I say, light years faster and more exciting now with its “diluted” talent base. And yes, I want an NHL team full of diluted talent in my backyard to watch live. As for the competition of a russian league, the lure of big money can only grow the talent base. In the end though, the objectives of the KHL are still just bluster and many teams could shut down at the whim of some Oligarch having a shitty day. Until someone starts building 20, 000 seat rinks in Western and Northern Europe, the best talent will continue to gravitate to N.A.

by blue with age on May 20, 2009 11:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i want a team in my backyard to

I also want a tree that grows money and a unicorn that shits gold…

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
The Left Coast Lock

by blurr1974 on May 20, 2009 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let me just point out that acquiring a team is feasible, while the others are figments of an over active imagination and serious anger management issues

by blue with age on May 20, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs