Gary Bettman

[Habber]

Is there any chance Bettman won\'t be involved in the NHL after his contract expires? He is single handedly ruining the game and nobody seems to care or want to say or do anything. Reading recently that the 6 Canadian teams were in the top 10 for gate revenues, I was not really surprised, but his constant denial that the NHL can grow and thrive without more Canadian involvement is really, really starting to bother me. Why can\'t he just accept the fact that he needs a strong Canadian market and cater to that notion? He constantly re-iterates that we don\'t need any more Canadian teams, yet continues to do whatever it takes to keep a team in Nashville, despites it\'s poor ownership group and struggling gate numbers.

First off, there should be 2 teams in eastern Ontario. To hell with the Leafs and their \"territory\". Bottom line, eastern Ontario can sustain 2 teams, end of story. To be quite honest...Quebec can sustain 2 teams as well.

Secondly, stop neglecting Jim Balsile. He is willing to overpay big time for a franchise, let him do it. We need a guy like this in the NHL. He is smart and knows how to make money. I would definately have him on the NHL board to hear his ideas on how to grow the league.

The more I think about this issue, the more I get confused about who I should be directing my anger towards. I mean, Gary is just a puppet for the owners, correct? If that is the case, are the owners as a whole, failing to see the potential in Canada? I mean the owners are going to force another lockout in the next 10 years or so as they haven\'t learned a single thing from the last lockout (ie. they keep spending like total idiots ie. Jay McKee 4yr / $16M, and other such deals) and the exact same issues will surface. The next thing you know, Nashville is going to be complaining that they can\'t support a team with player costs rising, etc...meanwhile, the Rangers are spending $8M a year on Scott Gomez. I think Balsile would bring a level head to the Owners table and maybe force them to start managing themselves properly.

Sorry for taking up a thread...had to vent.

[shallowfrozenwater]

i spend most of my life in Southern Ontario so i certainly get that they\'re hockey mad down there but i\'ll reiterate that hockey MUST return to Winnipeg before another team comes into Southern Ontario.
the arena in Peg is much closer to NHL calibre than Copps is already and the fan support is just as strong, perhaps stronger since there\'s no other team within an 8 hr drive.
i could care less about Bettman being removed or staying, provided someone takes some steps toward returning where hockey belongs ... in the true Center of Canada, Winnipeg.
as for Balsillie, let him have a team, AFTER Winnipeg comes back. if that means expansion to 32 teams then go ahead and expand. if 6 NHL teams carry like 40% of the league revenue then 8 NHL teams could carry over 50% of the revenue.
sorry if this seems like i\'m hijacking your thread, that\'s not the intent.

[Habber]

I have no issues putting a team in Winnipeg or Quebec City or Hamilton or London, and I do agree with you that as far as arenas go, Winnipeg\'s is the most NHL friendly. The Peg lost their team due to lack of attendance, however I think they learned their lesson as I see how they support their junior hockey, and should definately be given a second chance.

[Zorro]

I definately know that the owners don\'t see things the way us fans do. I think the owners like the job Bettman is doing, he is an owners commishiner..I also think Bettman is pretty serious when he says they will be no expansion in the near future. Teams might re-locates but thats it..

As far as Winnipeg goes, the city would not be able to support the team anymore. The city and the people are not prepared to put up the cash that are needed to ice an NHL franchise. NHL teams need big company\'s to step up and provide money towards the team, and that wouldn\'t happen here in Winnipeg.

Also the Moose of the AHL are a big hit in Winnipeg, what happens to them if the Jets/NHL ever came back?? They would be forced out of town, when it was them that helped bring the hockey fan out of their basements after the Jets left. I think it is more for the families now. An entire family can go to a game at the MTS center, buy 4 tickets, drinks, and popcorn all for under $90.00 I know for a fact that people would not pay the money it costs to go to an NHL game night in and night out. Tickets alone for a 4 person family would be atleast $100.00-125.00. And thats just tickets.

I\'m sure an NHL team would be a big hit in Winnipeg for a while but the novelty would forsurely wear off. I think Winnipeg/Manitoba is happy to have the Moose and pretty content aswell.

Don\'t get me wrong, I am one of the Thousands out there that would love to see NHL hockey come back to the city of Winnipeg, I just can\'t see it happening..
Zorro..

[ultrawhiteness]

It costs upwards of $250 for a family of four to take in an NHL game in a Canadian city. For nice seats and food/beer, you\'re talking close to $400.

As for Bettman, Zorro is absolutely correct. The owners apparently love him, and I would not bet against him having his contract extended.

We Canadians love to hate him, but we must not forget that this is the same guy who kept the Oilers, Flames, and Senators in Canada when they were all struggling to make ends meet (who remembers the Canadian Equalization Fund, and how popular must that have been for the American owners?).

Yes, with the dollar at par, it makes great economic sense to move a team or two back up to the great white north. But I am sure that all the league money nerds are looking at things and saying: \"well, what happens if the Loonie goes back down to 60-70 cents?\".

I still think that Balsillie should have a team. He has the pocketbook and passion to keep a team around should the economic situation change up here. The market can easily handle another team in the golden horseshoe. And Copps coliseum would only be a temporary home until he would build his own, state-of-the-art \"BlackBerry Centre\" in KW.

And, lets be real about Winnipeg\'s MTS centre. It seats 15,015 people for hockey games, which would rank it at the very bottom of NHL arenas (Link).

People in Edmonton are overjoyed that the new owner is going to build a new arena, and I can tell you from personal experience that Rexall Place is TINY. What is the capacity there? 17,099... more than 2000 more than MTS.

[Crazynuck]

Tickets in To $300/person

The NHL is a business and while fans would love to see a team in Winnipeg or anywhere in Canada, there is more money to be made in bigger cities.

[repenttokyo]

Personally, I think the league should contract. Lose 2 teams, maybe 3. But the NHLPA would lose their minds bc of the job loss, so I doubt that will ever happen.

[ultrawhiteness]

repenttokyo wrote:

Personally, I think the league should contract. Lose 2 teams, maybe 3. But the NHLPA would lose their minds bc of the job loss, so I doubt that will ever happen.

contraction is a PR nightmare, so it will never happen until things get real dire.

i don\'t see the need for it, repent... lots of talented players out there and that will only get better as the US development programs continue to build steam.

[repenttokyo]

I just see the talent pool as being unnecessarily diluted...Think of the caliber of hockey we could have with 2 teams full of grinders out of the league...I like grinders as much as the next guy, but do we really need 30 teams?

[ultrawhiteness]

ya, i hear ya. but if coaches and gms wanted a purely skillful team, they could do it now. the problem is that grinders win, and that wouldn\'t change with 28 teams.

[Habber]

Crazynuck, you don\'t need to go into bigger cities, you just need to go where there are fans of the game....this isn\'t NASCAR were hundreds of thousands of people show up or the NFL where they draw 60,000 per game...we\'re talking about a 3rd of that for the NHL, you just have to go into the right markets...

You guys must be going to games in Toronto if a family outing costs $300....me and my buddies went to a game in Montreal, sat in the 5th last row from the top for $30 a pop....done and done...if you want to save up and go into the lower bowl or right up against the glass of course your going to pay more, but you don\'t have to sit close to enjoy the game.

[ultrawhiteness]

habber, it is possible (but difficult) to get nosebleed tickets in calgary for 35 bucks... but you have to do it online and beat the rush, and i wouldn\'t really want my hypothetical young kids anywhere near those animals, haha.

anything else, and you\'re talking 60-70 bucks minimum... which for 4 people is ~ $250. add in food (10-15 bucks per person) and parking and you\'re already over the $300.

[repenttokyo]

Habber wrote:

Crazynuck, you don\'t need to go into bigger cities, you just need to go where there are fans of the game....this isn\'t NASCAR were hundreds of thousands of people show up or the NFL where they draw 60,000 per game...we\'re talking about a 3rd of that for the NHL, you just have to go into the right markets...

You guys must be going to games in Toronto if a family outing costs $300....me and my buddies went to a game in Montreal, sat in the 5th last row from the top for $30 a pop....done and done...if you want to save up and go into the lower bowl or right up against the glass of course your going to pay more, but you don\'t have to sit close to enjoy the game.

that\'s a pretty lucky price, most tickets in that range are at least $50.

[shallowfrozenwater]

ultrawhiteness wrote:

And, lets be real about Winnipeg\'s MTS centre. It seats 15,015 people for hockey games, which would rank it at the very bottom of NHL arenas (Link).

i hear ya on this but the MTS Centre here in the Peg was built with the known and very feasible possibility that it can easily expand up should an NHL team come back here. that would be the plan if a team were to return and play in the phone booth.
i\'ve taken way too much time on this tangent and i apologize again if i\'ve hijacked this topic.