And yet they were fighting tooth and nail to prevent the Coyotes from relocating to Hamilton.
Balsillie may not have been an ideal candidate but the league putting conditions like keeping the team in the same market for 7 years didn't seem reasonable.
The obstacle to Houston is one the league has somewhat created.
Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta doesn't want to pay what the NHL wants. I think the league needs to look at this as a way to stabilize the franchise once and for all. It's becoming really clear it can't be done in Arizona
The league sold the team to Meruelo despite an arena situation that's not workable. They sold it well under value and waived the standard 7 year non relocation clause.
If the rumour is true they need to cut bait
Yeah. Fertitta got real value for a 12 man team that never gets called for traveling. Seattle and Vegas had no problem coming up for the expansion fee. Dude made a mint off the sale of the UFC, now he's being cost conscientious.
I agree. Bettman should pull the plug on Phoenix. Did you see Bettman on explaining the reason for delaying the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Game? And Canadians give Randy shit.
...so at the start of this season there were IMO five of the seven Canadian teams that could legit say they were a playoff team, problem is there’s only four spots, one of those optimistic teams was going to be on the outside looking in...right now that team is the flames...the only fire I see is what’s coming from the dumpster...
Lol true...the league can't get out it's own way of bungling these events. With all of the delays in the US with Covid, they couldn't see this coming?
It's just to appease NBC, otherwise there's no reason to have an outdoor game with no fans creating extra travel in the process
Vaccines and all the rest at hand that we well know, but lockdowns and strict stay-at-home right now or any time in 2021?
Unless it is spreading like radiation, which it was back in January 2020 from its origin in China, no.
The way that Gary Bettman makes decisions likens him in so many ways to NBA commissioner David Stern, who had such gaffes as changing the basketball and then by mid-season dismissing rampant concerns to retain his ill-informed decision, but then conceding finally the right decision of status quo that he did not have to make at all let alone his iron-fisted way of doing things, trying to shore up the sorry team in New Orleans, and so forth.
Now David Stern was replaced by his protege and even worse, Adam Silver, and that's another subject, so I sure hope the NHL finds somebody far more competent than Bettman in the last decade or so. Get on with it already NHL - this one in Arizona is all on that Bettman many times over many years gone by now.
How about that Bettman retire now too already for the overstayed hanger-on he has been for perhaps a decade now? And that's about as nice as I can be about him here too.
Yup. His contract is up in 2022. Same time as when the current Coyotes lease is up.
If Meruelo bails, they can't keep looking at ownership held together by crewing gum.
Speak to Fertitta, Quebecor or whoever... stabilize this mess once and for all.
I am not much of a Bettman fan myself, but it weren't for him you wouldn't have the league grow to the heights that it has.
Without him no outdoor games, no contract on NBC and, like it or not, no expansion to new markets and no NHL at the Olympic Games.
I am with you here until circa 2010 and the NBC contract in the US, but what did Bettman do well since then other than Vegas Golden Knights? Certain corporate sponsorships in the US perhaps? But was he the lead at all on those or just the rubber stamp once the money showed up?
Bettman gets some credit for Las Vegas' team and for some of the successful outdoor classics, but or what else since 2010 now?
And how or why does he get any credit for the success in Canada at all for that matter? For being in the top seat and getting a new plusher one?
Those teams draw fine without him, so what exactly has Bettman done to add value in Canada?
And then we have other teams with issues such as the Florida Panthers, but Florida is booming so we shall see there. And last I read the Buffalo Sabres despite all the local support from either side of the border.
His mandate is to grow the sport in the US.
Of course he's not popular in Canada. He also knows Canadians will watch hockey no matter what two teams are on especially if its about star players.
Surprisingly, they are fans out there that rather keep the NHL as a regional based league.
This is one of the many reasons the CFL is in trouble at times. Great game with little or zero growth outside of it's borders.
good outdoor game going on between Bruins and Flyers today.
So how do you think Bettman has done here in the US beyond Las Vegas, and where else should he get any credit at all since 2010 after the success of the prior two decades?
Take out the Original Six and the entire Northeast from Washington DC on up, who have long-established fan bases.
Oh sure one can point to places like Nashville and Tampa Bay, but I do not see how that Bettman's work in the last decade that was local success (and favourable demographics in Nashville with recent population growth).
I don't see his positive impact beyond Las Vegas and NBC, maybe a few of the outdoor classics, at all plus the negatives Arizona and forthcoming for his successor to have dumped on his plate.
You may be right, but the owners are happy with him.
I don't believe he's necessarily anti-Canadian as to being pro American.
Winnipeg's and Quebec's arena situation was there long before Bettman became commissioner.
He may not be the ideal commissioner but still better than Ziegler and stronger than Ambrosie.
Ah well I think we agree some here then - I'm all too ready for his successor because I have for years believed that the league is better with one more Canadian team.
Move a team it across the border already be it Arizona or Florida. Then move the remaining lagging team down here to a better market with Tampa Bay with all the spoils in Florida just fine.
I don't see hockey doing well anywhere else in Florida than Tampa Bay (and we know already Atlanta was a mistake), and maybe somebody here who lives in Florida or an experienced snowbird can weigh in here.
Let's remember that Bettman, or his successor, only does what his bosses (BoG) want ... if they felt Quebec City should have a team they would have told Gary to do it ... the majority on the BoG are from US-based teams and they tend to look at things in terms of TV deals ... Hence Houston being an interesting market ... in their minds ideally it would be by expansion but if Arizona situation is bad enough they may push for relocation
I have a sinking feeling Quebec City is Ottawa's fall back .
Just an FYI, Tillman Fertitta (owner of the Houston Rockets) never owned the UFC; his cousins Lorenzo and Frank III Fertitta were the owners of the UFC along with Dana White.
Tillman is worth over $4 Billion, and Lorenzo and Frank are each worth around $2 Billion.
After a hot start that is now ice cold, Habs sack Claude Julien
On the heels of a Shootout loss that a disallowed goal late in the 3rd as a result.
Didn't think we would be seeing any firings during the season. Molson can afford this.
Ducharme up....is Bergevin next?