[mark]

i used to think that it was Bud Selig... i mean, he was in charge of a league where the majority of players were taking illegal, performance enhancing drugs (and yet, the game is still boring as hell)

but with the latest Bettman / Balsillie fiasco, i think that Bettman deserves the trophy.

what do you think?

[tth_fan]

This one is much easier to choose than today's Hip song!!

It's simple, when Gary took over the league, he had superstars. And I mean SUPERSTARS: Gretzky, Lemieux, Roy, Lindros, Messier, Jagr and on and on. Not only that, baseball was at low interest, Michael Jordan took his first retirement in the early '90s and Tiger Woods haden't hit the scene yet.
STILL, he managed to pull the NHL into a free fall of poor marketing and financial instability. Then, he was more interested in growing the game when it wasn't financially responsible to do so (though an expansion price tag brought in some hefty revenue). He thought the money was in the US, so he added the following expansion teams: Tampa Bay, Florida, San Jose, Anaheim, Nashville, Columbus, Atlanta (all real hockey markets :roll: ) along with the lone Canadian team Ottawa.
He also moved team from hockey hotbeds such as Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Quebec to lesser hockey markets like Dallas, Phoenix and Denver. As well, Hartford was shipped to Carolina.

Gary has brought nothing to the league. If anything, he has very much made it worse. How he has stayed on so long is beyond me, but I think the owners care more about money than the game or the fans to keep this loser around.

If Gary doesn't accept Balsillie's offer this time around, I do expect a backlash. He has ignored the roots of the game for too long now. He should have stuck with basketball.

[direwolf74]

I'd love to see another team in Canada, but southern Ontario?? That's lame. They don't need another team. Bring back the freakin' Jets, dammit!

[laliber]

I'd love to see another team in Canada, but southern Ontario?? That's lame. They don't need another team. Bring back the freakin' Jets, dammit!

best post ever :thumb:

[mrlayance]

It is possible but the margins would be razor thin. I lived in Winnipeg and no one likes to save a buck like a pegers. I can't see it but thats just me. Also, the new building, the MTSCenter would be one of the smallest areas in the league, 15015 seats.

Here are some numbers someone put together.

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[Lizard King]

I can't see it but thats just me. Also, the new building, the MTSCenter would be one of the smallest areas in the league, 15015 seats.

It must be Gary Buttmans new math but to me..

a full rink of 15,015 people is better than a rink with 5000 people that can hold 20,000.

[direwolf74]

I can't see it but thats just me. Also, the new building, the MTSCenter would be one of the smallest areas in the league, 15015 seats.

It must be Gary Buttmans new math but to me..

a full rink of 15,015 people is better than a rink with 5000 people that can hold 20,000.

Exactly.

[teemudog]

Being a huge hockey fan, and a season ticket holder here in Phoenix, I could really go on a rant here.

It was stupid decisions by Bettman, the Coyote owners, and the politicians that :censored it up for us fans.

Yeah, 4 to 5,000 each game, and I was one of them. :nooooo

[tth_fan]

Being a huge hockey fan, and a season ticket holder here in Phoenix, I could really go on a rant here.

It was stupid decisions by Bettman, the Coyote owners, and the politicians that :censored it up for us fans.

Yeah, 4 to 5,000 each game, and I was one of them. :nooooo

That sucks.... big time! At least you can empathise will the tens of thousands of fans of the old Winnipeg Jets...

[grimes]

Gary has brought nothing to the league. If anything, he has very much made it worse. How he has stayed on so long is beyond me, but I think the owners care more about money than the game or the fans to keep this loser around.

You answered your own question there. Of course the owners' primary concern is money, and that's exactly why Bettman has stuck around so long - he's helped them make a ton of it. Say what you will about him, but there's no denying the fact that league revenues have grown astronomically since he took over. And while all those southern expansions seem like a bad idea to hockey fans like you and me, each new franchise brought in big expansion fees that were shared amongst the other owners. But those short term gains are starting to come back to bite the league in the ass, and Phoenix is probably only the tip of the iceberg...

It is possible but the margins would be razor thin. I lived in Winnipeg and no one likes to save a buck like a pegers. I can't see it but thats just me. Also, the new building, the MTSCenter would be one of the smallest areas in the league, 15015 seats.

Here are some numbers someone put together.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jetsowner.com/revenuecrunch.htm">http://www.jetsowner.com/revenuecrunch.htm</a><!-- m -->

Bringing back the Jets would obviously the sentimental choice, but looking at those numbers I hope no one is getting their hopes up. As you say, margins would be razor thin, and they'd have to fill the building every night to have a chance of breaking even. Everyone assumes that wouldn't be a problem, but over their last 7 seasons in the league the Jets only averaged about 12,900 fans/game. Selling all those boxes and club seats would be the real challenge, I'm not sure if Winnipeg has the corporate base to make it happen.

[grimes]

Being a huge hockey fan, and a season ticket holder here in Phoenix, I could really go on a rant here.

It was stupid decisions by Bettman, the Coyote owners, and the politicians that :censored it up for us fans.

Yeah, 4 to 5,000 each game, and I was one of them. :nooooo

Well don't give up on your team yet. I'm sure Gary has something up his sleeve to try to stop Balsillie. Realistically though, is there any way you can see the team being viable in Phoenix long-term? Would they be playing to a full house every night if the team was any good? Or do just not enough people care about hockey down there?

[skippy the wonder dog]

I'd love to see another team in Canada, but southern Ontario?? That's lame. They don't need another team.

I hear this every time I travel west. Just a couple of weeks ago I had to listen politely to a client ranting about how arrogant we all are in Ontario to think we "deserve" another hockey team.

It amazes me just how weakly some people grasp the reality of Canada's population, which is this: almost one in five Canadians live in southern Ontario.

If you're an owner, you go where the people are. The major cities of the west already have teams. K-W (for example) is not a major city per se, but it is within easy driving distance of millions of people. Winnipeg is not.

[emperor penguin]

Who is the biggest idiot? Gary Bettman or Bud Selig?

Doug MacLean has them both beat. Listening to him talk about this issue on the Fan590 in Toronto everyday is almost enough to make me want to boycott the station. The man's arrogance and disregard for his own listening audience is astounding. This guy was one of the worst GM's in the history of the NHL and now he's incredibly bitter about not getting a single sniff from any other team since the Blue Jackets finally canned his ass. Shit, even the Wild are considering Pierre McGuire.

[clutchcdn]

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[teemudog]

Being a huge hockey fan, and a season ticket holder here in Phoenix, I could really go on a rant here.

It was stupid decisions by Bettman, the Coyote owners, and the politicians that :censored it up for us fans.

Yeah, 4 to 5,000 each game, and I was one of them. :nooooo

Well don't give up on your team yet. I'm sure Gary has something up his sleeve to try to stop Balsillie. Realistically though, is there any way you can see the team being viable in Phoenix long-term? Would they be playing to a full house every night if the team was any good? Or do just not enough people care about hockey down there?

The problem with attendance is that they moved to Glendale. There were plenty of places more centrally located, but the owners had no money. They should never have been allowed to come here in the first place with such a tiny budget.

We lost all our superstars, from the start Selanne (get the name?) then Khabibulin, Roenick Tkachuk, Briere, on and on, due to no money. Bettman was so hell bent of diluting the league he let this happen, give hope to a desert city in the US and have it work out so poorly. So, recap, they move to BFE and lose all stars and the triple the ticket cost, jack the schedule to eliminate East Coast teams from ever coming here. Who wants to see the Wings 6 times a year kick our asses, or see the Kings 6 times a year (mediocre game). So between the cost of ticket, gas, etc. people stopped coming.

We love hockey here, and I do empathize with the Jets fans, the move never should have happened, especially the way it did. they should have formed a new team so the area has some loyalty, like Diamondback Baseball team here. And Direct tv packages allow the comfort of watching your fav team without leaving home. Having a home town elsewhere is the majority of fans here, so they cheer for their team, not necessarity the Coyotes.