How long until Gary Bettman gets fired, dies, or resigns?

Question

I just want to know if I have anything to look forward to other than the Red Wings. I wish we had a commissioner that knew what hockey is, what the game means to the fans, and what got people interested in the first place. Hockey was a growing, entertaining sport before the lockout. Having a contract with ESPN helped, but personally, I think taking fighting and other physical aspects (such as the crack down on hip checks) has hurt the game as well. Gary Bettman has yet to realize what hockey is. If hockey were a hoppin party with the music on blast that everybody was enjoyin, Gary Bettman would be the old lady upstairs that calls the cops and ruins everything.

What are the terms of a commissioner's contract/employment? Are they elected by the NHLPA, owners, GMs, who? How long can they be "in office"? Can Gary Bettman be impeached? Please God help the great sport of hockey.

Answer 1

Can we tar and feather him.

Answer 2

RWD, you are sorely mistaken on this one.  The decisions in your first paragraph must be passed by the OWNERS.  Not having the ESPN contract has HELPED the NHL.  Bettman is misunderstood as a big decision maker, but ultimately, he has no power with each organization's owners.

"you":  Great Points!

“you”:  It took me a while to read that…;)  I really loved the military analogy…good stuff.  You should write a book…you’re a really talented writer.  BTW:  Lity was the one that said viewership has gone up since the contract with VS.

RWD:  Whoo-Hoo!  The proud owner of the worst team in the league!  lmao....*wipe tear* it is really sad to support c**p.  The way I feel this summer, I am sure is the way Leafs fans feel year after year of heartbreak.

Answer 3

To get fired, i bleieve its either a majority or all owners have to boot him out, and to the small market teams, this might not exactly happen since the cap keeps them contending, i think he is too thickheaded to resign, and we can only wait for him to die

Answer 4

I'd like to see him get hit by a bus.

Answer 5

Batman has actually done a lot for the NHL. Without him most of the people on this forum wouldn't be here. There would be no hockey in their city and they would be basketball fans.

Batman created the lockout which brought the salary cap. This evened the playing field.

Without the lockout there wouldn't have been the false draft in 2005 and Pittsburgh wouldn't have got Sidney Crosby. Without Crosby, Balsillie would have bought the team and they would be playing in New Hamburg.

Without Batman and his cronies Phoenix, Columbus, Nashville, and Florida would have been sold to

northern interests and been playing in Trois Rivieres, Saskatoon, Wawa, and Brandon.

Batman made the NHL what it is today. Before you wish him gone remember my Grandmother's old saying better the devil you know than the demon you don't.

Answer 6

Bettman is under contract; the owners in effect are his 'boss'.

There is a possibility that Bettman might not be around as long as you'd think; the league is starting to look not unlike the pre-lockout version (the salary cap has skyrocketed, much to the benefit of some clubs, but not to others); I could see a number of small/medium market owners wanting to see a change (ask the people in Edmonton how this is working out), but not sure if there's enough there.

The biggest problem is that Bettman's title is commissioner, but he reports to, and works for the owners.  For me, the title of commissioner should be someone vested in the best interest of the game, NOT the owners, not the players.

Answer 7

many fans voice this perspective. i being one of them. (albeit naive, and simplistic, from a corporate perspective; (read: "NHL front office / decision - maker" ... perspective).

keep the following in mind:

- there is a LOT of the NHL that we, the fans, don't see. a huge part of that unseen NHL is what goes on at NHL front offices, the owners and teams' front offices, and the interface between.

- Bettman works for the owners. they are satisfied w/ him. that might even be a slight understatement.

- fans (in the sense of buying tickets) are not the biggest voice of the customer to the NHL. corporate contracts are. that's probably why the owners endorse / chose Bettman. he's more of a businessman and lawyer. not a dynamic, charismatic, fan-magnet.

- the lockout was not just the fault of one entity.

- it is very unrealistic to hope that the NHL will become the #1 sport in America. i can't speak about Canada, because I can only go from what i hear the Canadians on here, say. but i think that a key to "success" for the NHL is actually recognizing the sports place, and appealing to the core audience (remember the horrible "blazing" puck on TV idea .. that was to attract non - hockey audiences), and the potential youth who would be drawn to it. the reality is that you'll never convince, the American South, for instance, (GENERALLY SPEAKING... TBL, Homes, Kimmy, etc. are the exceptions), that the NHL is more important than football (h.s., college, or Pro). shoot, Fridays are almost as holy as Sundays in the Bible Belt.

so all good points. i want to see hockey excel too. i'd love to see a commish that is committed to the roots of the sport and pleasing the true fans. however, we live in an entertainment - driven world (well, ok, continent). and that means money. so the best commissioners are usually businessmen.

So if you want to get rid of Bettman, become an owner, and get a bunch of friends to become owners, and remove him. Otherwise, this will be decided by those w/ the most $$. And we keep paying them.

Just reality.

add - Homes makes a good point. ESPN actually DID hurt the NHL. this is a perfect example. see, from the casual fan's point, we see NHL 2Nite on ESPN2 nightly, and think the sport is getting exposure. but not to the people who count. the ones w/ the $$. the NHL is actually doing better financially w/ the Versus contract (if i'm not mistaken). i think they're actually getting more viewers, if you can believe that (from what i've heard. sorry, can't tell you the source. i think it was LITY or Homes). so what the fans THINK is helping the sport, sometimes, from the bean counters' perspective (cuz remember, no matter how much we may want to deny it, THE NHL IS A BUSINESS, not a charity), it actually hurt it. and vice versa w/ Versus (no pun intended).

Homes. lol. simultaneous unintentional compliments. eerie. btw, i finally commented on the "young captains" issue. thx for the answer (and link).

add 2 - tom, i added some comments to the "mystery red wing homerism" issue from Haley's question yesterday. uh... i apologized. lol.