Quote:
Originally Posted by Press Level
I think a lot of the hate, for those of us old enough to remember, comes from the 90's. We went from an era where Canadian teams dominated (Habs, Oilers, Flames) to an era where Canadian teams could no longer be competitive, thanks to Bettman doing a really good job of growing the game in the U.S., and a really weak Canadian dollar. Quebec and Winnipeg lost their teams and Calgary and Edmonton almost lost theirs. Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa basically became farm teams for the larger markets for 10 years.
Was this all Bettman's fault? No. Did he do a good job fixing it in the 2000's? Yes. But once you hate someone for that long, it's hard to switch it off. Personally, when I look at his career as a whole, I think he has done an outstanding job.
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Quite frankly I think those who are Canadian fans that genuinely hate him and think he's been an inadequate commish just lack business sense. They're viewing it exclusively through emotional lenses, rather than a pragmatic one. As mentioned, it could be a lot worse for Canada if it wasn't for what he pushed for. We may only have three teams in Canada today. The league as a whole would probably have a lot less teams also.
Boo him because it's fun tradition, but recognize that he's done a lot of good for the game that he'll be leaving it better than how he acquired it.