Gary Bettman Needs to Resign

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Where are they going to poach that person from? They don't grow on trees and the reality is that other people in NHL headquarters are prehistoric compared to Gary. People that want Bettman out must consider if they think Jim Daly is a better alternative because he would be a frontrunner.

Its a job that would be intriguing to lots of people. I doubt you'd have trouble finding candidates.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Its a job that would be intriguing to lots of people. I doubt you'd have trouble finding candidates.

Especially considering he has made almost $140 million USD since he started running the league. Something tells me that there would be a lot of takers for that job.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Its a job that would be intriguing to lots of people. I doubt you'd have trouble finding candidates.

Yeah but good ones that know how to run a professional sports league?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yeah but good ones that know how to run a professional sports league?

According to some people Bettman is just a figurehead for the league and the owners run the show. How hard would it be to find someone new to get in front of a camera and spread the ownership group's message?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

According to some people Bettman is just a figurehead for the league and the owners run the show. How hard would it be to find someone new to get in front of a camera and spread the ownership group's message?

It's true that the commissioner of any league is a figurehead but they also have to navigate the 32 different personalities that are not always on the same page and keep them unified. I don't think it's an easy job at all as you are trying to keep the owners happy, keep the league successful while trying to continually grow the sport, deal with labour issues, etc while being the most disliked person in the sport facing critique form fans and media for every decision, change, or thing that goes bad. I can see why a lot of successful business people would not be interested in the job as it's pretty thankless.

The main criticism I have of Gary Bettman is the state of officiating today and how it has not improved over the years and if anything seems to be getting worse. To me this is the biggest issue facing the league as officiating has become an obstacle to winning games in this league and that's a big problem. At it's very best its passable but at it's very worst it influences the outcome of games on a nightly basis. To me that's simply unacceptable.

[powderjunkie]

Commissioner is a unique position, but it's not that unique.

Every public CEO has to manage relationships and votes with board members and/or shareholders. 32 might be a little more than usual, but we often here that there are 5-10 owners who are particularly influential.

Entertainment, media, labour negotiations, sponsorship...there are plenty of people with significant experience in many of these areas. Tim Leiweke for example.

Or, if you want a 'hockey guy' as the face, you can surround them with VPs who specialize in the above.

Brendan Shanahan
Brian Burke
Steve Yzerman
John Davidson

Joe Sakic
Rob Blake
Luc Robitaille
Cam Neely
Ken Dryden or Bobby Orr if they were 20 yrs younger...

Not saying any of the above would be the right choice, but it's silly to think it's impossible to find a good replacement.

He's probably a little bit too radical for the old boys hockey club, but I'd go crazy and look at someone like Bill Simmons (if it were 5 years into the future and his kids were grown up)

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Commissioner is a unique position, but it's not that unique.

Every public CEO has to manage relationships and votes with board members and/or shareholders. 32 might be a little more than usual, but we often here that there are 5-10 owners who are particularly influential.

Entertainment, media, labour negotiations, sponsorship...there are plenty of people with significant experience in many of these areas. Tim Leiweke for example.

Or, if you want a 'hockey guy' as the face, you can surround them with VPs who specialize in the above.

Brendan Shanahan
Brian Burke
Steve Yzerman
John Davidson

Joe Sakic
Rob Blake
Luc Robitaille
Cam Neely
Ken Dryden or Bobby Orr if they were 20 yrs younger...

Not saying any of the above would be the right choice, but it's silly to think it's impossible to find a good replacement.

He's probably a little bit too radical for the old boys hockey club, but I'd go crazy and look at someone like Bill Simmons (if it were 5 years into the future and his kids were grown up)

Not Orr. He lost me with his full page Trump ad.

Treliving has run a hockey league.

I wonder if Mark Tatum figures he’s reached a ceiling in the NBA. He’s only 7 years younger than Silver so he’s probably not an heir apparent.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Commissioner is a unique position, but it's not that unique.

Every public CEO has to manage relationships and votes with board members and/or shareholders. 32 might be a little more than usual, but we often here that there are 5-10 owners who are particularly influential.

Entertainment, media, labour negotiations, sponsorship...there are plenty of people with significant experience in many of these areas. Tim Leiweke for example.

Or, if you want a 'hockey guy' as the face, you can surround them with VPs who specialize in the above.

Brendan Shanahan
Brian Burke
Steve Yzerman
John Davidson

Joe Sakic
Rob Blake
Luc Robitaille
Cam Neely
Ken Dryden or Bobby Orr if they were 20 yrs younger...

Not saying any of the above would be the right choice, but it's silly to think it's impossible to find a good replacement.

He's probably a little bit too radical for the old boys hockey club, but I'd go crazy and look at someone like Bill Simmons (if it were 5 years into the future and his kids were grown up)

Did anyone say that?

[GioforPM]

I would think there would have to be something like a retirement announcement and a 6 month job search.

I have nothing against Daly in particular but if it’s going to happen I’m all for new blood. I suppose the biggest change would be if they hired a hockey guy which neither Bettman nor Daly were.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Did anyone say that?

Aren’t there several posts in this thread questioning who could possibly step in?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Commissioner is a unique position, but it's not that unique.

Every public CEO has to manage relationships and votes with board members and/or shareholders. 32 might be a little more than usual, but we often here that there are 5-10 owners who are particularly influential.

Entertainment, media, labour negotiations, sponsorship...there are plenty of people with significant experience in many of these areas. Tim Leiweke for example.

Or, if you want a 'hockey guy' as the face, you can surround them with VPs who specialize in the above.

Brendan Shanahan
Brian Burke
Steve Yzerman
John Davidson

Joe Sakic
Rob Blake
Luc Robitaille
Cam Neely
Ken Dryden or Bobby Orr if they were 20 yrs younger...

Not saying any of the above would be the right choice, but it's silly to think it's impossible to find a good replacement.

He's probably a little bit too radical for the old boys hockey club, but I'd go crazy and look at someone like Bill Simmons (if it were 5 years into the future and his kids were grown up)

All white males from eras of hockey that are apparently the problem, full of racism, homophobia, old boys culture etc.

If Bettman is forced to resign, I can't see how any of these appease the mob.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Aren’t there several posts in this thread questioning who could possibly step in?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Questioning who could step in isn't the same as saying it's impossible to find a replacement.

[RyZ]

Id be willing to bet that the twitter mob is far more upset at Bettman than the people that are going to make the decision about his future employment. He's going nowhere unless he wants to.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by RyZ

Id be willing to bet that the twitter mob is far more upset at Bettman than the people that are going to make the decision about his future employment. He's going nowhere unless he wants to.

He is 69 so he and the owners should be setting up a contingency plan but it's probably on him when he wants to step down and retire.

[transplant99]

When he signed his last contract i remember the talking heads speculating it would be his last with him announcing before the final year it would be his last.

No reason to believe that has changed and a succession plan already in place. Likely start the search for his replacement at that time.

[InternationalVillager]

Is Gary Bettman waiting for Jack Eichel to be traded before he resigns?

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It's true that the commissioner of any league is a figurehead but they also have to navigate the 32 different personalities that are not always on the same page and keep them unified. I don't think it's an easy job at all as you are trying to keep the owners happy, keep the league successful while trying to continually grow the sport, deal with labour issues, etc while being the most disliked person in the sport facing critique form fans and media for every decision, change, or thing that goes bad. I can see why a lot of successful business people would not be interested in the job as it's pretty thankless.

The main criticism I have of Gary Bettman is the state of officiating today and how it has not improved over the years and if anything seems to be getting worse. To me this is the biggest issue facing the league as officiating has become an obstacle to winning games in this league and that's a big problem. At it's very best its passable but at it's very worst it influences the outcome of games on a nightly basis. To me that's simply unacceptable.

110%. Zero accountability for officials, zero transparency, can’t even speak out about them and then they OBVIOUSLY manage the games and outcomes to a level unheard of now. It’s the worst it’s ever been, by far.

Just call the ####ing game. Like any other game. Don’t manage the outcomes, that’s a ####ty way to run a sport. The NHL officiating gets an F- from me. Total disaster and they should be called out for it. All the time. Because it’s disturbingly bad and seemingly corrupt.

[Knightslayer]

Bettman should sign an extension. Best commish of all sports. He's been a great commish.

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

Bettman should sign an extension. Best commish of all sports. He's been a great commish.

Hockey was far more fun for fans before Bettman came around.

It was affordable. Trades were about hockey talent. Money wasn't the most talked about part of the sport. Canada had the best teams.

Bettman has made a lot of money for owners and players. He hasn't done much of anything for fans.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Hockey was far more fun for fans before Bettman came around.

It was affordable. Trades were about hockey talent. Money wasn't the most talked about part of the sport. Canada had the best teams.

The writing was on the wall from the moment the NHLPA made players' salaries public information. If memory serves, that was in 1990 – a couple of years before Bettman came over to the NHL. Couple that with the beginnings of meaningful free agency (a product, I believe, of the 1992 players' strike, which was the last thing to happen on John Ziegler's watch), and salaries (and therefore ticket prices) were bound to skyrocket.