Bettman HNIC Interview

We've had an amazing playoffs, the game is strong, and MacLean's sole intention was to play "gotcha" politics - who, in the context of the Cup Finals, wants to hear about franchise values in Tampa Bay and St. Louis, and how this supposedly relates to escrow? Who? That was ridiculous and MacLean should be ashamed of himself for wasting that segment.
 
RGM81 said:
We've had an amazing playoffs, the game is strong, and MacLean's sole intention was to play "gotcha" politics - who, in the context of the Cup Finals, wants to hear about franchise values in Tampa Bay and St. Louis, and how this supposedly relates to escrow? Who? That was ridiculous and MacLean should be ashamed of himself for wasting that segment.
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CBC (with MacLean) has this forum every year during the SCF...and every year it is the same format and silly bantering right to the end where MacLean apologizes for being so direct and Bettman says its ok.

It was a great time to go do something else during intermission!!
 
I was personally disgusted by Bettman. That must have been the rudest interview by someone in years. Granted it was pretty confrontational by Ron, but Bettman handled the interview extremely poorly in my opinion.
 
Bettman gets trampled on by people up north quite a bit. Some would shoot him on sight if given the chance. The conspiracy theories about the league (Bettman) not wanting another team in Canada and trying to Americanize the game are off base I think. Another team WILL end up in Canada at some point. Might have happened sooner if Balsille wasn't such a moron and started selling season tickets to a team he didn't even have.

Focus on the people who are already your core fanbase. They matter. Some of his attempts to broaden the league exposure have done well, other's have not. If the NFL tried to implement some way off the reservation type ideas (glowpuck, etc.) the fans would revolt and it would die instantly.

As it is right now, if he pisses off all of Canada it still doesn't matter because the money is down here. He's sort of like the guy who has a gorgeous wife at home (Canada) and yet he still cats around late at night looking for fun with trolls (southern markets).
 
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goflames12345 said:
I was personally disgusted by Bettman. That must have been the rudest interview by someone in years. Granted it was pretty confrontational by Ron, but Bettman handled the interview extremely poorly in my opinion.
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I actually think Bettman handled that very well. The other guy was a complete tool and was talking out of his rear end. It was nice to see him say that he thinks its best to first correct past wrongs before going places the NHL has not been to yet.
 
Ron MacLean has made a living off making Bettman his personal pinata. For someone who has made no qualms about believing he is the smartest guy in the room for the last 20 years or so, his arrogance is just as appalling. This from someone who lucked out when he replaced Dave Hodge, when he was working as a weatherman in Red Deer. To me, he's just a talking head who doesn't have the journalistic chops of some of his colleagues at CBC Sports and are probably better choices to take over once his and Cherry's contract comes up.

If the owners as a group didn't believe that Bettman was doing the job as they saw fit, he would have been punted long ago. He works for them, not the other way around despite what the impressions are. Name one commissioner for any of the major professional sports that actually looked after the interests of the game in general that lasted more than a couple of years in the last half century.
 
I actually thought Bettman was less of a doosh thanI have seen hin be in the past.
 
These Bettman interviews aside; MacLean is one of the best "hockey media" people in the business. If you ever sat down and talked to him one on one you would quickly learn that.

As for Bettman, I think he always handles himself well in these interviews. It's a shame fans don't understand what his role is.
 
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Bettman reminds me of this character, looks like him in a way:
peeweebettman.jpg


I really enjoyed how MacLean gets to the bottom of the business end of the NHL. Im sorry, but Bettman cant hide in this "The NHL is fine" company line too long. Owners are going to get sick and tired of revenue sharing sooner than later because teams are playing in empty arenas when they should be in more profitable cities that WANT an NHL team.
 
I'm not doubting MacLean's hockey knowledge - but his smugness and smartest man in the room act has worn just as thin as Cherry's act. Considering that neither of those two really are needed to maintain ratings for HNIC - since the fans are viewing regardless.

As far as the NHL being in trouble financially - really all of the major North American sports are in trouble with the exception of the NFL. There are more than a few floundering NBA teams right now - but the NBA is able to hide that better than the NHL, plus there is no hard cap. Same with Major League Baseball, when you're seeing teams keep their pay structures close to the floor - basically having the revenue sharing money pay for it, you have trouble brewing there as well.
 
MacLean tried to bait Bettman and make him look like a bitter man. I can't speak for all of MacLean's points, but can point out an issue with the Hurricanes ownership.

Karmanos has said that he has no interest in fully selling the team, but if someone were to toss $300 million at him, he might have to think about it. MacLean made it sound like Karmonos was shopping the team and hoping to sell it for $300 million, and then followed up by saying hockey couldn't work in Carolina. You want to toss that statement out to Bettman, who just two months ago gave Carolina the All-Star game due to fan/community support and who knows exactly what Karmonos said? That should put Bettman in a defensive, aggressive mood.

It was a good lively discussion, but doesn't change my opinion about either person. Bettman gets quite defensive when talking about franchises. I've heard several media outlets say that if you don't get Bettman to be combative to some degree then you probably have failed as an interviewer.
 
DXFlyers said:
Bettman reminds me of this character, looks like him in a way:
peeweebettman.jpg


I really enjoyed how MacLean gets to the bottom of the business end of the NHL. Im sorry, but Bettman cant hide in this "The NHL is fine" company line too long. Owners are going to get sick and tired of revenue sharing sooner than later because teams are playing in empty arenas when they should be in more profitable cities that WANT an NHL team.
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Pic of the year dude hahahaha :beer:
 
DXFlyers said:
I really enjoyed how MacLean gets to the bottom of the business end of the NHL. Im sorry, but Bettman cant hide in this "The NHL is fine" company line too long. Owners are going to get sick and tired of revenue sharing sooner than later because teams are playing in empty arenas when they should be in more profitable cities that WANT an NHL team.
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You do know this is exactly what the owners fought for right? Bettman is simply a talking head for the 30 NHL owners and they all back Bettman and according to the owners, he's doing them a great job.

Even one of the biggest contributors to the revenue sharing pool (the Canadiens) gave their support to Bettman
 
Before Bettman even opened his mouth I could see the arrogance seeping through his pores. Ron did a good job in the interview. He asked questions that Gary wasnt expecting.That is what makes journalism. I found that bettman was the one who was being confrontational and snooty. At no point did I get that vibe from Ron.

I think its important that any person of high power can have their bell rung every once and a while.
 
Good on Bettman for standing up for himslef this year. Usually McLean walks all over him. I was suprised that Bettman was on the offensive.
 

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