Gary Bettman and the NHL

I will be the first to admit that Gary Bettman has done some great things to help grow the NHL. The numbers sort of speak for themselves ($440 million in 1993 to $2.2 billion in 2007).

That said, I wish he would get lost.

While I would love to see another team come to Southwestern Ontario, I realize that as long as Bettman is there, it won't happen.

But my biggest complaint, by far, is the following line from Bettman:
“We generally try to avoid relocating franchises unless you absolutely have to,” he said. “We think when a franchise is in trouble, you try and fix the problems. That’s what we did in Pittsburgh and Ottawa and Buffalo prior to our work stoppage. That’s what we did when the perception was that five out of the six Canadian franchises around the turn of the century were in trouble. We fixed the problems. We don’t run out on cities.”

We don't run out on cities?

Would you like to tell that to the cities that have lost franchises since you became the comissioner? I'm willing to let Minnesota (1993) slide, since they were leaving when you got into the league and they now have a team back.

But what about Quebec City (1995)? Winnipeg (1996)? Hartford (1997)? Three great cities where hockey was appreciated. But I guess they don't fall into big business.

On top of that, let's take a look at the four franchises Bettman let into the NHL:

Nashville (1998): Barely alive, constantly looking for investors, can't sell out an arena.
Atlanta (1999): While more financially stable than Nashville, they haven't been able to convince anybody to want to play for them.
Columbus Blue Jackets (2000): Although it's in Columbus, it is doing okay as a team. Not super financially stable, but doing reasonably well in comparison to the last two.
Minnesota (2000): Oh look, hockey is back in a hockey town! After the last one was move for purely business reasons, this team is doing well, with great fans. Unfortunately, they have trouble convincing people to play in Minnesota.

And that's not even looking at where he relocated teams to. Carolina? Do they need a hockey team? Or what about the currently floundering Phoenix Coyotes? How many times does the rest of the league need to bail a team out (to the tune of $35 million dollars!) before they realize that they could move it to a better market?

But this is Bettman, he doesn't give up on cities... Unless you're a Canadian or Northern US team, that is.