I think that we owe a big round of applause to our newest, bestest buddy, and big toe.. Sergeant Gary Bettman

[Bushay]

C'mon now...even you Canadians. Let's give it up.

The game is better today than it's been in a very long time.


http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/nhl_says_business_going_strong/


Specific milestones during the Conference Quarter-Finals included:

ATTENDANCE

Continuing the momentum from a record-breaking regular-season at the gate (21,475,223 in total attendance), the average per-game attendance for the Conference Quarter-Finals of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs was 18,739, the highest since the 2005-06 Playoffs.

The League has played to more than 100 percent capacity in the Conference Quarter-Finals every year since 2004 and 2009 was no exception.
Arenas filled to 100.9 percent capacity during the Conference Quarter-Finals, a new record.

TELEVISION RATINGS

NHL ON NBC

During the 2009 Conference Quarter-Finals, NBC averaged 17 percent more viewers compared to 2008. The April 19 broadcast of Penguins-Flyers on NBC was the most-watched NHL Quarter-Final broadcast on a national over-the-air rightsholder since 2001.

VERSUS

During the 2009 Conference Quarter-Finals, in which VERSUS aired 26 games, the network earned its most-watched Conference Quarter-Finals ever.
Total viewership increased 23 percent compared to the 2008 Conference Quarter-Finals while viewership for Men 18-49 (up 20 percent) and Men 25-54 (up 31 percent) also grew substantially.

NHL PLAYOFFS ON TSN

In Canada, TSN had its most-successful Conference Quarterfinal ever.
The coverage attracted a national average audience of 567,000 viewers, marking a 42-percent increase compared to last year. The audience surpassed TSN’s previous high achieved during the 1992 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL.COM

Provided with fun and innovative original content such as the Cisco All-Access Pregame Show and access to the NHL Video Review Room in Toronto, NHL.com Unique Visitors have increased 3 percent during the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs compared to the 2008 playoffs.

Overall video starts are up 89 percent for the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs compared to 2008.

NHL GAMECENTER LIVE

Revenue for NHL GameCenter LIVE through the Conference Quarter-Finals of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs is up 92 percent from the same point in 2008. The number of subscriptions has increased 42 percent.

SOCIAL MEDIA

On April 15, the NHL hosted what is believed to be professional sports’ first ever international Tweetup, a meeting of people that use the popular social media platform Twitter. By establishing the flagship NHL Tweetup at the NHL Store Powered By Reebok in New York City, the League engaged and mobilized fans, who in turn organized local gatherings in 23 cities around the world. As a result, 1,200 fans came together on April 15 to celebrate the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, driving a record volume of blogging and microblogging, and reaching nearly 250,000 tech-savvy fans.

CORPORATE MARKETING

The League facilitated Stanley Cup Playoffs marketing activation with U.S. partners such as Bud Light, Verizon Wireless, Sirius XM and Cisco; and Canadian partners Labatt, Honda, McDonald’s, Bell, Pepsi, Scotiabank, Bridgestone, Energizer, Xbox and Visa.

 

[kOTCHO]

if you ask me count chocula is a complete baffon. The nhl is not better today . They have watered down the game. There are too many non traditional markets in trouble most notably phoenix. The nbc deal sucks for the nhl. Did you know that the great dictator gave it to nbc for free? Hockey may have had good ratings in the first round but thats because most of the original 6 are involved. Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Ny, and Montreal. The nhl is strong along the us canada border. Thats it!! people in the american south dont give a shit. Hell figure skating gets better rating than the nhl does in the usa. Did u know that espn dropped hockey cause holdempoker gets better ratings than the nhl? Great commisioner? Stronger game? I think not!

 

[PassTheBuck]

if you ask me count chocula is a complete baffon. The nhl is not better today . They have watered down the game. There are too many non traditional markets in trouble most notably phoenix. The nbc deal sucks for the nhl. Did you know that the great dictator gave it to nbc for free? Hockey may have had good ratings in the first round but thats because most of the original 6 are involved. Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Ny, and Montreal. The nhl is strong along the us canada border. Thats it!! people in the american south dont give a shit. Hell figure skating gets better rating than the nhl does in the usa. Did u know that espn dropped hockey cause holdempoker gets better ratings than the nhl? Great commisioner? Stronger game? I think not!

Agree completely! Was waiting for someone to bring up some good points. Furthermore, TSN's ratings are in large part up due to the fact that they carried a series with a Canadian team for the first time in forever.

Anyone who does enough digging can put holes through almost all of Bettman's "accomplishments." A lot of credit goes to having five of the Original Six, as you pointed out.

 

[Bushay]

I hope you guys know that I post that stuff to get a rise out of you Canadians. I'm not crazy about him either but those numbers don't lie. And the game IS MUCH more exciting that it was 5-10-15 years ago. You need to let the hatred die a little. It's not healthy. A blanket statement like the league is watered down because of him is entertaining. With salaries escalating as they did there was no way they could ever afford to pay players without expanding as they did. The Phoenix's and Nashville's are having problems because the economy is in the shitter. They weren't having those problems when times were better.The Winnipeg's of the league could never make it in these high salaried days. They just didn't have enough corporate sponsorships. That's too easy blaming that on Bettman.
There's 330 million people in the States. And 30 some million in Canada. If the game was/is going to grow and it needs to, where else is he going to look for new fans. You should appreciate the fact he's open minded enough to at least lookat all the possibilities. Look at the crowds they got in Europe the last couple years. If times were better we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's only logical. He's an American running the Canadian game. You guys wouldn't like him if he married your ugly sister. He was taught by the best. David Stern from the NBA. Stern took that league and blew it up. If times were better with these new rules They'd have a contract with ESPN. They've actually turned Verses into a very decent NHL telecast from where they first started off. The game has changed fella's. Your fathers NHL is never coming back. I think if some Canadian teams had won the Cup more than since 93' you guys wouldn't be so biter. Who knows...maybe those 2 Americans that are running the Toronto franchise these days can help you out.<><>
@)

 

[emmitt22]

what a useless spin dr that little weasel is!!! :ears:

 

[X-Files]

I'm looking forward to his next State Of The NHL address.

Not sure who he's on in the Pens Caps series, but word is
that some heavy dough is on it to go the distance.

 

[magillagorilla]

he seems to be roundly hated for his poor promotion of the sport in most hockey call in shows I heard when I was in canada

he is called harry buttman in this canadian movie.LOL.has anyone seen this movie,"bon cop.bad cop"?

this is from wikipedia

Bettman has also been accused of having an "anti-Canadian" agenda,<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference">[14]</sup> with critics citing the relocation of the franchises in Quebec City and Winnipeg and his apparent refusal to help stop it, along with the aborted sale of the Nashville Predators in 2007 to interests that would have moved the team to Hamilton, Ontario.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference">[15]</sup> Jim Balsillie accused Bettman of forcing the Predators to end negotiations with him to purchase the team.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference">[16]</sup> Bettman was satirized in this vein as the character "Harry Buttman" in the 2006 Canadian movie Bon Cop, Bad Cop.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference">[17]</sup>

 

[PassTheBuck]

I hope you guys know that I post that stuff to get a rise out of you Canadians. I'm not crazy about him either but those numbers don't lie. And the game IS MUCH more exciting that it was 5-10-15 years ago. You need to let the hatred die a little. It's not healthy. A blanket statement like the league is watered down because of him is entertaining. With salaries escalating as they did there was no way they could ever afford to pay players without expanding as they did. The Phoenix's and Nashville's are having problems because the economy is in the shitter. They weren't having those problems when times were better.The Winnipeg's of the league could never make it in these high salaried days. They just didn't have enough corporate sponsorships. That's too easy blaming that on Bettman.
There's 330 million people in the States. And 30 some million in Canada. If the game was/is going to grow and it needs to, where else is he going to look for new fans. You should appreciate the fact he's open minded enough to at least lookat all the possibilities. Look at the crowds they got in Europe the last couple years. If times were better we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's only logical. He's an American running the Canadian game. You guys wouldn't like him if he married your ugly sister. He was taught by the best. David Stern from the NBA. Stern took that league and blew it up. If times were better with these new rules They'd have a contract with ESPN. They've actually turned Verses into a very decent NHL telecast from where they first started off. The game has changed fella's. Your fathers NHL is never coming back. I think if some Canadian teams had won the Cup more than since 93' you guys wouldn't be so biter. Who knows...maybe those 2 Americans that are running the Toronto franchise these days can help you out.<><>
@)

Has absolutely nothing to do with him being American. In fact, I've never heard anyone use that as a reason for hating the guy. I'll take Paul Tagliabue or Roger Goodell anyday. An idiot is an idiot, no matter which country he was born in.

 

[Bushay]

Let's be fair about this now. Those 2 cities could now longer support their franchises. And Balsille tried to bully his way to owning a team. It's doesn't work that way. If I remember correctly he needed a majority approval from the other owners to even qualify for a team. He wanted to buy the team on HIS terms and it rubbed the other owners the wrong way. He's since did a 180' with his attitude realizing that was the ONLY chance he had of landing a team. Simply put, he thought his money could buy his way into an old boys network and it failed. Not to mention Toronto didn't want him owning a team within their boundaries taking capitol from the Leafs. And it's not like Bettman just pulled teams from Canada that were struggling.
Magillagorilla why did you cut off the end of the paragraph that gave him some credit?

Let me finish it for you.
However, Bettman also championed the Canadian assistance plan, a revenue sharing agreement that saw American teams give money to help support the four small-market Canadian teams – Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Vancouver – throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The WHOLE story can be found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Bettman

If your not reading it with an agenda....he's accomplished quite a bit in a short period of time.

Most ALL the negative Bettman talk is all coming from north of the border. He gets a far fairer shake on the other side.

 

[Bushay]

Has absolutely nothing to do with him being American. In fact, I've never heard anyone use that as a reason for hating the guy. I'll take Paul Tagliabue or Roger Goodell anyday. An idiot is an idiot, no matter which country he was born in.

I'd be interested to hear your problems with the man. And I'll listen with an open mind.

 

[PassTheBuck]

I'd be interested to hear your problems with the man. And I'll listen with an open mind.

Start by googling Boots Del Biaggio

 

[Bushay]

Has absolutely nothing to do with him being American. In fact, I've never heard anyone use that as a reason for hating the guy. I'll take Paul Tagliabue or Roger Goodell anyday. An idiot is an idiot, no matter which country he was born in.

Take 20 minutes or so out of your busy day and watch this interview with Gary and one of my favorite interviewers. He's in a hostile environment with a room full of angry Canadians and answered ever question and more that George put to him. And not a peep out of the crowd. Even the 2 clowns in the front row with the Nordics shirts.

Enjoy.
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=1023382777

 

[Bushay]

Start by googling Boots Del Biaggio

I'm familur with Boots. Whats your point?

 

[PassTheBuck]

I'm familur with Boots. Whats your point?

This + waste of 20 minutes watching a video that was about as hostile as a pillow fight with Mandy Moore = End of argument.

 

[Bushay]

This + waste of 20 minutes watching a video that was about as hostile as a pillow fight with Mandy Moore = End of argument.

That's exactly what I thought.

Nothing solid to back your stance.

 

[Bushay]

Well said kttvegas.
One of the main things I get a kick out of is hie ditracters for the most part believe that Gary and Gary alone changes rules by for reasons they don't understand. When in fact Bettman has his hand in very few changes that happen in the league. Bettman may propose a rule change or bring to attention a situation that the Board of Goveners all vote on and for the most part need a majority vote to make a change. Gary actually has very little powers in this regard.

 

[FairWarning]

Did Bettman take credit for the resurgence of the Chicago market? Only reason it came back was the passing of Dollar Bill Wirtz.

 

[gtc08]

dont buy the hype. this is still a niche sport.

TV ratings are still abysmal. sport has absolutely no marketing. still talked about behind nba, mlb, nfl offseason, golf and nascar on major networks like fox sports and espn.

the NHL has gone from the 4th sport to a cult league.

i mean the finals got a 1.8 last year, and that was considered the dream matchup for the league. the bulls-celtics game 5 had a 4.0 overnight, and thats a cable game on tnt, not NBC, and that's a first round playoff game, not a stanley cup final.

also there talking about dropping the cap 15 percent over the next couple of years.

the league is on life support off of these canadian teams with rabid fans, but is for all purposes dead in the US outside of a market here and there.

nhl is a joke right now and should be treated like it is, on the back burner behind NBA, MLB, NFL, Golf and Nascar.

and the talk about nhl.com is laughable as well.

nhl is 696th in traffic rank. 696th for a supposed major sports league is pathetic. MLB is 354, NBA is 229.

betteman destroyed this league with a lockout and it is an embarrassment right now. i believe MLS jumps up and grabs that 4 spot in the next 5 years while the NHL continues to stutter.

if there were no canadian teams, this league would be dead. thats not even debatable. and when your league is riding on what 6 teams, foreign teams at that then you know its over.

the NHL needs to take a hint from the best commish in sports, david stern, and learn how to market a product. if I could pick any commish to run my league, he would be the guy. single handedly turned the NBA from a cult league like the NHL is now into a global empire stretching across not only the US, but the globe.

 

[X-Files]

I say go back to Canadian teams only. Also don't let gtc08
into the cuntry let alone allow him to watch a game.

 

[gtc08]

I say go back to Canadian teams only. Also don't let gtc08
into the country let alone allow him to watch a game.

its a smart decision. keep a minnesota, detroit, teams along the canadian border and and eliminate the rest of the teams south of DC, which is approximately 12 teams. 18 teams, 2 divisions. 9 teams in each division. you play your other opponents 4 times each 2 home, 2 away. 68 game season. have the top 2 teams in each conference face off, winners go to the stanley cup.

thats the way it should've been re-aligned after this lockout instead of having the league continue to embarrass itself with these dead franchises.