The NHL Is Falling Behind In Embarrassing Fashion
The NHL, in terms of its administration, has always confused me. Aside from Tampa Bay’s cups in back-to-back years, the league has a lot of parity — six different cup winners in the past seven seasons is honestly not bad. We have also seen a big share of exciting playoff upsets, but the league still gets in its own way.
Gary Bettman has the chance to grow the game in ways never seen before in the era of social media. He even has had the chance to work with Dana White.
Love him or hate him, White has transformed the UFC into a household name. In terms of social media presence, broadcast rights, gambling buzz and more, people are locked into the UFC landscape. But the NHL still turned his help down. You already know White will not lose sleep over it, but it’s just embarrassing.
The on-ice product is as great as it’s ever been this century. There are so many marketable and entertaining stars. Still, it feels like the league will never get the love it deserves — and it’s the decision-makers who deserve the blame.
Shocking Stuff
At the beginning of the pre-draft Real Kyper and Bourne Show on SportsNet Wednesday, the guys made an astonishing remark. The NHL had to have the draft during Wednesday-Thursday instead of the usual Friday-Saturday slate because of hotels. Bachelor parties and college kids were more important to Nashville hotels than the National Hockey League. It’s an embarrassment. The league will continue to be a pushover and miles behind the other leagues until they have some accountability.
Where do we start with the Coyotes? Bettman’s brain-child in the desert has gotten to Code Red levels of bad. They’re so boring and dysfunctional that the people of Arizona don’t even want them to play there anymore. They had to spend the past year at Arizona State’s 5,000-seat stadium and will probably have to remain there. If accountable people who admit they made mistakes were in charge they would have cut ties years ago. You think this would come up in Quebec, or even Kansas City?
Small Silver Lining
I’ll give Bettman credit for this and only this: Vegas and Seattle. He hasn’t swung and missed with those two teams. The Knights just won the Stanley Cup while the Kraken upset the defending champion Avalanche in seven games this postseason.
But again, it’s the on-ice success and smart front offices that are responsible for that. If those went down the drain like Arizona I think we’d see much more of an outcry against him. Dana White isn’t perfect, but if you give hockey the UFC model in terms of marketing you’d probably see instant results.
The NHL could be so much more than it is right now. Gary Bettman and the other clowns running the league have completely lost their heads in the twenty-first century. It’s a shame that the game is being dragged down because of this.
