Gary Bettman Sucks

Salary Cap Craziness!

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:58:45 +0000

Can you beleive the NHL’s maximum salary cap is now $59.4 MILLION? WOW! Even scarier for most team is the floor is now at $43 Million so you better be make money to play in the NHL. In all my arguments about the state of the NHL, I think the minimum salary floor is going to be the real undoing.

Unlike the MLB, the NHL doesn’t have a lucrative TV deal to help pad each teams bottom line. The $43M for each team next year, most of that is coming from the fans.

This is a HUGE jump from the $39M maximum the NHL had as a salary cap after the lockout (2005-2006) season. And more importantly, the minimum of $27M…

Could you imagine if the Phoenix Coyotes ‘revenue loss’ was replaced with a Hamilton team that was a ‘revenue generator’? Then the salary cap would probably be $62M-$64M with a minimum floor between $44M – $46. Might not seem like a big deal but remember the Atlanta Thrashers had trouble making the minimum three years ago when it was only $34M…now at $40 that is an exta $6M and the fan base in Atlanta isn’t going to make up that amount.

This increase is going to make things crazy…more and more bloated contracts are floating around the NHL. (Tim Thomas, $5 million cap hit * 3 years; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Sheldon Souray, $5.4 million * 2years, and many more)

With five teams struggling to get under the cap and another six NFL teams strugling to make the floor…what is the state of the NHL?

Help Mr. Balsillie; the NHL needs you!

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:00:41 +0000

They’are baaacckkkk! The Coyotes are back in the news and it isn’t going to be good for Gary “Mr. Suck” Bettman. An outside party recently valued at ‘yotes at $50M…yes! That is $110M LESS then the NHL is asking. The main reason is Ice Edge Holdings Inc doesn’t have the money to purchase the team. Apparently, the US banks learned something from the drop in the housing market!

Phoenix is averaging less the 12K fans per game and that is at discounted ticket prices…I wonder how the Players Union feels about the ‘yotes bringing down the NHL salary cap? Mind you if the cap goes up…at least 3 more NHL teams will face bankruptcy.

Here is what is wrong with the Ice Edge deal:

- Bankers are balking at financing this venture after they learned financier Jeffrey Vinik paid only about $100-million in cash for the Tampa Bay Lightning. They are asking hard questions about why the Coyotes would be worth 60 per cent more.

- The Ice Edge principals will not discuss their finances in detail, but a banking source says they have only a relatively small amount to put into the proposed deal. As a result, bankers are not queuing up to lend money.

Thanks to David Shoalts at the Globe and Mail for a great article on the failuer of the Ice Edge bid.

Is anyone REALLY surprised this deal fell apart? Mr Balsillie did you see this coming? I am sure you did…

My next prediction, when Mr. Suck gets handed his walking papers it will be over two things… a bad deal with the Players Union last strike AND the ‘cotes. Mr. Sucks successor will try and distance himself by letting Balsillie put a team in Hamilton!

Ho Ho Mr. Suck you’ve got to go!

Team Canada HAMMERS Team Russia!

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:01:41 +0000

WoW! Gary “Mr. Suck” Bettman got a wet dream last night watching Canada pound the Russia team into the ground 7-3. Canada showed by hockey is our game by skating faster and working harder then the Russian in every part of the game.

Now Mr. Suck is PRAYING Canada and US meet in the final to send the ratings through the roof. I hope for the same thing because I think they are the best time…but as a Canadian Ryan Miller scares the crap out of me…he is a great goalie.

Once piece of advice…if Mr. Suck wants Canada to win to placate Canadian hockey fans over the Hamiltion/Phoneix mess…then Ryan Miller…. HIDE! Becuase I wouldn’t put it past Mr. Suck to pull a Tonya Harding!

NBC dances away from the NHL!

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:52:22 +0000

Gary ‘Mr. Suck’ Bettman has done another AWFUL job at marketing the NHL in the US. This might be the biggest slight in the long NHL history…. NBC is bumping the Men’s Hockey game of Canada VS USA for …. Ice Dancing… yes… you read it correctly… Ice Dancing! Mr. Suck you have failed!

Did you know that NBC is the rights holder for the NHL in the US? Did you know the NHL constantly changes it schedule (both regular season and playoffs) to accomodate NBC? Did you know that NBC doesn’t care about the NHL?

Mr. Suck’s relationship with NBC is the same as an abusive relationship…the worse NBC treats the NHL… the more Mr. Suck tries to make NBC happy. This Olympic snub shows Gary ‘Mr. Suck’ Bettman has no clout in the US…he can’t call in any favours…he can’t do anything for the NHL.

Mr Suck…your petty attitude and distain for all thing Canadian can be seen by even your US ‘friends’. If you can’t get a a partner to air a Canada V USA Olympic on their main network…well what good are you?

Please do the right thing and resign!!!

BTW: You can read more on Yahoo Sports

Winter Classic, a reminder of why Bettman much go!

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:17:58 +0000

Tonight an email arrived from HockeyToronto.com and I was pleased to see some talk about movement in the ‘Get Rid of Bettman’ movement. The Winter Classic was fantastic today and is an example of the NHL doing something really right! Unfortunately, in Gary “Mr. Suck” Bettman’s tenure these great ideas are few and far, very FAR, between!

Here is what was in the email:

The following note is being sent to the 30,000+ Members of the NHL Fans’ Association.
Recently, many suggestions have been received from Members related to the activities the NHLFA should pursue in its attempt to have Gary Bettman removed as the commissioner of the NHL this season. One such suggestion is to coordinate a league-wide protest week that will rally fans attending games to hold signs calling for the dismissal of Bettman.
If you would like to contribute an idea, please visit http://www.nhlfa.com/minipoll09_10Season

The Winter Classic isn’t a feather in Mr. Suck’s hat; instead it is a reminder of what the NHL could have been with a good leader.

Mr Suck, please resign!

10 Tips for Obama from Tiger!

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:28:59 +0000

Priceless timing for this article! What is your “Tip to Obama from Tiger”, see our list below….

This ten tips would be priceless....

Obama just can’t catch a break…but the top 10 tips from Tiger would be VERY interesting right about how… he might say stuff like:

Have secret service protect your phone
‘Tipping’ cocktail waitresses can be expensive
Saying “Yes, we can” to waitresses is dangerous
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Lets build a list of the top 10 tips from Tiger to Obama!

Send a MakeItSeven.ca message to Gary ‘Mr Suck’ Bettman

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:10:04 +0000

I just received and email from the Make It Seven team. Asking people to send a messaget to Gary “Mr Suck” Bettman. Here was the body of the message:

Supporters of Make It Seven,

In his ruling on June 15, Judge Baum clearly encouraged the NHL and Jim Balsillie enter into mediation to settle the matter of relocating the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton.

Jim Balsillie is more than willing to discuss relocation with the NHL and we need you, the fans, to help bring the league to the table. We have written an email that you can quickly and easily send to us and then spread the word among your friends so that we can deliver the message to the NHL.

Click here to see the letter and send it to the league.

With your help, we will Make It Seven.

Send Mr Suck a message…it will take you 10 seconds!

Bettman booed in Stanley Cup Finals

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:37:18 +0000

Mr. Suck pulled off a another first the other day…just by showing up he caused 20,000+ people to boo during the Stanley Cup FInals. Bettman is getting booed alot. This is probably the first time the Cup has been booed…and it is all because of Mr. Suck.

To make matters worse, Mr. Suck politicised the Cup presentation by talking about people ’saving’ the Pens. Lobbing about the Coyotes is just terrible at the biggest moment of the NHL season. Gary Betman, doing stuff like this is why people hate you!

It is time for a Top 10 list of why Gary Bettman Sucks!

Mr. Suck lost an entire NHL season
He let the Jets leave Winnipeg even with fans protesting
What are the other major sins of Bettman?
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Please let us know what you think are his top ‘bone-head’ moves…

Check out this great video of the boos Gary ‘Mr Suck’ Bettman received….

Relocation fee and Leafs waiting list…

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:41:44 +0000

In the battle for a seventh NHL team, the judge has ordered the NHL all sides in a Phoenix bankruptcy court to provide him with information around a possible relocation fee the NHL may charge for the Coyotes franchise to be moved to Hamilton.

The current rumours have amount being set at $100M! Crazy amount? Maybe maybe not…

The Anaheim Ducks payed the LA Kings $25M back in 1992-1993 because they were moving into their fan base. In 1992 the NHLs total revenue was only $400 million. So, the Ducks paid the Kings 6.25% of league revenue to move in on their fan base. In 2008, the league has revenues around $2.2B if they keep the 6.25% rule it would mean $137M! WOW! That is a pretty crazy amount of money to be given to the Leafs and the Sabers.

But wait, revenue is just one part of the equation…distance between the areans would also have to be huge part of the equation. The Staple Centre is 31 miles from the Honda Centre. This pretty close and the Ducks had to pay $$25M.

The Sabers are 65 miles from the arean in Hamilton and the Leafs are 41miles from Hamilton. Because both are farther away, the percentage they have to be paid should be lower. So 5% of revenue might make more sense…roughly $100M…this seems to be the logical…but is it too much for Mr. RIMM?

Maybe the NHL and Mr. Suck will realize another team in Southern Ontario will be good for hockey and the NHL. Maybe the will realize the Leafs revenue has been increasing steadily, from $117M in 2003-2004 to $160M in 2007-2008. While the Buffalo Sabers reveune has increased as well but was starting from a much lower point, $51M in 2003-2004 to $76M in 2007-2008

Does it seem fair to give these teams over 50% of years revenue for Hamilton to get a team?

This could be debated but one thing I want everyone to know, the Leafs have a season ticket waiting list that is around 3000 names deep…and over the last two years no one on the list has moved. That is right, there is 100% renewal of season tickets for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs also have the highest average ticket price at $75 per seats…and even during this recession they have increased their ticket prices.

To recap, what the leafs have:

highest ticket prices in the NHL
highest team revenue
3000+ fans on the season ticket waiting list
and a ton of scalpers who make a mint off leafs tickets

Can someone tell me why Leafs need millions of dollars if a team goes to Hamilton?

Phoneix Coyotes real attendence numbers!

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:26:50 +0000

This is a great piece of information relating to the possible move of the Phoneix Coyotes to Hamilton.

James Mirtle wrote a nice post showing that the ‘coyoes only had 11K people go through the turnstiles, on average, every night. That is over 3K less then they announce at actual games…

http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/6/3/897211/the-coyotes-attendance-figures

Read the ‘good news’ from his post…

The good news? A lot of those tickets that weren’t used were at least paid for (this season anyway). Paid attendance figures are actually up significantly from where they were in the first season after the lockout, when the team apparently sold just 11,340 per game and yet announced attendance of 15,570.

Paid tickets went up this year? Something fishy about this…

Mr. Suck what else aren’t you telling the NHL fans…are the $200 a seat tickets in Toronto subsidizing the ‘coyote?