Gary Bettman on Playoff Expansion Rumours, Growing The Game and His HOF Induction | 31 Thoughts

[@joer8854]

Love him or hate him the one thing that's undeniable is that Bettman is a good sport. He's the political leader you love to hate but the thing is when most politicians try to ignore you when you boo or heckle them or whatever, Bettman looks you right in the eye and smiles and waves like yeah I love you too. For that Mr. Bettman, bravo, that takes class and style.

[@kolodge1994]

yeah Bettman was the commissioner when the league went through 2 lockouts but hes done great things for the NHL

[@thyeksiled7212]

kolodge1994 the lockouts aren't bettmans fault, that's on the owners

[@sam93931]

@@thyeksiled7212 owners and players both.

[@thyeksiled7212]

sam93931 true

[@CharlieND]

Bettman is a great commissioner! He's helped to grow the sport a lot.

[@spiderpig5704]

Said no one ever

[@dominikszkoda8566]

Spider Pig If you actually Look into it he Has grown The NHL

[@dominikszkoda8566]

Spider Pig Put Winnipeg,Anaheim,Nashville,Vegas,and Minnesota into the league,Made the Salary Cap,Player Salaries have gone up By a lot,The Cap has gone up and the league is making more money then Ever

[@dominikszkoda8566]

People look at Arizona,Florida,Carolina and Islanders way too much,His goal Isn’t Just to make Billions of dollars for the league but also Grow the game that’s what makes him Different from the other Sports commissioners

[@dominikszkoda8566]

DurdyClaude I thank you for ignoring the facts

[@danceswithcritters]

Bettman is right, don't mess with the playoff format. To make the playoffs is a lot of hard work these days, don't ruin it with bullshit formats.

[@Th3tim3stopp3r]

The playoff format is already bullshit. Couple years ago the new York rangers who were a wild card team played a series against the Montreal canadains who won there division. But New York had more points then Montreal, but didn't have home ice advantage. Last year Winnipeg and Nashville met in the 2nd round and they were the 2 best teams in the league (record wise). It's a already garbage format

[@CharlieND]

They should do what the NBA does and make the divisions irrelevant. What should really matter are conferences. 1st seed plays 8th seed. 4v5. 2v7. 3v6. Etc. I think that the way the NBA does it is perfect and the NHL should do it that way as well.

[@danceswithcritters]

@@CharlieND in a perfect fair world 1st plays 16th , 2nd plays 15th, but that is elementary, all factors need to be figured in, it's a big continent, such a format would heavily favor Eastern teams.

[@danceswithcritters]

@@Th3tim3stopp3r what about the MLB, one game, you're out, after playing 162 games, now that is bullshit.

[@jackalhill3400]

@@Th3tim3stopp3r you mean senators vs ranger series in 2017 second round rangers had more points than sens but sens had home ice advantage

[@ADML101]

Loving the fresh kicks Gary

[@HunterMagunter]

Pros:hockey is popular in America Cons: Canada has suffered

[@jefft3217]

Pros: He's grown the game. Cons: Everything else.

[@NyetTube]

🎯

[@ogreman-lll-957]

🎯 🎯

[@billscanlan5639]

And frankly, “growing the game” is not entirely true either. Sure, maybe he grew the league, but how many of those markets are actually going to stand the test of time? Arizona has turned out to be a sick dog that needs to be taken out behind the shed and put down, and he don’t have the stones to do it

[@gregdawe2786]

this made me like bettman much more than i ever have.

[@lambknot]

Go back to 1-8 seeding style. The best teams should be facing the lower seeded teams.

[@pottytheparrot310]

lambknot It’s not the Predictable NBA anymore

[@CharlieND]

@@pottytheparrot310 well the NBA actually does formatting the way it should be done.

[@pottytheparrot310]

Ziggmanster Then it defeats the purpose of a wild card. I like how the league has wild card teams you never know who might surprise. Like Edmonton LA and Nashville

[@BobbyT.]

lambknot I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually like the current playoff format

[@ogreman-lll-957]

Potty The Parrot how would it defeat the purpose of the wild card? Either way the top 2 teams will play the bottom 2

[@jeasongagnon4332]

There's TV money teams, now we need to put teams where there's heart!

[@BigH0mie89]

In Canada..only 7 teams?..that’s a joke....

[@jeasongagnon4332]

8 would be enough! Quebec city and call it a day. Realistically!

[@hucz]

What a great business strategy, put teams in market where there isn't money but instead where there is lots of 'heart'? Glad you're not the commisioner.

[@jeasongagnon4332]

I believe he did great! When I mentioned heart, i meant rivalry! Quebec city would add a lot of Rivalry with Boston, Montreal, New York and the snow birds in Florida.

[@sarmy3d]

Hartford, please and thank you.

[@gaetanb.]

Great stuff guys thanks a lot!

[@AFhockey9]

Growing the game? How about allowing true top notch players compete in the Olympics instead of having the KHL dominate.

[@falerdog]

12:23 is where the head bobbling burst unstoppable. Shame you missed this chance to come front about your Parkinson Gary.

[@jackbruce1327]

13:35 is something amusing you Gary?

[@BigH0mie89]

“Boooooooo” (hockey fans everywhere)

[@dominikszkoda8566]

BigH0mie89 It’s Tradition

[@sam93931]

i dont get the hate for bettman.. he made the game of hockey grow so much bigger.

[@almosTalented]

sam93931 bigger is not always better. and to be honest. he doesn‘t care about growing „the game“, he is about growing the nhl and its market (thats his job), and thats okay, just be honest. if he really cares about the game the olympics wouldn‘t even be a discussion. and that weird „some of the world“ cup wouldn‘t exist. and i don‘tlike him, because i disagree with his vision where nhl hockey will and should head to.

[@NyetTube]

@@sam93931 Grow? By enriching more the already filthy rich team owners? Bettman is a NY lawyer/ Zionist. He is the enemy of the average fan.

[@sam93931]

@@NyetTube thats how the world works sweet heart, gotta make money if you want the NHL to grow and expand. You're either very young or naive, it's always about money. Do you know why the best hockey players all around the world wanna play in the NHL? for money, so think before opening your mouth.

[@vrgobeast1935]

How is Gary bettman 66 years old

[@ogreman-lll-957]

Vampire

[@TheSportsBoffin]

I have enjoyed expansion but 1 strike and 3 lockouts later i dislike what the NHL is right now.

[@mattirish1498]

The three stooges live!! Only these ones suck up as if their was no tomorrow

[@benjaminclark9622]

I love how these two are so aware of the words they speak, like they're almost trying to construct the perfect sentence every time it's their turn to make a statement. I like the podcast, but it's a little cringe worthy hearing them try to speak so eloquently all the time.

[@edday4093]

He may have helped expand the game but the fact he is in the HOF is a joke. He hasn’t just caused lock outs in the NHL but the NBA too

[@devin7877]

Hope that's not your tattoo

[@edday4093]

Devin Waldron no. Just made me laugh

[@felixeur1276]

If Bettman doesn't like fire drills, does that mean he hates Melnyk????

[@odeszaa]

Felixeur lol who doesn’t hate Melnyk?

[@MrHockeysnipeshow]

Look at Bettmans Shoes lol. Come on

[@jrp908]

Gary Bettman is a good commissioner. Change my mind

[@RDTheAwesome]

He put a team in Vegas over Quebec.

[@buffalomafia7162]

Lockouts

[@SpencerP96]

@@RDTheAwesome may be a shocker to you, but theres no market in Quebec. Just because its Canada doesnt make it a good place to expand too. It also wont help grown the game, while Vegas does.

[@pierre-ql8yf]

I love him too. Can't imagine a future where someone else is presenting the cup.

[@shabeki]

3 lockouts and a canceled season

[@amandabynes5543]

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

[@ryguy6577]

As a commissioner I like him As a person and as a speaker I really really don’t

[@veetee355]

Gary has Parkinson disease

[@michaelpacini1332]

Don't like Gary . Never liked Gary . He's an owner's commissioner. Just ask all the concussed players . When is his term up ?

[@TranTek]

Michael Pacini don’t think he ever quit like a pit bull, his look never give anyone a trust

[@mattirish1498]

The worst, "sit down" I have ever seen

[@ricardodominguez902]

Seattle thunderhawks

[@NotExplicable]

It took, Vegas and Seattle to save Arizona. "Growth" You got a franchise doing nothing.

[@KaramjitSingh-mw1cl]

3 work stoppages. Failures in non traditional hockey markets. Expansion team goes to a cup. Bettman is a joke. Should have asked him why he's destroying the league.

[@SpencerP96]

Lol except hes grown the league from being worth 100 million dollars to over 2 billion. But yeah totally killing the game right?

[@SpencerP96]

Also not the first time an expansion team went to the cup. St. Louis did it and also didnt win. Because the players are still NHL players. Being an expansion team doesnt mean anything in itself, it's the players you have. On top of other teams not having a book on the team yet. Which is shown clearly by how Vegas is doing now being how all the teams have books on them now.

[@KaramjitSingh-mw1cl]

@@SpencerP96 the nhl growing is a function of solid macroeconomic fundamentals along with publicly funded arenas, network broadcasting details in a favorable climate, and ancillary income not related to ticket sales, not bettman's leadership. Some of us see what's really going on

[@KaramjitSingh-mw1cl]

@@SpencerP96 you can defend bettman all you want but it doesn't take away from the fact that there is a correlation or perhaps causation between an expansion team going to the cup and building a fanbase in an area where hockey is an afterthought

[@SpencerP96]

@@KaramjitSingh-mw1cl all you self proclaimed experts always seem to forget st. Louis went to a cup final too.

[@mandellacanadian2825]

Bettman sounds like paul stanley of kiss