Business Sense

Amidst all the furor of the NHL's idiosyncratic business practices, sanity has shone through.

Hockey didn't make sense in Atlanta (again) and the Thrashers did move to Winnipeg. Maybe some would have wanted that move earlier, but it did happen, and it happened in a way that proved to be successful for Winnipeg and the league.

Hockey, meanwhile, hasn't made sense in Long Island for quite some time. Unless you were on the scene when the Islanders won Cups in the 1980s, it is nearly impossible to imagine that this was a leading franchise at some point in its existence.

Some of the embarrassment built up over the years was the arena, and some was due to inept management and ownership.

But the Islanders became an embarrassment.

So now the Isles are moving to Brooklyn, although the NHL chooses not to see this as a full-blown relocation. We'll see if the management/ownership currently in place can make this work - Charles Wang is a highly flammable entity as proprietor, Garth Snow still largely unproven as a GM - but Brooklyn at the very least creates the promise of a new start with new revenues and a new energy.

Lord knows, Gary Bettman is on the receiving end of a ton of criticism these days, and the retirement of David Stern on Friday produced a torrent of Bettman-should-retire-too one-liners.

But Atlanta-to-Winnipeg and Long Island-to-Brooklyn at least suggest that Bettman and his owners aren't quite as inflexible as has been suggested when it comes to moving struggling teams.

Some critics would like more teams to move, of course, and this fanciful notion that the league should become the first in North America outside the CFL to contract is another that has been seized upon as a logical and progressive step.

But two franchise moves in two years is a lot. Both are revenue positive, although both are moves to smaller arenas, an intriguing trend. You can argue he wasn't the driving force for either, but then again, he gets hammered for stuff he has little control over.

Still, you know Bettman won't get one iota of credit for either Winnipeg or Brooklyn, just as he never gets any credit for keeping the Oilers in Edmonton or the Penguins in Pittsburgh or the Predators in Nashville, or for helping the Senators and Sabres survive bankruptcy.

He watches his mentor, Stern, announce his departure in a blaze of positive, glowing headlines, with Stern's successes cited far more than his failures.

For Bettman, his failures are all that's cited, especially these days when another lockout is further damaging his legacy. Hard to be loved when all the arenas are dark. Again.

Comments

[Claude Provost]

Why *should* Bettman be given credit for anything? He nearly single-handedly killed the NHL in Canada in the '90s . . . so when he steps in to "save" Edmonton, we're supposed to prostrate ourselves in front of him? Um, he helped to save the Hee Haw in Nashville . . . how is this good? He came running back to Winnipeg Because. He. Had. To. This doofus has spent 20+ years being a walking plague.

[Mike Zammit]

All i have to say about this lockout is...What an embarrassment..!! Both sides should hang their heads in shame...

What an embarrassment...

[Mark Whitney]

Bettman suffers from tunnel vision. He believes that in order to succeed, the NHL needs to expand into the sun belt. He has professed this strategy since day 1 of his tenure. That he continues to flounder in Phoenix, Florida and now Dallas to name just a sample, is proof of failure. Now, as his last gasp, he id demanding players to prop up this failure by reliquishing part of their share of revenues to the tune of 7% (amongst other rollbacks). For those of us who enjoy the game, the best solution has always been contraction. This is called 'free market'. Bettman's biggest failure is that he does not relent and let this league operate like any successful business does in a free market economy instead of sticking to his myopic vision of expansion. Ultimately, the forces of the free market economy will be his undoing; unfortunately we are all going to have to feel the pain until he realizes this.

[Chris]

I really wish people did some homework before they post on the internet. Winnipeg and Quebec moving had nothing to do with the league. No one wanted to own NHL teams in those 2 cities. You can say whatever you want but its the truth. Tampa, San Jose, Dallas already had teams when Garry Bettman was hired and Florida and Anaheim were already done. There have been 4 expansion teams awarded since Garry was hired; 2 in the north Minnesota and Columbus and 2 in the south Nashville and Atlanta. As for why he wants a team in Phoenix its because its the 4th largest city in the USA. The NHL wants it badly. And lets be really honest if the Canadian Dollar goes to 90, 85, 80 70 cents again how long will Winnipeg last? Not long.