There are few things NHL fans across North America agree upon. East Coast bias, fighting, Ovechkin or Crosby or Malkin are all hotly debated topics. However, I would venture to guess there’s one issue all NHL fans would agree: they universally loathe Gary Bettman. Given a choice between a poodle and Bettman to run the league, the poodle would win in a landslide. A decade old story about Mr. Bettman attempting to open a puck, thinking it was a gift box still gets chuckles. When speaking of the NHL regular season games in Europe I think this universal distaste for the commissioner cannot be forgotten.
Not one, but two versions of the NHL Premiere this season!
The NHL has played at least two regular season games in European cities starting in 2007-2008 with the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks playing back-to-back tilts in London. Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers followed a year later again playing back-to-back games, this time in Prague. This year the games have been expanded. Instead of two there’s now four; two between the Blackhawks and Florida in Helsinki, along with two between the Red Wings and the Blues in Stockholm.
From the beginning of these games complaints abound from fans. The games tiring out the team was a popular issue. Because of the travel the team would be far more worn out than normal and cause the first few weeks to be Herculean. A few other complaints were a lack of exhibition games, which allow a glimpse in to the future of their respective club. And of course both a lack of TV coverage, not everyone got Versus and now even less people get it and early starting times. Both of the Kings/Ducks games started at 9:00am, not exactly a popular starting time for a Saturday or Sunday game. I know I felt a bit odd getting up that early to watch the Kings play.
As much as I believe some of the knocks against the NHL, most of the complaints ring hollow with some careful examination. Take for instance the first problem, the game takes too much of a toll and the travel is just too much. I believe hockey players to be the best-trained, best-conditioned athletes on the planet. They get on a sheet of ice, skate passionately for about 50 seconds, take two minutes off and then do it all over again (there are of course exceptions, Miro Satan, Nik Antropov, I’m looking at you two for starters). As far as the exhibition games go, those aren’t played much at home now anyways. They’re played in cities that want an NHL team or other novel places to grow markets. Meanwhile, the Versus issue abounds and that brings us full circle to one Mr. Gary Bettman.
Versus, not ESPN, was a Gary Bettman choice. Given the current DirectTV impasse, dare I say the situation has made him even less popular. ESPN did a good job with the NHL when they had it and they also represent the number one choice for sports on TV. These European games were also Mr. Bettman’s idea. The games in Europe fall under the same plan that saw great expansion in the NHL. All devoted to growing the NHL and growing the game of hockey.
He's obvioulsy TRYING to grow the game. That's a good thing, right?
These games in Europe are, at worst, benign. They don’t have affect on a team’s performance throughout the year; they don’t steal from fans a special opening night experience, just a single home game. They might not be at the best time of day but nine in the morning isn’t horrendous. So why do people believe these games are a waste? Why do a good deal of NHL fans believe these games are a bad idea?
In talking to people about these games they either sight one of the above enumerated issues or they view the games as what could be best described as a “scheme.” He’s like the guy at work you don’t like. Viewing the game as such reflects directly on people’s opinion of the commissioner. Even coming up with reasons why the game isn’t a good idea could easily be, in part, attributed to Bettman’s involvement. No matter what he says or does you want it to be bad, you want to dislike it. He’s “that guy” for most NHL fans. NHL fans dislike Gary Bettman for a multitude of reasons and these games are just another part of his vision for the NHL that most fans don’t like.
There are a lot of reasons to dislike Bettman’s vision for the NHL. But honestly the idea of exposing the game is a good one. The more people who watch hockey, the higher the exposure it gets, the more likely people are to understand the game and better yet– cover the game. I remember how fun it was to watch NHL2Night on ESPN2. It was great to have a block of time dedicated to hockey on one of the biggest networks on TV. However, I do not think hockey fans necessarily want their game to become the NBA or the NFL. They want the national TV coverage and the perks but they don’t want to deal with new fans and folks who are less knowledgeable in their arenas.
The European games are a baby of Mr. Bettman and I believe as such people’s opinion of the games in Europe are colored because of it. Bettman has grown the league and continues to show he’s cut from a similar (if slightly lower quality) cloth as his mentor David Stern. He continues to do things to expose the NHL to new markets. This is why there are two teams in Florida and one in the province of Quebec. It’s with this same idea that he arranged for the league to play games in Europe. There’s even been an entire NHL Europe idea floated.
It’s pretty simple: If you want this kind of expansion and like Bettman you love his ideas to expose the game to new audiences. If you don’t, you see him as a schemer, the games as a scheme, and the expansion as a means to water-down the talent.
It’s along these lines that the opinion of the games in Europe are split. What do you think about the NHL playing a few regular season games in Europe? Do you think it’s a good idea by the league’s commissioner to grow the game or do you think it’s nothing more than a scheme that causes more harm than good?
