Gary Bettman and the NHL agreed to a contract extension today. Fans will have to deal with the commissioner until 2022.
By Jay Travers
NHL fans are going to have to get used to seeing Gary Bettman’s face and booing him at Stanley Cup Final appearances.
The NHL Commissioner is now under contract until 2022.
Bettman has held the position since 1992. Since that time there has been three lock-outs as well as one full season lock-out. This contract correlates with the current CBA the League has in place.
New York Islanders’ John Tavares Wins Shooting Accuracy Contest (Video)
As if his reputation was not already ruined, it could get a whole lot worse in the coming years.
First off, it should be known that the League is seeing growth in revenue since Bettman’s start in 1992. He was also responsible for expansions and the new playoff formatting.
However, it is the way he solves problems (or lack of) that make him Public Enemy Number One to the fans. His relationship with players in the League is not strong by a long stretch and this is in part due to the CBA negotiations.
Look at what former NHLer Chris Chelios had to say about Bettman in 1994:
Yes, you heard that correctly, “If I was Gary Bettman I would be worried about my family for my well being. He doesn’t know anything about hockey.”
That says it all.
Fans won’t have to worry about contract negotiations until the current CBA expires in 2022, however there are several other issues at hand for Bettman.
Talks of expansion were brought up a few times yesterday at the 2016 All Star game in Nashville.
Bettman was reluctant to comment on the subject or whether or not the expansion would happen before the 2017-2018 season.
John Scott‘s All Star Game appearance has just added for fuel to the fire, with the Commissioner asking Scott to step down from playing in the game.
This caused an uproar in the TwitterSphere.
Simply put, he is just not liked by NHL fans for several reasons. Will fans get over it? Probably not.
It is always interesting to see how long it takes for the boos to begin when the arena announcer calls out Bettman’s name during the Stanley Cup ceremony.
Do not expect the public relations to get any better for the man who has caused three lock-outs for the NHL.
With this contract, Bettman will have held the position of Commissioner for 30 years. At that point it very well may be time to move onto future endeavors.
