At the end of the 2010-11 season, the NHL published a 1,500-word article on its very own website titled, “Best-ever business year highlighted by record revenue.”
The article touted the league’s “myriad business records and milestones” in 2011, including revenue of $2.9 billion.
One year later, that has increased to $3.3 billion – making it six straight years the league has posted a record revenue. All is well, you would think.
Yet, here we stand in the midst of another NHL lockout – the third straight work stoppage of Gary Bettman’s term as league commissioner. And that’s no coincidence.
Just days before he and the owners officially “locked out” the players Sept. 15, Bettman told reporters “nobody wants to make a deal more than I do.”
It almost seemed believable. Almost.
As Donald Fehr, executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, put it: “A lockout is a choice.”
Not the players’ choice. They were willing to start the 2012-13 season as per usual, even without a new collective bargaining agreement in place.
It was Bettman’s choice.
Although most fans of the NHL can’t stand the sight of him, Bettman’s track record speaks for itself. He’s the mastermind who got the NHL players’ union to accept a salary cap in 2004-05 when they swore they never would.
Under Bettman’s watch, the NHL has come a long way – both on the ice and in the financial ledger. He’s told us as much over the last several years.
But don’t be fooled. Bettman’s a businessman. He doesn’t care about the game. He cares about money – your money (and his $7.98-million salary).
The players aren’t innocent bystanders in all this either, but right now they’re the lesser of two evils.
Why should they be forced to accept any type of salary reduction when it’s the owners who paid them all this money in the first place?
Why did these very same owners dish out close to $200 million in salaries in the days leading up to the expiration of the current CBA if the system is as broken as they claim it is?
It’s tough to plead poverty with any sort of conviction after a spending spree like that. Keep in mind this is a system the owners designed (under Bettman’s tutelage, of course). They should suffer the consequences of their actions, not the players, and not the fans.
For Ottawa Senators fans, the lockout is a double-whammy. They’re missing out on a team that showed its potential towards the end of last season and what will likely be the last they see of longtime captain Daniel Alfredsson.
Has Alfredsson, who confirmed in late July he would return for the final year of his four-year contract, played his last NHL game?
It’s a possibility, but an unlikely one. Here’s why: the Winter Classic – an outdoor game that has become a fixture of the NHL schedule in recent years.
This year’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings is scheduled for Jan. 1. More than 110,000 fans are expected to attend, which would set a new league, and possibly world, record. If there’s a hard deadline to get a new deal done, there it is.
There’s no way the league will risk losing the exposure and revenue that single game brings in. At the end of the day, it’s all about money – at least in Bettman’s eyes. If only the Winter Classic was around back in 2004-05 when Bettman and the owners locked out an entire season.
This time around, the players say it’s an “NHL owners’ lockout.” They’re probably right, but we wouldn’t know because Bettman isn’t allowing any of them to speak publicly.
So, if you’re looking for someone to blame, look no further. Bettman’s the ringleader, he’s running the show, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
This isn’t an NHL lockout – it’s his.