07 February, 2012

Category Archives: Gary Bettman

By and Large, by Design, a Training Camp of Tranquility

3 October, 2011

The best part of the Capitals’ preseason has arrived — its conclusion. They survived a slate of seven exhibition games largely unscathed; no front-line performers ought to be missing from Saturday’s opening night here against Carolina. For a team not far removed from serious springtime turmoil and torment, camp this fall has been an oasis [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Colorado Avalanche, Dmitri Orlov, Front Office, George McPhee, John Walton, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Mathieu Perreault, Michal Neuvirth, Morning cup-a-joe, Much-needed realignment, Much-needed relocation, National Hockey League, Radio, The Great Old Patrick Division, Tomas Vokoun, Washington Capitals | Comments (0)

Bettman’s Southern Chickens, Coming Home To Roost

1 June, 2011

I want hockey, at its highest level, hosted only where it is loved — not where it’s the whim marketing experiment of an expansion-impulsive commissioner, but rather where it’s loved. It has to be this way, because hockey will ever encounter regional biases and prejudices and durable conflicts of culture; it is at its essence [...]

Also filed in Atlanta Thrashers, Morning cup-a-joe, Much-needed relocation, Southeast Division, Washington the hockey town, Winnipeg Jets | Comments (20)

The First Shoe Has Fallen

19 May, 2011

An agreement to sell the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers to a Winnipeg group which plans to relocate the franchise to the Manitoba capital is done.

Sources confirmed tonight that preparations are being made for an announcement Tuesday, confirming the sale and transfer of the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre arena, which would become the NHL team’s new home.

Also filed in Atlanta Thrashers, Much-needed relocation, National Hockey League, Southeast Division, The Great Old Patrick Division, Winnipeg Jets | Comments (0)

Are the Southeast’s Walls Crumbling Down?

12 May, 2011

It was eye-catching and amusing, beholding the verb tense in the opening couple of sentences of the Atlanta Thrashers’ Wikipedia entry: “The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. They were members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).” The entry [...]

Also filed in Atlanta Thrashers, Eastern Conference, Much-needed relocation, Radio, Southeast Division, Twitter, Winnipeg Jets | Comments (6)

A Tale of Two Niche Sport Commissioners

24 February, 2011

Seldom do I expect to write about professional golf on this blog, but something about this week’s PGA Tour event in Arizona caught my eye. The American pro golf tour this week is hosting one of its corporation-concocted “World Championship” events, and its format is most distinctive: match play, as opposed to stroke play. Sixty [...]

Also filed in Atlanta Thrashers, National Hockey League, Other sports, Southeast Division, Washington Capitals | Comments (2)

Must-see Saturday Night Puck on Long Island? Yes, for Nordiques’ Fans

11 December, 2010

I love stories like this: tonight the New York Islanders host the vastly improved but still seriously under-loved at home Atlanta Thrashers. As you might imagine, tickets on eBay for this battle not so royale are fetching something less than top dollar (Are there tickets on eBay for this? Is there a Long Island public [...]

Also filed in Atlanta Thrashers, contraction, Hockey Towns, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Quebec Nordiques, Quebec the Very Serious Hockey Town, Southeast Division, Washington Capitals | Comments (2)

Less than Classic Marketing Instincts

4 August, 2010

A consumer of NHL hockey for more than three decades, I’ve never once imagined it a clever and effective marketing idea to take NHLers, place them out on a football field, and have them fire pucks through the goalposts and toss footballs around to promote an outdoor hockey game, and yet that’s precisely what the [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, NHL Network, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Winter Classic, Winter Classic 2011 | Comments (8)

What Would the League Pay a Good Commish!

12 July, 2010
Also filed in Media, National Hockey League, Twitter | Comments (1)

Mining for Gems Deep in a Draft’s Bedrock

28 June, 2010

SI.com’s Allan Muir has offered a glowing assessment of the Capitals’ draft work in L.A. this past weekend. George McPhee bolstered his status as a procurer of top-end talent deep in round one, Muir claimed, and the team added skill guys of intrigue afterward. He termed the Caps’ class the “crop we may be talking about most [...]

Also filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Atlanta Thrashers, Dmitry Chesnokov, Entry Draft, Florida Panthers, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Southeast Division, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ted Leonsis, Washington Capitals | Comments (3)

Proposals To Enliven the Dullness That Is the NHL Draft

27 June, 2010

In the opening moments of Versus’ coverage of the NHL Entry Draft Friday night male viewers were treated to an appearance by, and interview of, lovely Alyssa Milano, celebrity puckhead of the first order. The interview was fun and illuminating — the Milano family, we learned, loves its hockey. We didn’t see her again, and [...]

Also filed in Media, National Hockey League, TV, Versus, Washington Capitals | Comments (0)

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