tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12128130.post8115929384766999276..comments2024-02-08T05:17:12.573-05:00Comments on Out of Bounds: NHL Needs To Get Smaller In Order To GrowGreg Enohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08884412028028351344noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12128130.post-26548991403506723212009-03-16T22:16:00.000-04:002009-03-16T22:16:00.000-04:00I am a Michigander living in NYC area for past 12 ...I am a Michigander living in NYC area for past 12 years. I grew up playing in St Clair Shores, and I still play and ref out East today. I am a huge Wings fan and was once a huge NHL fan. Your blog is dead on correct -- Bettman has mortgaged the value of this game against the hypothetical future value of the league with the end-of-the-rainbow pot of gold called a U.S. national TV network deal. Newsflash...it is not happening. It will not happen. Abort mission and return to the ~21 teams that matter. The higher number of teams makes most of the regular season irrelevant and boring -- ask Mike Babcock who complains that all NHL teams clog the neutral zone. Aside from a few rule changes (and new enforcement of old rules) after the lockout season, there is nothing under the Bettman regime that has improved the game -- the guy lucked out that the talent flow from Europe increased so dramatically. Without that, he would be enemy number one -- he is to the NHL what Wall Street bankers are to residential mortgages -- more global talent and the eventual US network deal won't bail him out like bankers hoped always-risking real estate values would bail out their worthless mortgages. I predict some bankruptcies of some NHL franchises in next five years -- trust me, I am a Wall Street mortgage banker (commercial, not residential, before you go hating me).redhog1https://www.blogger.com/profile/02523002552458977581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12128130.post-68144808349347466662009-03-14T03:26:00.000-04:002009-03-14T03:26:00.000-04:00The NHL needs to be saved from Bettman. We need to...The NHL needs to be saved from Bettman. We need to pull the teams from down south and put them in cool towns like Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw.Michael Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14147130414070154652noreply@blogger.com