Everybody’s favorite NHL commissioner was in the house for Game Two between the Capitals and Blue Jackets: Gary Bettman.
And instead of sitting in Ted Leonsis’s Owner’s Box, Gary sat with the Capital One Arena crowd.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger interviewed Alex Ovechkin ahead of the Caps-Jets game Tuesday night.
After Dreger asked an innocuous question about the Olympics, the Russian machine had some sass for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
Several years ago, the NHL introduced goal reviews for goaltender interference. The league’s heart was in the right place with the new challenges, but officials’ determinations for what is and isn’t goaltender interference has varied widely. Lately, several overturned goal calls have caused exasperation and heartburn for many coaches, players, and fans.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has led the NHL to three lockouts and is now the man behind disallowing NHL participation in the 2018 Olympics. Bettman, who is wildly unpopular among fans, is universally booed whenever he speaks in front of NHL fans.
But this year, something seemed different. Bettman, dare we say, is having fun with the negativity.
By Ian Oland 3 years ago
PITTSBURGH — The National Hockey League will not participate in the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. That was the emphatic statement made by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during his annual state of the league address and media availability before Game One of the Stanley Cup Final. The IIHF and the Players Association had not yet closed the door. But on Monday, Bettman slammed it shut.
“It is not and has not been,” Bettman said regarding what the idea that NHL letting its players go was an “open issue.”
“I hope that was definitive enough,” he added.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had expected this day would come. As a proud Russian and huge national celebrity in the motherland, he wants to compete in the Pyeongchang Games. If you go over his many of his past statements, Bettman’s comments Monday will not alter his decision.
By Chris Gordon 3 years ago
Brandon Manning skates around debris on the ice during Game Three (Photo: Elsa)
Wristbands have now taken their place among snowballs and batteries in the infamy of Philadelphia sports. During Monday night’s in Game Three of the first round against the Washington Capitals, Flyers fans melted down, taking off the light-up contraptions given to them before the game and hurling them onto the ice after their team took 35 penalty minutes on one play. The Flyers received another two PIMs later in the game because fans would not stop throwing their LED bracelets, despite an admonishment from public address announcer Lou Nolan on a night with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance.
Sarena Snider, the daughter of Flyers founder and chairman Ed Snider who died last week at 83, tweeted that her dad “would’ve called the wristband throwers a ‘disgrace.’”
It was curious, then, that pallets of wristbands labeled “Game 2” appeared on the event floor of Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday, the day before the Flyers are set to play their second home game of the series.
By Chris Gordon 4 years ago
Photo: Elsa
At first, it all went according to plan. The house lights went down at exactly 7 PM. The arena lit up in a sea of orange and white lights glimmering off commemorative wristbands. A tribute to the recently deceased Ed Snider, who founded the Flyers in 1967 and had owned the team ever since, played on the big screen. All of Wells Fargo Center, from the seating bowl to the benches to the press box, applauded a great owner. Then Kate Smith and Lauren Hart sang their trademark “God Bless America” duet. Within a minute of puck drop, the Flyers had the first goal, wildly sliding into the boards in celebration. The roar from the fans was booming. This was their night for their owner.
“Ed was a dynamic visionary who turned Philadelphia into one of the great hockey towns in the world,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said before the game in a heartfelt press conference. “He believed in excellence — and in this team, the Flyers.”
But in the end, that team let him down.
By Chris Gordon 4 years ago
Friday morning after I did some chores, I threw it on NHL Network ahead of the Winter Classic. “I’m sure something interesting must be going on in the pregame coverage,” I said to myself, hoping for the best.
I was greeted by this face.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is universally disliked. Tonight, as he walked out to start the 2015 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Florida, Panthers fans booed him mercilessly. It’s soooooo awkward. Also funny. Definitely funny. Excruciatingly funny.
Reps. John Katko, Pat Meehan, Erik Paulsen and Tom Emmer pose with Lawmakers teammate Peter Bondra after defeating the Lobbyists in the annual Congressional Hockey Challenge. (Photos by Chris Gordon)
When you hear that someone famous is a hockey fan, it has novelty, something not reserved for fans of baseball, basketball, and football. While we may be absorbed in the community, hockey is the smallest of all major professional sports in the United States. Many Americans have never watched it. Fewer have tried it. On Wednesday, however, it was featured at American’s center of power. In the afternoon, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman went to the Hill to meet with members of Congressional Hockey Caucus and announce Thurgood Marshall scholarship recipients. In the evening, four of those congressmen played in the seventh annual Congressional Hockey Challenge. Representatives John Katko (R-NY), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), and Pat Meehan (R-PA) competed for the Lawmakers. They were joined on their team by former Capitals player Peter Bondra (RW-Slovakia) as well as administration officials, congressional staffers and Canadian Parliament member Gord Brown.
By Chris Gordon 5 years ago
