Bettman: Obstruction crackdown a success

[tommy]

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The NHL's much-publicized attempt to create more offensive flow and eliminate the clutching and grabbing that slow its stars was a success, commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday.

But, at a Stanley Cup finals news conference dominated by questions about whether the NHL is doing enough to make the sport more exciting and more attractive to TV viewers, Bettman said it remains a work in progress.

Bettman and NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell said changing the habits of NHL coaches and officials can't be accomplished in a single season.

"There was a big difference in the game," Campbell said. "But it's going to take a while to change the coaches and officials. It is better and it will continue to get better."

The NHL began the season by emphasizing its officials would cut down on clutching and grabbing in the neutral zone and prevent players from impeding forwards trying to get at the puck in the offensive zone.

Many NHL players praised the enforcement at the start of the season but, as coaches adjusted and some officials seemed to go back to calling games as they did in the past, the obstruction crackdown appeared to relax.

"This is not an easy thing to re-teach," Campbell said.

Penguins owner-player Mario Lemieux was among those most critical of the perceived abandonment of the crackdown, saying that NHL games by late November were virtually the same as they were in the past.

Bettman and Campbell disputed that notion, pointing to statistics that showed a moderate improvement in goal scoring during the 2002-03 season.

"Sometimes the first step is to stop a backward trend," Bettman said. "The effort was worthwhile and it will be sustained."

On other issues, Bettman said:

-- There has been no movement by the NHL Players' Association to begin negotiations on a new labor contract to replace that which expires in September 2004. Union chief Bob Goodenow already has warned some players the labor impasse could be a long one, perhaps longer than a full season.

Goodenow has indicated the union is not willing to accept a hard salary cap that would control salaries. Bettman emphasized again Tuesday that owners need a way to contain salaries that now cost owners 75 percent of their revenue.

"We all know the problems," Bettman said. "And I know how to fix them."

-- The NHL has not conceded its next U.S. TV contract will be worth less than the $600 million over five years that ABC and ESPN currently are paying.

"We remain attractive programming to ESPN and ABC," he said.

ESPN is carrying the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals and ABC will carry the rest.

-- The NHL will not consider whether to free up its players for the 2006 Olympics in Italy until the 2004 labor contract is settled.

-- Unless the players' union signs off in the near future, the planned Nov. 22 outdoor game in Edmonton may not take place.

[Shell]

apparently the Toronto Sun is not enamored with Mr. Bettman

Thu, May 29, 2003

Short on the truth
Bettman's comments on the excitement level of an NHL game are ...
By AL STRACHAN

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It was not Gary Bettman's finest hour.

In another season, he might have got away with it. But this is the season of the Iraq invasion and Baghdad Bob. These days, people know disinformation when they hear it.


"The fact that 73% of the time, our games are played within one goal or tied, tells you there is a level of excitement and commitment," Bettman said.

Well, it may tell you that Gary. What it tells the rest of us is that there's hardly any scoring. If only two goals are being scored in a game, of course the result is going to be close. We call that arithmetic.

Bettman began his appearance by citing a bunch of offensive statistics to prove his point that people who watch a hockey game and find it dull don't really know what they're seeing.

"Scoring by defencemen increased by nearly 100 points from a year ago," the NHL commissioner said.

And why would that be? Could it have something to do with the fact that line rushes are about as common as Venus de Milo's bracelets?

The game these days depends on defencemen shooting from the point and hoping that the puck deflects off so many legs and posteriors that, somehow, a scoring chance is created.

Scoring by defencemen is up. That doesn't mean the game isn't dull.

Bettman also noted that "We had five players exceed the 96 points with which Jarome Iginla won the Art Ross Trophy a year ago."

That's nice. And a tiny step in the right direction. But the fact remains that Peter Forsberg's last-game binge gave him the Ross with 106 points.

To put that in perspective, it's not even half of the 215 Wayne Gretzky scored during the 1985-86 season.

Around the league, attendance is down. Not a problem, said Bettman. There had been attendance records for the five previous years (no mention of expansion, of course), and "our attendance remains strong."

As for the game itself, Bettman offered this observation before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final: "I think it's clear there is more room in the neutral zone. If you watch the team with the puck speeding through the neutral zone, the players for the most part are getting in to forecheck, getting in to make plays."

If Bettman sees "the team with the puck speeding through the neutral zone," he should check his television. Someone switched the channel to ESPN Classic when he wasn't looking.

These days, the only time the puck goes speeding through the neutral zone is when the linesman carries it back for another faceoff after an icing.

Bettman has a little debating trick he likes to use. Time and again, he will compare one small aspect of the game with the previous year.

But when someone challenges him using a different statistic, he says, "Look over time. Don't just take a snapshot."

Indeed. Look over time. Look at the fact that scoring over time is down. Way, way down.

"Our fans tell us in record numbers they love the game," Bettman said. "Our fans aren't looking for radical change and we are very proud of our game and the effort our players put in night in and night out."

He obviously meets different fans than the rest of us but, that aside, note the neat little red herring tossed in at the end.

Only the truly idiotic suggest the players don't work hard and put in great effort. How else would they get through those traps?

The coaches have made this once spectacular game boring, and Bettman and his horde of lawyers in the New York office don't have a clue what to do about it.

After withstanding the barrage alone for a while, Bettman called for help from Colin Campbell -- who played hockey and knows the game but was made a vice-president anyway.

Campbell did his best to explain a few points and then slid in the one remark that is the essence of this entire debate.

"Offence isn't easy to teach. Defence is teachable, and offence is a hard thing for a coach to really teach players."

Until the league can establish a system that stops rewarding coaches for taking the easy route and stressing defence, we're not likely to see much of an improvement.

That would require the league to face up to the situation -- the real situation, not the one it likes to present.

[tommy]

I agree with that article for the most part, but it said something like coaches "taking the easy way and stressing defense", and that "defense is easy to teach, but offense isn't".

I'm not sure I agree with that... any two teams can get together and have 50 straight odd-man rushes... if they're bad at defense.

And comparing Gretzky's not-soon-to-be-challenged 215 point season with this year? What is THAT all about?!? He played on a dynastic team, with some of the best linemates, and he just so happens to be the best player to lace 'em up... and apparently if you can't match that total, then you're a failure.

I'm sorry, but while I would like to see nets bigger, I don't think it's realistic to expect any more 200 point seasons. Ever.

[Kat]

I
I'm not sure I agree with that... any two teams can get together and have 50 straight odd-man rushes... if they're bad at defense.

And comparing Gretzky's not-soon-to-be-challenged 215 point season with this year? What is THAT all about?!? He played on a dynastic team, with some of the best linemates, and he just so happens to be the best player to lace 'em up... and apparently if you can't match that total, then you're a failure.


Two points to make on this.

One, imo defense is definitely easier to teach. You can teach someone where they belong on the ice... what positions work the best in different situations to prevent someone from scoring. While offense can probably be improved on and taught to some extent, to me it seems teaching someone offensive talent is much more difficult. It isn't just knowing where to be, it is also knowing how to take advantage of that split second opportunity to give/receive pucks and put them in the right place to beat the goalie. I personally think that is more of a talent you are born with.

Second point. They use Gretzky as an example, but it is pretty much a fact that 10 years ago there was much more scoring going on in the league. Scoring leaders even up until about 1994-1995 were getting 130, 160, 199 points. And there were a lot more 50 goal scorers. At some point when I get some time today, I will post more stats to defend this (or eat crow if they don't!) , but this is all I have right now (need to go home and consult the book). Not saying that I agree that the league should go back to this, or any of the reasons they give for it (talent, trap, whatever they are saying)... just that Bettman probably isn't wrong on that point.

-Kat

-Kat