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Hockey Fans, How Do You Feel?
by Paul on 08/25/10 at 12:57 PM ET
Comments (27)
Gary Bettman made a statement today at the World Hockey Summit in regards to how hockey fans feel about NHL participation in the Olympics.
via Scott Burnside tweet,
Bettman says fans’ response to NHL participation in Olympics is a “mixed bag”. Not sure we buy that.
What are your thoughts and thanks to many of you who already responded to the same question on Twitter.
added 2:41pm, from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
To the surprise of practically everyone in the room, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wasn’t quite the wet blanket that delegates to Wednesday’s session of the World Hockey Summit might have imagined.
Instead, Bettman was quite playful during his 30-minute cameo appearance, teasing questioners, poking fun at IIHF president Rene Fasel, but most importantly, clarifying the NHL’s position with regard to Olympic participation, which was the day’s primary point of discussion.
Bettman stressed that he is not anti-Olympics and contrary to the general perception, the NHL hasn’t said no to appearing in Sochi, Russia, where the 2014 Games will be played.
Filed in: NHL Talk, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Gary+Bettman, Winter+Olympics,
Comments
Bettman will always be able to find hockey fans who agree with whatever, so he’ll always be able to call it a “mixed bag” when it comes to something like this.
As a fan, I want NHL players in the Olympics. I believe I’m in the majority, but I don’t care if I’m not.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/25/10 at 01:06 PM ET
Mixed bag my ass, 99.9% of fans are for the NHL in the Olympics. Some might ‘understand’ the concern of the NHL, but still, if you just asked them, they still want it to happen.
Gary, that is a lie and you know it.
Posted by Chris from NOHS from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 08/25/10 at 01:07 PM ET
Wait till the 1st star player get seriously injured in the Meaningless Olympics !!! then the fans of that team the guy plays for will hate the Olympics more than they hate Bettman
Posted by Evilpens on 08/25/10 at 01:08 PM ET
The Olympics provided better hockey than the Stanley Cup playoffs did this year. I would be upset to lose them as a best on best tournament. The problem with World Cups is that they do not have the same appeal to European players as the Olympics do and we would not see as strong a team from them.
The NHL just wants money from the Olympic committee by taking their current stance.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 08/25/10 at 01:27 PM ET
[iThe Olympics are meaningless? ]
Are to me !! wait for the games to be on at bizarre times from Russia the next Olympics
Posted by Evilpens on 08/25/10 at 01:27 PM ET
EP, I didn’t know Bettman had your phone number.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 08/25/10 at 01:29 PM ET
Oh no! Not at bizarre times!
Seriously, I remember getting up at 3am or thereabouts to watch games from Nagano. It’s not too high a price to pay to watch the best players in the world competing for their countries.
Posted by dzuunmod on 08/25/10 at 01:29 PM ET
The Olympics provided better hockey than the Stanley Cup playoffs did this year.
Wait, let me guess. That is because there weren’t any “elite” teams in the Stanley Cup finals, right? 
As for the question at hand, I don’t think the bag is mixed. I love NHLers in the Olympics. I think it’s great. I loved it when they were in Japan, Italy, US, or Canada. I have a DVR. I can hold off learning the scores.
Posted by Ajax19 on 08/25/10 at 01:31 PM ET
Are to me !! wait for the games to be on at bizarre times from Russia the next Olympics
Posted by Evilpens on 08/25/10 at 02:27 PM ET
For me in the Central time zone, I feel West Coast games are on at bizarre times. Know what I do when the Wings play out there? I take a nap and change my schedule. I’d gladly change my sleep schedule for two weeks every four years to keep watching Olympic hockey, which is meaningful to me.
The Olympics provided better hockey than the Stanley Cup playoffs did this year. I would be upset to lose them as a best on best tournament. The problem with World Cups is that they do not have the same appeal to European players as the Olympics do and we would not see as strong a team from them.
The NHL just wants money from the Olympic committee by taking their current stance.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 08/25/10 at 02:27 PM ET
Agreed on all counts. That still feels weird whenever I say it… 
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/25/10 at 01:33 PM ET
Definitely want NHL’ers in the Olympics. The level of competition is riveting on TV and when the games were on the screens in the casinos, the bars were packed.
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 08/25/10 at 01:37 PM ET
PSH: The Olympics provided better hockey than the Stanley Cup playoffs did this year.
Ajax: Wait, let me guess. That is because there weren’t any “elite” teams in the Stanley Cup finals, right?
PSH: Not at all. All you have to do to verify that statement is watch the games in question. Watch the Olympics and then watch the Stanley Cup. The Olympics were better hockey.
Now if you want an explanation for why the Olympics were better quality hockey, then we might look at your suggestion of a lack of elite teams.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 08/25/10 at 01:39 PM ET
If you are following along, I just added a Duhatchek story to this post regarding this topic.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 08/25/10 at 01:42 PM ET
‘Mixed bag’ = 114 Million viewers:
“Now, to hockey. Lumme revealed that hockey accounted for 2,465 hours of worldwide coverage during the Olympics. The gold-medal game between Canada and the United States was, quite simply, the single most watched hockey game in history. More than 114 million people around the world watched Sidney Crosby score in overtime to give Canada home gold.
By comparison, Lumme noted, the worldwide numbers for the 2010 and 2009 Super Bowl were 110 and 106 million, respectively. The most recent UEFA Cup final reached 106 million. In short, Lumme noted, “Olympic hockey is right up there with some of the biggest events in the world.”
http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/olympic-numbers-staggering.html?tx_ttnews[backPid]=955&cHash=595d306b8d
Posted by blammo from Vancouver, BC on 08/25/10 at 02:10 PM ET
wait for the games to be on at bizarre times from Russia the next Olympics
Three letters: DVR.
Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 08/25/10 at 02:18 PM ET
I’m in favor of the NHL players participating, but I do see the owners point that they get some tangible benefit from allowing their employees go off to work for a competitor that makes their product pale in comparison.
The IOC makes a ton of money off of the Olympic revenues and it is the players in the NHL that are promoted for the 3 years in betweeen Winter games that make many of the games relevant. The Gold medal game drew great international numbers, but what about Latvia against Slovakia (not to pick on either team)? I think a fair compromise would be to allow the NHL to advertise during the Olympics in at least some tangential way.
The IOC has shown its “love” of hockey by their threats to cancel Women’s Ice Hockey if ti doesn’t become more competitive. In other words, if it isn’t bringing in enough revenue they don’t care about.
Posted by hockey1919 from mid-atlantic on 08/25/10 at 02:28 PM ET
According to Duhatschek, Bettman is quoted that it is a mixed bag for the NHL, not the fans, which is probably far more accurate.
Posted by hockey1919 from mid-atlantic on 08/25/10 at 02:32 PM ET
Paul, How about a poll on this?
Posted by TheFreak on 08/25/10 at 03:12 PM ET
May be just a little too early for that.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 08/25/10 at 02:38 PM ET
I was at the Olympics, and they were fantastic. Did it throw players out of their rhythm from the break? Absolutely! (Specifically thinking of Fleury being the bench-boy for the Canadian team and coming back even more inconsistent then normal.) Do I still want the Olympics, yes! Does the NHL have legitmate business concerns, sure, but do the fans care about that? Not really!
Posted by penguinsfan on 08/25/10 at 02:54 PM ET
EP, I didn’t know Bettman had your phone number. 
He doesn’t !1 I just don’t get the allure of the Olympics, When you teams players are playing & sooner or later some teams star player will get seriously hurt
Posted by Evilpens on 08/25/10 at 03:15 PM ET
To me, as good as a World Cup of hockey might be, it’s just not going to have the appeal of the Olympics. For the sake of drawing crowds, it needs the big network support over in North America. And next time, it needs more exposure on the main network. I don’t have cable, I was only able to watch a couple of the games on NBC. That needs to change.
And just as important, it needs the entire circus that goes along with the Olympics. I think people getting caught up in the entire event was a big part of the draw to hockey. You’re already watching other events, there’s the country races for medals, and it all culminates in one of the more high profile events with 2 of the highest profile teams.
If hockey is isolated for one of these tournaments, it’s simply not going to have the draw or the exposure it needs to be a game-growing smashing success, even if the quality of the games is top notch.
To me, the short term risk of injury in the Olympics to the franchises is worth it for the long term growth of the game and the league. And the players clearly want to be there. How do you turn that down?
Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 08/25/10 at 03:23 PM ET
When you teams players are playing & sooner or later some teams star player will get seriously hurt
EP, are you saying this hasn’t happened? If memory serves, Hasek’s numbers ranked first or second in the league when he got hurt. Ask a Senators fan how they feel about the Olympics.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 08/25/10 at 04:10 PM ET
Ask a Senators fan how they feel about the Olympics.
Senator fans were idiots. Hasek could pull his groin in any save he made. Who’s to say that he wouldn’t have pulled it in the last minute of the third period in any number of regular season games. Freekish stuff happens no matter if its in the olympics or in a regular season game.
I for one want the nhl players in the olympics. The olympic hockey tournament is the second greatest international sporting event out there. And it doesn’t matter what time the games are on. I’ll find a way to watch all of them.
Posted by UMFan from Denver, Colorado on 08/25/10 at 05:22 PM ET
Any player can get hurt at any time - could be a meaningless regular season game, could be a practice, could be a car accident, could be hurting himself picking up a cracker…or it could be in the Olympics.
I preferred the Olympic hockey to the regular season NHL hockey, so much so that after the Olympics were over I didn’t watch ANY hockey for more than a week, and it took me a while after that to get used to the comparative dullness of the NHL regular season.
And as for “odd times,” what is the fun of being a sports fan if sometimes you can’t take a nap right after work so you can stay up late for a West Coast game, or go to sleep early to catch a game that starts four hours before your alarm normally goes off, or switch work shifts so you can watch a game in the middle of the day. Lacking that, using the option of a DVR. People are adaptable, and if they WANT to see something, tell them clearly when it is on and on which channel, and they WILL find it.
In contrast I don’t think I’ve ever seen the games of any other international championship. Besides, it’s not the Olympics so why should I bother?
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/25/10 at 07:28 PM ET
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Burnside has it right.
I mean, if the NHL opted to go the World Cup route and pull out of the Olympics, the WC could be great if the players bought in whole-heartedly, but it would still be missing the cachet of an Olympic gold medal at the end of the road.
Also, I’m sorry, I know it doesn’t work for the NHL’s timetable, but it’s easier to get excited about hockey in February than in August. August is about long-weekends at the cottage, not nights at the bar watching hockey.
Posted by dzuunmod on 08/25/10 at 01:02 PM ET