Fire Gary Bettman

To:  NHL Board of Governors

We the fans of the game hockey and the NHL request the dismissal of Commissioner Gary Bettman. Mr Bettman came to power by forming an “Old Boys Club” with the owners of the NHL teams then ousting former president Mr John Ziegler because of a 10 day strike. Since Mr Bettman gained control of the NHL we have seen 2 strikes one lasting half of a season in 1994/95 and the other strike canceled the entire 2004/05 season. Those facts on their own merits brings into question Mr Bettmans ability to run the NHL. Adding to those facts are since the forming of the “Old Boys Club” Mr Bettman has the ability to change NHL Constitution and rules of the game to suit his own personnel agenda. One example of his changing the Constitution is in this excerpt from a 2007 Globe and Mail article.

"Section 4.3 of the constitution states, among other things, "No franchise shall be granted for a home territory within the home territory of a member without the written consent of that member."
But the league has a different interpretation.
"There is no single-vote veto to a relocation," NHL vice-president Bill Daly said, citing the league's Bylaw 36 which states that on advice of counsel the NHL uses a simple majority to approve or turn down franchise relocation, above and beyond provisions in its constitution that might indicate teams have veto power.
Commissioner Gary Bettman has applied the majority vote for all relocation's during his tenure and is on record as saying a majority vote would be applied to any relocation to Southern Ontario”.

The complete article can be viewed at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/never-in-hamilton/article770529/
An example of a rule change that has hurt the game is the instigator rule, Since its implementation there has been a rise in hitting from behind and careless stick work injuring numerous star players. Commissioner Gary Bettman is trying to expand to the southern States to increase revenues from the larger television market, On the surface this is a very viable option. But his implementation of this is draining the grassroots of hockey witch is hurting the game and the NHL in the long run. Mr Bettman has moved the Minnesota North Stars to Dallas (1993), the Quebec Nordiques to Denver (1995), the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix (1996) and the Hartford Whalers to North Carolina (1997). With these 4 teams moving 3 of them are struggling and the fourth has never made a profit and loses millions of dollars each year forcing the team into bankruptcy proceedings. Mr Jim Balsille has offered to buy the troubled team out of bankruptcy and relocate them to a more viable location in Southern Ontario and back to a grassroots market. But Mr Bettman is doing everything in his power to keep the team in a non hockey market. Does this sound like a rational man or a man with a vendetta Please bring back respectability to the game and the NHL by dismissing Mr Gary Bettman.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Fire Gary Bettman Petition to NHL Board of Governors was created by and written by Ken Connolly (Fishingman000@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.