I love to watch the annual interview of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman by the HINC's Ron McLean during the Stanley Cup Finals. This year's interview was this past Saturday. Bettman is the master of political spin (I'd say he could challenge Bill Clinton for the crown). McLean will normally challenge and attempt to deflect a question which usually leads to a feisty debate.
This year McLean tended to accept the Commissioner's responses. According the Bettman all is well with the NHL. Although some franchises may have issues, none are in "jeopardy". He deflected any suggestion that teams like Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville and Tampa Bay were having any real difficulties. When asked if the recent report was true that the Canadian NHL franchises were generating 30% of the revenue, he responded by saying the U.S. franchises were also experiencing revenue growth.
Regarding the sale of the Predators last year, Bettman re-iterated that the Canadian Competition Bureau investigated and found the NHL had not engaged in any anti-competitive behaviour after a letter of intent was signed to sell the club to Ontario-based executive Jim Balsillie.
The Nashville conversation came up in light of news this week that "Boots" Del Biaggio (part of the new ownerhsip consortium) is being sued by an investment firm that alleges he engaged in fraud to secure a multimillion-dollar loan. The San Jose Mercury News reported that he was also being investigated by U.S. federal authorities.
Bettman claimed to have no information about the legal trouble of Anaheim Duck owner Henry Samueli who is facing fraud charges and may end up doing jail time.
So the Spinmeister of the Week award goes to our own Gary Bettman.
