FanHouse BillDaly

It has become quite clear that the NHL intends to keep the struggling Phoenix Coyotes where they are. Unless the bankruptcy court decides in favor of a bid from Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie, there is little chance the franchise will relocate.

This sentiment was made even stronger Friday, when league deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to The Canadian Press.

I'm sure you have all wondered what the NHL does with the hefty revenues the league claims to be making, besides weekly Turtle Wax buffings for Bill Daly and Gary Bettman's hyper-inflated salary.

As reported by The New York Times, it seems that the NHL has gone to great lengths and expense in creating a new head office (including that wicked solid metal logo in the picture), which appears to be any hockey fan's dream of a perfect working space.

Visitors to the N.H.L. offices will experience the theme-park atmosphere as soon as they step off the elevator on the 15th floor. Blurred black-and-white action shots line the walls, and a white-and-black terrazzo floor shimmers, leading to a large illuminated N.H.L. medallion of polished stainless steel.

A palette of grays and icy whites serves as a backdrop for the theme-park elements. Film footage is projected on the reception area wall, and nine monitors line the corridor. Three video games are available in a separate seating area, just beyond the frosted beverage bar, which is used for receptions.

After checking out the photos from that article and Getty's database, I am super impressed and a little bit envious of the NHL's new digs. Wouldn't you want to work in an office that had hockey murals, big screen TVs, and hockey-stick walls? Instead, we have to put up with Grey cubicles and pictures of boring scenery.

The only downside of the new office is the lack of enclosed working spaces and making everyone work in open-space areas. Count Bettman obviously wants to keep a very close eye on all of his minions.

Back in May, it looked like plans to bring the NHL Winter Classic to New York's Yankee Stadium were in jeopardy thanks to some infrastructure problems.

Then, last month, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the league was all but ready to announce that the game would be coming to Wrigley Field in 2009.

Now the story has taken yet another turn. As reported by Rob Yunich at Random Reality Thoughts, NHL Vice President Bill Daly, appearing on XM Radio's Hockey This Morning, said that it was "safe to assume" that the league would be making an announcement about the Winter Classic being held at either Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field.

Huh?

Looks like somebody threw a wrench in the works, eh?

At this point, I guess it's "safe to assume" that the two cities are now in the midst of a competition between one another for a chance to host the game. When you think about it, it's a heck of a turnaround for the NHL -- just three years ago the league was heading out of a devestating lockout, and now two of America's biggest cities are competing for the right to host an outdoor hockey game being held on New Year's Day?

Whatever else you want to complain about these days when it comes to the NHL, the Winter Classic isn't one of the things you'd want to carp about.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli has pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission while they were investigating his role in the backdating of stock options at Broadcom, the company he co-founded. As part of a plea agreement, Samueli will serve five years probation and agree to pay a $12.2 million fine.

So what does it mean for the Ducks? Not a whole lot. Sure, this is an embarrassing and humiliating experience for Samueli -- a man who some would argue didn't do anything at Broadcom that plenty of other high-tech companies were doing at the same time -- but NHL Vice President Bill Daly has already said it wouldn't affect his ownership of the Ducks. While a $12.2 million fine would sting anybody, Samueli, whose net worth was pegged by Forbes back in 2003 at about $2.3 billion, can afford it pretty easily.

With the NHL Entry Draft all wrapped up, we need something to keep our minds occupied until the July free agent frenzy.

What better way to kill some time than to come up with some good captions for some funny photos?

Almost any photo of Gary Bettman, a real life Muppet, inspires hundreds of witty caption opportunities. It's as if the guy was created to both torture and humor us. It takes quite a character to invoke emotions from opposite sides of the spectrum.

The official caption: NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman speaks with Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly during the 2008 NHL Entry Draft at Scotiabank Place on June 20, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Now, I'm sure one of you out there must know what Bettman was telling Daly that day. Have at it!

Sorry, No Photos

The NHL Draft Lottery isn't usually a big television spectacle. Unlike the NBA's draft, which is completely nonsensical and has every team switching places, the NHL's lottery has just one team selected. That team can move up only four spots, so only the bottom five teams have a shot at the 1st overall pick. Kinda hard to make a production out of that, right?

Back in 2005, Sidney Crosby was set to enter the draft, and every GM within smelling distance of the #1 pick was drooling on themselves so much, that their clothes could not possibly absorb any more moisture. No prospect had generated such anticipation, and the league was looking for something to distract the fans from the labor issues. Thus, it made sense to televise the bouncing ping pong balls.

Fast forward to 2008, and The (Toronto) Sports Network, up in Canada, wants to televise the lottery for only the second time ever. This year's big prize? Steve Stamkos, a name hardly synonymous with greatness nearly as much as Sid The Kid is/was.

James Duthie hosts the live, 30-minute event from the TSN Studios, marking the second time in the 13-year history of the conventional lottery the event will be televised, and the first time since 2005.

Billed as the 'Stamkos Sweepstakes', the TSN original production features NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, who will reveal the lottery results in reverse order, and representatives from each of the five teams who could win the No. 1 pick.

Joining the show via satellite will be Steven Stamkos, the highly-touted Sarnia Sting centre and World Junior Championship gold medal winner.

Why Bill Daly, and not Gary Bettman? I'd never think Bettman could possibly give up the spotlight. Will he be in the bowels of NHL Headquarters, ensuring the 'right' team wins the ball drop?

What happens if Steve Stamkos isn't selected #1 overall? That would be funny, in a slightly-cruel way.

Mad Mike Milbury will be providing analysis. I assume he'll be there to let us know how long to keep Stamkos before trading him away for pennies on the dollar. If we want analysis, can't we get somebody who wasn't known as the worst GM in NHL history?

Although it seems quite silly to televise one little ball drop, it's a good excuse to do a short draft-themed show to showcase some of the best prospects heading into this summer's draft. Any excuse to give the league publicity is a good thing, and speaks to how hockey-mad Canadians can be.

I tried like hell for weeks to get someone on the record about the rumors, right up until it was finally made official on Monday: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will occasionally host a weekly live satellite radio show titled "NHL Hour," co-hosted by Bill Clement and broadcast from the NHL/XM Radio studio in the NHL Powered By Reebok store in Manhattan. The first edition debuts on Tuesday, Nov. 27 from 4-5 p.m. EST on XM Channel 204 and NHL.com; subsequent non-holiday shows will air every Thursday from 4-5 p.m. EST.

One of my first thoughts about this deal -- along with the fact that the program will be a production of NHL Radio specifically and not XM Radio primarily -- was that it reminded me of another tough New Yawker who was willing to take his lumps on the air: Rudy Giuliani, who hosted an "Ask the Mayor" broadcast on WABC Radio. Every crack-pot, nit-picker and conspiracy theorist in the city would call in, and Rudy would go from sympathetic ear to caustic critic faster than a homeless guy running from the cops in Giuliani's Disney-fied Times Square.

I'm not sure if "Radio Gary" will sound anything like "Radio Rudy," although there's no question that Bettman doesn't shy from his critics, sometimes to a fault. Combine that with the fact that Gary has ... ahem ... a few critics amongst the fans, and it could make for some explosive radio -- which is why XM and the NHL aren't taking any chances.

Whenever I hear Gary Bettman talk about how the NHL has recovered from its suicidal work stoppage two years ago, it reminds me of a delusional daddy trying to ignore that a particularly vicious and fracturing family fight ever happened. A sense of normalcy eventually returns, but the scars still run deep; then comes one of those moments in which the wrong thing is uttered by the wrong person, and all of a sudden your crazy uncle is taking a bowl of mashed potatoes to the forehead during Thanksgiving dinner.

So as Paul Kelly was being confirmed as the new executive director of the NHLPA, Detroit's Chris Chelios was reigniting feuds with Bettman, Bill Daly, Ted Saskin and agent Don Meehan. So as the NHLPA's implosion was being remembered as a Greek tragedy, League lap dogs like Stan Fischler are still clinging to the notion that the lockout was a "no-win" war, even as salaries escalate and free agency for young stars beckons earlier and earlier.

But to truly see the scabs of previous labor fights ripped open, one must read this blistering, rambling rant by George James Malik on Kukla's Korner. It's a self-congratulatory tirade of such focused outrage that the only thing keeping him from completely morphing into hockey's version of Howard Beale is an overcoat, a television camera and Faye Dunaway grinning devilishly from the control room.

"And then you grab their balls like this!"

Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, two of the chief architects of the NHL lockout, the loss of an entire season, the continued silly expansion of the game into lukewarm markets, and the degradation of the on-ice product, were rewarded handsomely for their efforts.

From the Sports Business Journal:

NHL owners rewarded Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly coming out of the lockout, giving each of them a roughly $2 million raise for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, according to the league's tax return.

Bettman's salary rose 57 percent from June 2005 to June 2006, topping out at $5.9 million for the first fiscal year following the lockout, which ended in July 2005. The salary includes a $400,000 contribution to his retirement plan.

Coming out of the lockout, Bettman delivered NHL owners the salary-cap and revenue-sharing systems they wanted. Since then, he has overseen two consecutive years of revenue growth, as well as the record-setting, $220 million sale of the Nashville Predators to Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie.

The two honchos basically cost the league an entire season, and get a $2mil raise? Wow, I wish I could be rewarded for that kind of failure.

Except, as any NHL owner won't admit, Bettman succeeded in getting exactly what the owners wanted, fans and actual games be damned.

After being trounced by the NHLPA and CBA for almost a decade, the owners wanted to break the union and get the salary cap and 'cost certainty' they so desired. Sitting out a season? Just a small price to pay, right?

Low TV ratings, a putrid TV contract, uneven discipline for vicious on-ice attack, and a lack of direction on rule changes ... none of these things appear to matter to the owners as long as their franchise values continue to skyrocket.

While Bettman has failed the fans, let us not forget that he was not hired to act in the best interests of the game. Bettman and Daly were hired to make sure the owners' wishes came to fruition, and they did just that.

As if we needed another reason to dislike these guys even more ...