A Victory For Bettman

from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail, If either Gary Bettman or his deputy, Bill Daly, is thinking about asking for a raise, now is the time to do it. The NHL commissioner is the toast of not only the league’s owners after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Redfield T. Baum rejected Jim Balsillie’s bid for the Phoenix Coyotes, but he’s being hailed by other professional sports owners as well. The NHL may be stuck with massive legal bills and the obligation to continue paying for the Coyotes’ financial hemorrhaging, but Bettman’s win – and this is very much considered a personal win for him and NHL deputy commissioner Daly – means a court affirmed the league’s right to choose who owns its franchises and, most important, where they operate. Bettman is taking shots from angry hockey fans in Canada, who blame him for blocking a second NHL team in Southern Ontario. But as far as the owners are concerned, it is his biggest victory since the 2004-05 lockout, when he broke the players’ union, which has since degenerated into a laughingstock. continued