[Hipcheck]

I used to solely blame Bettman on the pussification of the NHL. This years playoffs in particular-seems whenever there is a scrum of any sort the camera either gets there late or decides for some reason to show the backup goalie sitting on the bench or one of the on ice goalies who happens to be the farthest away from the scrum.

No secret im not a fan of Bettman and used to solely blame him for instigator rule and other ideas of that sort. But Ive reconsidered.

I dont think its Bettman as much as the Owners. To the owners, players are merely assets. They pay them good money to play the game. While the fans love a good fight filled game and fighting in general-the owners probably dont enjoy seeing their paid players risk injury. Its like a NASCAR owner not wanting to see a race with a lot of crashes. Why would an owner want to see his players take any extra amount of risk to themselves? Sure some have insurance and what not but star players draw revenue by playing. Owners may well feel that fighting is unnecessary or at least minimally important and more of a risk then reward.

So as easy as it is to blame Bettman, I have to think the large anti fighting contingent probably stems from those who have the most to lose and thus in spite of what the fans want, economic interests will always trump fan interest.


Thoughts?