Speaking to the media recently about the NHL season and
the state of the league, Commissioner Gary Bettman "has made
a rather impressive comeback, an effort that has
rehabilitated his tarnished image to a significant degree
and made him seem responsive and responsible to the hockey
public at large," according to Damien Cox of the TORONTO
STAR, who wrote that Bettman "now seems to have a detectable
agenda aside from selling out to U.S. television interests
and adding franchises." Bettman "has articulated an anti-
violence and pro-safety platform while also positioning
himself as a defender of his league's competitive
integrity." Bettman "has also painted" NHLPA Exec Dir Bob
Goodenow "as the opposite, thereby staking out the common
sense high ground at a time when hockey's orthodoxy is under
attack like never before" (TORONTO STAR, 4/8).
BUT IS THE LEAGUE STILL CHALLENGED? In CO Springs, Lynn
Zinser wrote that while Bettman said the '99-2000 season was
a success, Zinser added, "Depending on your point of view."
Zinser: "When you finish a season that should have been
sponsored by an ambulance company, gets punctuated by
assault charges in a Vancouver court and sends ambivalent
fans flipping to the History Channel, macho isn't helping
your approval rating. What the league counts on for
salvation is, as always, the playoffs" (CO Springs GAZETTE,
4/9). In Toronto, Garth Woolsey wrote that "no matter what"
Bettman says, there "have been way too many injuries to the
best" NHL players this season (TORONTO STAR, 4/8).
