Gary Bettman makes disappointing comments regarding a potential lockout.

Bettman's popularity won't be increasing after this.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Gary Bettman makes disappointing comments regarding a potential lockout.

On Monday National Hockey League commissioner held a press conference in Toronto, and unfortunately for hockey fans there was not a positive vibe surrounding the event, in fact that may even be an understatement.

The NHL's head honcho was peppered with questions about the league's decision to forgo the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, so much so in fact that Bettman appeared to get frustrated at one point, suggesting the media was "beating a dead horse."

The worse news however came when Bettman was asked about a potential work stoppage in the future, and while it's certainly something that both the owners and the players would prefer to avoid, it sounds like Bettmn is more than willing to go through it again.

"I don't like work stoppages, but you do what you've got to do," said Bettman as per ESPN.

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While the current CBA is set to expire in 2021-2022 we may have a work stoppage long before then as both the NHL's players as well as the NHL itself have the right to opt out of the agreement earlier should they choose to do so. Bettman himself suggested that one side or the other opting out was a possibility. 

"I hate work stoppages. I would much rather go to games. I would much rather go home at night and watch multiple games on television. But it will be interesting to see [which side] reopens [the CBA] and who doesn't."

This of course is not at all what fans of the game want to hear and it will be interesting to see how many are willing to tolerate another prolonged work stoppage should it come to that. 

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