Poor Gary Bettman. The guy gets booed everywhere he goes.
He rarely gets complimented for anything he does, at least not by fans.
And he finds himself in another lose-lose situation after the Los Angeles Kings officially filed a grievance against the Edmonton Oilers.
Regardless of how he resolves the mess, some percentage of people on the opposite side will complain he treated their team unfairly.
I’m sure that annual salary that’s north of $7 million will help him sleep at night though. Being the most hated man in hockey does have its price.
So, what’s at stake here? Essentially, the Kings feel the Oilers were deceitful, not once – but twice! In re-acquiring Ryan Smyth, they first tried to give the Kings Gilbert Brule – who was injured. The deal was finally consummated when they replaced him with Colin Fraser in the deal. Soon thereafter, it was discovered Fraser had a fairly significant ankle injury. Thus began the war of words…err, difference of opinion…between Kings GM Dean Lombardi and his Oilers counterpart, Steve Tambellini.
That’s the gist of things. Helene Elliott of the LA Times had more details on the story here.
And Colin Fraser had an exclusive interview with MayorsManor here.
Now, for the tough question. If you were Commissioner Bettman, how would you resolve the case?
Poll closes Tuesday at noon.
