Gary Bettman and the Hall of Fame: What is it, you would say, ya do here?

Last night, Gary Bettman went into the Hockey Hall of Fame. His record that got him there hardly suggests that was necessary.

I suppose it depends on how you define what a Hall of Fame should be. If it’s like Time’s “Man Of The Year,” in that it’s not necessarily glorious or a rank of accomplishment, but more impact and importance either good or bad, then you could say Gary Bettman should be in the Hall of Fame. After all, he’s been commissioner, and hence front and center, for a quarter-century now.

And Bettman has presided over great changes in the game. But one has to ask just how much he had to do with any of those.

The argument for Bettman is all the way the NHL has “improved” in his time. The league has expanded from 24 teams to 31. It’s now a $4.5 billion industry, instead of one that you only heard about in dark New England bars from a guy in a Zarley Zalapski jersey (yes, this was all a ploy to get my daily Zarley Zalapski mention in). The league made inroads into the Sun Belt of country, which was thought back in the day to not even be possible. It has something of a real TV deal, though it pales in comparison to the other three major leagues.

But aren’t these all a product of the environment as much, if not more so? Expansion has taken place in the other three leagues as well. It’s a natural by-product of the industry. The NBA added three teams in that time. MLB has added four teams in that time, though none since 1998. Even the NFL added two. Sure, seven teams is more than the other three leagues, but it’s still something most commissioners over time have managed. Hell, even MLS keeps expanding, though that’s a Ponzi scheme. Then again, hockey might have been as well when it was expanding quicker than the universe.

As far moving into the Sun Belt, the record on that is still spotty. Both the Coyotes and Predators were minutes away from being moved to Canada. Does Bettman take the credit for new owners popping up to save them? The Coyotes and Panthers still have attendance problems. The teams are there, but if they’re not fully functional or haven’t been through their entire history, what kind of accomplishment is that?

Sure, hockey has grown financially. So has every other sport. TV deals have gotten richer across the board, and continue to do so as sports are the only programming people are inclined to watch live. $4.5 billion is an impressive number until you consider how much bigger the other leagues are. Hockey still lags. Is that progress or just riding along with the jet stream?

Its TV deal still lags behind everyone else, and its ratings are somewhere around the English Premier League’s on NBC. Is that Hall worthy just because it was better than it was when the league was run by shaved apes on Molson?

Bettman has been at the helm of three lockouts, which has done immeasurable damage to the league. Just about anyone could have managed that. He may proclaim that the systems put in place because of those lockouts saved the game, but how much did they really save?

The product was garbage for years thanks to Bettman’s rapid expansion and a collection of rodeo clowns who could barely skate signed up for NHL jobs. The standings-system makes no sense. Their best players are still anonymous everywhere that isn’t centered around a Tim Horton‘s.

The only reason he’s been in the job so long is that NHL owners, at least some of them, are making enough money to not want to fire him. But one has to wonder if that money couldn’t have been generated by anyone willing to break the always breakable NHL Players Union and with the ability to stand still while the industry changes dictate greater revenue.

Then again, this is America. Being able to standstill while great fortune happens to you is seen as a great skill. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.