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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Many Faces of Gary Bettman

It isn't a stretch to say that Gary Bettman isn't well-liked among fans. Case in point: Every year fans boo Bettman mercilessly as he hands the Stanley Cup to the winning captain. It doesn't matter if the home team won either, fans just love booing Bettman. They can temporarily put aside their euphoria over winning the cup.

Bettman also hasn't found many friends in the media. It isn't as obvious as a cascade of jeers in front of a national TV audience, but by examining the pictures reporters use for their stories, it's clear they aren't fond of the NHL commissioner.

Almost none of the pictures used make Bettman look serious. In fact, many of the photographs are so utterly comical that you'd think the piece was satirical. Wrong. Most of the following photos come from actual news stories.


Image from the Canadian Press via The Globe and Mail
Come on, is this seriously the best picture that was available? You sure there wasn't one mid-sneeze that might have been more flattering?

Image from Chris Young, Canadian Press via The Vancouver Sun
Here is Gary Bettman blowing a kiss. Or, at the very least, saying, "and you can kiss the season goodbye!"

Image from Associated Press via mlive.com
Even when the camera doesn't catch Gary's face with some sort of awkward look, the picture chosen still has certain weaselly qualities. Or maybe that's just Bettman's face. It's hard to tell sometimes.

Image from Chris Young, Canadian Press via The National Post
The guy in the background has a funnier expression on his face, but Gary still has a classic look that says, "so this is Toronto, huh, not sure it can support another team."

Image from Postmedia News files via the Leader-Post
This is the face Bettman makes when he is giving a press conference on the owners' need for maximum contract lengths and Ed Snider is busy negotiating a 15-year deal for P.K. Subban.

Image via The Edmonton Journal
Reporter: "Gary, will the season start on time?" Bettman: "Start praying to the guy upstairs."

Image from Darryl Dyck, Canadian Press via The Toronto Star
Someone just asked Bettman whether he thinks the Coyotes will ever turn a profit.

Image from Kathy Willens, Associated Press via CBC.ca
This is brilliant. Let's get a shot so close that we can see up his nose.

Image from Mike Blake/Reuters via The National Post
Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous. He might as well be wearing an eye patch. In all fairness, this is used in a Down Goes Brown piece, so it's supposed to be ridiculous. What's the excuse for all the other pictures?

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