Daily Faceoff Live: Bettman tanking comments ‘Come on Gary!’

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live Tyler Yaremchuk and Mike McKenna discuss Gary Bettman’s comments about “tanking” at a press conference Tuesday. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: Gary Bettman spoke yesterday and he’s had a couple of puzzling sound bites this year like not backing down about the digital board ads. But, here’s NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on tanking: “Nobody tanks because we have a weighted lottery. You’re not going to lose games to increase your odds by a couple of percentage points. That’s silly. And, frankly, suggesting tanking I believe is inconsistent with the professionalism that our players and our coaches have. Nobody tanks. Our players and our coaches do their best to win. And, again, just because you may finish with the worst record in the league you’ve got something like a 75 percent chance that you’re not going to get the first pick.”

Tyler Yaremchuk: So you’re telling me not a single Gm has thought “you know if we lose this we have a better chance at Connor Bedard” because they really don’t care. There are owners and general managers who love watching their teams slide down the standings especially when there’s a high-end prospect available. 

Mike McKenna: I mean, come on Gary. I don’t know if I could’ve done this with a straight face. Like of course coaches and players aren’t ranking. They’re fighting for their next contracts and credibility. But teams? Are you kidding me? The lottery is weighted? Yeah, that’s exactly why it is. The Anaheim Ducks last night ran a graphic between the second and third period and the Ducks were at 25.5% odds of winning the Bedard sweepstakes but you think Pat Verbeek is looking at that and thinking “I want 25% instead of 9%” you think those 12 and 13 points don’t matter, of course, they do. If I were the general manager of the Ducks I would be trading Klingberg, Gibson, Henrqiue, and everyone.

You can watch the full episode here…