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Sunday, February 02, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Perhaps the reason NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's smile seemed peculiarly wide at his annual state of the league news conference yesterday was that his mouth has been stretched by being forced to speak out of both sides so often lately.

For nearly every positive he cites, he has to be careful to balance it with a negative. Business is rosy, he insists, but drastic reform is needed when the league's contract with its players expires next year.

Attendance and television ratings will finish above expectations, he projects, but the owners with whom he met earlier in the morning are weary of losing money.

Spend a few minutes in a room with the man, and you get the idea he is seriously confused or dually possessed. And he makes no apologies either way.

"I can't be Pollyanna and the voice of doom and gloom at the same time," he said. "What I try to be is realistic."

That is the odd role Bettman must fill. He must project the image that the league is in good hands even while he prepares for the pending negotiations with Bob Goodenow, head of the NHL Players Association.

For him to stand before 100-plus reporters and state that all is hopeless would only raise questions about the man in charge. If it's so bad, the media and fans will want to know, how did it get that way?

At the same time, for him to state only that all is well would serve as fodder for Goodenow in what promises to be contentious negotiations. If it's so good, Goodenow will say, why not just maintain the existing financial structure?

Bettman attempted to answer any questions pertaining to labor or finances in this duplicitous fashion yesterday, or he simply rejected them.

Samples abound ...

"Business on the revenue side is very good -- although I'd always like it to be better -- but business on the expense side is very challenging. You've heard me say that enough times, and I really have nothing to add on that issue today."

"What will be important is that we join with the union in a partnership to seek a solution, one that is fair to everyone, to the players, the NHL owners and the fans. Our commitment is to try to achieve this goal and, at the same time, do it in a way that allows us to move forward without taking a step back."

"I'm not sure that, if something isn't working right, it matters why. What matters is that you fix it."

Bettman's message, despite or perhaps because of its convoluted delivery, somehow seems to be having an impact.

Although he has yet to find a way to start negotiations with Goodenow, although the Sabres and Senators are bankrupt, although there is no promise of a national television contract beyond next season, he has escaped criticism for the most part. Certainly, he has not come close to being torn apart by the hockey establishment the way his baseball counterpart, Bud Selig, was in the past year.

Even the players seem to be taking heed. Most of the All-Stars yesterday openly expressed an understanding of the owners' concerns, and a few went so far as to offer that concessions of some kind are in order. To be sure, Selig was unable to make so much as a dent in that regard against Donald Fehr's union.

Bettman was asked if the job is more difficult than he had anticipated upon taking it 10 years ago.

"No, this is about what I thought. I have a lot of challenging days, but that's what makes life interesting. I think the job is still great fun."

It hasn't hurt that he has maintained a consistent sense of humor.

When questioned about Brett Hull's stunning remark last week that 75 percent of the NHL's players are overpaid, he couldn't help but break his own silence on the labor matter.

"With respect to Brett's comment: After 10 years, maybe he's saying things that I find interesting."