The biggest mistake of John Ziegler's tenure as NHL President (1977-92)

[TMC]

• Seemingly not wanting a good US TV deal, going cable-only when few had cable and not pressing for some broadcast coverage. Then when everyone did have cable...
  
• Going to a upstart network which barely had any carriage anywhere. In fact, some markets with teams had no access to SportsChannel America and arrangements had to be made to air the Stanley Cup Finals and All-Star Game.
  
• Letting the Barons be merged without an attempt to keep them in Cleveland while also saving the Minnesota North Stars. A stark contrast to the countless lives of the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers.
  
• Leaving growing US markets such as Atlanta and Denver while adding markets to glutted US areas such as Hartford, Connecticut and New Jersey.
  
• What says more than growing the game in the US than adding three small Canadian markets while leaving swaths of the US without any NHL access.
  
• Being handed a growth moment (the Miracle on Ice) for hockey in the US on a silver platter and doing nothing to build on that.
  
• Being handed a second growth moment (the Wayne Gretzky trade to Los Angeles) only to be on a cable network that virtually nobody got.

[SledgeBarone]

Originally Posted by TMC

• Seemingly not wanting a good US TV deal, going cable-only when few had cable and not pressing for some broadcast coverage. Then when everyone did have cable...
  
• Going to a upstart network which barely had any carriage anywhere. In fact, some markets with teams had no access to SportsChannel America and arrangements had to be made to air the Stanley Cup Finals and All-Star Game.
  
• Letting the Barons be merged without an attempt to keep them in Cleveland while also saving the Minnesota North Stars. A stark contrast to the countless lives of the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers.
  
• Leaving growing US markets such as Atlanta and Denver while adding markets to glutted US areas such as Hartford, Connecticut and New Jersey.
  
• What says more than growing the game in the US than adding three small Canadian markets while leaving swaths of the US without any NHL access.
  
• Being handed a growth moment (the Miracle on Ice) for hockey in the US on a silver platter and doing nothing to build on that.
  
• Being handed a second growth moment (the Wayne Gretzky trade to Los Angeles) only to be on a cable network that virtually nobody got.

Hartford makes sense because it's a northern clime and doesn't have any other big-league teams to compete against. And if teams are failing in Atlanta and Denver, I wouldn't keep them on life support like the league does in Phoenix and Miami. Sometimes it's better to leave and start over later on better terms, which worked when the Avalanche replaced the Rockies after years of no NHL in Denver.

I think it's a mistake to avoid Canada and chase the larger markets in the southern US. Face it, Canadians love ice hockey more than Americans do, and the difference in passion is apparent during live broadcasts. The NHL should've put a second (or even a third) team in Toronto long ago ... now the NBA Raptors are threatening the sport there just because the poobahs wanted to protect the long-woeful Maple Leafs.

[Sal]

I always considered John Ziegler's biggest mistake to be not supporting his officials when Jim Schoenfeld called referee Don Koharski a fat pig and then being nowhere to be found when the refs went on strike for one game and they hired replacements with funny yellow sweaters on. That was simply hilarious!

[TMC]

What are the biggest mistakes that John Ziegler made during his tenure as the National Hockey League's president (1977-92)?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

What are the biggest mistakes that John Ziegler made during his tenure as the National Hockey League's president (1977-92)?

Why didn't the National Hockey League have a network television contract (i.e. with ABC, CBS, or NBC) in the United States during John Ziegler's tenure as the NHL's president (1977-92)?