so today we have the opportunity to be
joined by Montreal Canadiens president
pyaar hua very basically the NHL is back
we had a year where there was no hockey
being played and obviously north of the
border in canada the fans missed it
south of the border could be argued that
the fence didn’t really know is that a
fair assessment no i think that’s a
little bit too strict anywhere there are
hockey fans the fans missed the game
when it was out we had no choice but to
do what we did and I think we came back
much stronger as a sport certainly the
game is much more exciting we have a
much more solid business model as a
league I think we’re on to another
record in in attendance it’s not as well
established in many markets as other
leading American sports and so there’s
still many many years of work to
continue to develop the sport but
certainly the vital signs as we like to
call them are much better today than
they were two or three years ago the NHL
has been experimenting things with sites
like YouTube what are your thoughts in
terms of how much and how progressive
the NHL and the teams are going to be
with letting their content out for fans
to play with online with sites like
YouTube or even on nhl.com to sort of
maybe just go put all the videos of the
games on the web and see whether or not
fans will go direct I think we’re going
to want to be at the forefront we’re
making giant steps as we speak I think
our objective is to reach fans wherever
they are and whatever platform that they
are operating on critics would say that
you don’t really need three hockey teams
in the New York market you know you got
the Islanders arrangers the devil’s
don’t mean to put you in a tough spot
but you think that in the next 3 4 5 10
years you might see less and not the
number of teams that they’re all right
now I don’t think it’s possible at all
to predict that certainly the plan is
for the league to remain at 30 teams
there’s some you know some doubt over a
certain number of franchises Pittsburgh
is a good example but it’s still
unresolved today as to whether they’ll
remain in Pittsburgh reading between the
lines would you say that it’s possible
for some franchises to leave US cities
and potentially come north of the border
I don’t think
eliminate any possibility on a long-term
perspective in the short term there’s
certainly nothing with any traction with
regards to teams relocating to Canadian
markets for you the idea of having NHL
players at the Olympics is this
something that needs to be on going
forever or is it something that you know
you have some trepidation because of
scheduling issues or fatigue or just
potential risk of injuries or just
because you don’t think that you know
NHL players should be in the Olympics
for whatever reason there’s no there’s
no real clear-cut answer at this stage I
think we need to focus on making 2010
great games for all sports but in
particular product just give us them
like feedback and some insight into the
job you have running one of the most
renowned and successful sports
franchises in the world I’m not the
coach norm I the general manager of
Montreal Canadiens and we do have a very
sophisticated building that has not just
a sports business but a large
entertainment business you touch people
in a very special way when when when
you’re involved with a franchise that
has the degree of love in passion
attached to it that the montreal canada
the most sports and in most cities where
the sport is popular but this is a
particular franchise and that it is a
true dynasty it is the winningest
franchise in hockey the long history
will be 100 years old in three years
there’s just such a deeply rooted
feeling of attachment to the franchise
and that comes with a whole set of
responsibilities so one thing we can
promise is that win or lose we’ll do
everything in our power to make sure
that you’re proud of your franchise and
end up your team well don’t you have it
folks you can’t ask more from the
president of a professional sports
organization we thank you for your
candor and your time we’ve been joined
by Catwoman president of the Montreal
Canadiens and you’ve been watching
watchmojo calm
joined by Montreal Canadiens president
pyaar hua very basically the NHL is back
we had a year where there was no hockey
being played and obviously north of the
border in canada the fans missed it
south of the border could be argued that
the fence didn’t really know is that a
fair assessment no i think that’s a
little bit too strict anywhere there are
hockey fans the fans missed the game
when it was out we had no choice but to
do what we did and I think we came back
much stronger as a sport certainly the
game is much more exciting we have a
much more solid business model as a
league I think we’re on to another
record in in attendance it’s not as well
established in many markets as other
leading American sports and so there’s
still many many years of work to
continue to develop the sport but
certainly the vital signs as we like to
call them are much better today than
they were two or three years ago the NHL
has been experimenting things with sites
like YouTube what are your thoughts in
terms of how much and how progressive
the NHL and the teams are going to be
with letting their content out for fans
to play with online with sites like
YouTube or even on nhl.com to sort of
maybe just go put all the videos of the
games on the web and see whether or not
fans will go direct I think we’re going
to want to be at the forefront we’re
making giant steps as we speak I think
our objective is to reach fans wherever
they are and whatever platform that they
are operating on critics would say that
you don’t really need three hockey teams
in the New York market you know you got
the Islanders arrangers the devil’s
don’t mean to put you in a tough spot
but you think that in the next 3 4 5 10
years you might see less and not the
number of teams that they’re all right
now I don’t think it’s possible at all
to predict that certainly the plan is
for the league to remain at 30 teams
there’s some you know some doubt over a
certain number of franchises Pittsburgh
is a good example but it’s still
unresolved today as to whether they’ll
remain in Pittsburgh reading between the
lines would you say that it’s possible
for some franchises to leave US cities
and potentially come north of the border
I don’t think
eliminate any possibility on a long-term
perspective in the short term there’s
certainly nothing with any traction with
regards to teams relocating to Canadian
markets for you the idea of having NHL
players at the Olympics is this
something that needs to be on going
forever or is it something that you know
you have some trepidation because of
scheduling issues or fatigue or just
potential risk of injuries or just
because you don’t think that you know
NHL players should be in the Olympics
for whatever reason there’s no there’s
no real clear-cut answer at this stage I
think we need to focus on making 2010
great games for all sports but in
particular product just give us them
like feedback and some insight into the
job you have running one of the most
renowned and successful sports
franchises in the world I’m not the
coach norm I the general manager of
Montreal Canadiens and we do have a very
sophisticated building that has not just
a sports business but a large
entertainment business you touch people
in a very special way when when when
you’re involved with a franchise that
has the degree of love in passion
attached to it that the montreal canada
the most sports and in most cities where
the sport is popular but this is a
particular franchise and that it is a
true dynasty it is the winningest
franchise in hockey the long history
will be 100 years old in three years
there’s just such a deeply rooted
feeling of attachment to the franchise
and that comes with a whole set of
responsibilities so one thing we can
promise is that win or lose we’ll do
everything in our power to make sure
that you’re proud of your franchise and
end up your team well don’t you have it
folks you can’t ask more from the
president of a professional sports
organization we thank you for your
candor and your time we’ve been joined
by Catwoman president of the Montreal
Canadiens and you’ve been watching
watchmojo calm
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