No, It's Not

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has been taking heat for the size of the fine, or lack thereof, he levelled against the Blackhawks for their handling of sex abuse allegations by former player Kyle Beach. The poor, poor Wirtz family has to come up with $2 million. Bettman told ESPN “people have debated the amount of the fine, but it was substantial by any measure.” But Nancy Armour of USA Today put things in context by noting the Blackhawks’ are valued a little north of $1 billion. So, exactly how does $2 million hurt? By my liberal art’s math, the fine equals .2 percent—or 1/500 for anyone out there more comfortable with fractions—of the team’s value. Is that even a slap on the wrist? Then we have assistant commissioner Bill Daly explaining why the NHL didn’t act when the Hawks gave the league a “head’s up” about the claims back in December. Daly says he was told by the team then “there was no merit” to Beach’s allegations. Oops. This is the kind of crisis management you get from a commissioner who owes his job to team owners. If nothing else, at least one team owner has to be satisfied.