POLL: How should NHL resolve Kings-Oliers grievance?

Poor Gary Bettman. The guy gets booed everywhere he goes.

He rarely gets complimented for anything he does, at least not by fans.

And he finds himself in another lose-lose situation after the Los Angeles Kings officially filed a grievance against the Edmonton Oilers.

Regardless of how he resolves the mess, some percentage of people on the opposite side will complain he treated their team unfairly.

I'm sure that annual salary that's north of $7 million will help him sleep at night though. Being the most hated man in hockey does have its price.

So, what's at stake here? Essentially, the Kings feel the Oilers were deceitful, not once - but twice! In re-acquiring Ryan Smyth, they first tried to give the Kings Gilbert Brule - who was injured. The deal was finally consummated when they replaced him with Colin Fraser in the deal. Soon thereafter, it was discovered Fraser had a fairly significant ankle injury.  Thus began the war of words...err, difference of opinion...between Kings GM Dean Lombardi and his Oilers counterpart, Steve Tambellini.

That's the gist of things. Helene Elliott of the LA Times had more details on the story here.

And Colin Fraser had an exclusive interview with MayorsManor here.

Now, for the tough question. If you were Commissioner Bettman, how would you resolve the case?



Poll closes Tuesday at noon.

The Mayor
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MayorsManor Podcast - featuring Kerry Fraser

Very few people in the world of hockey ever become as well known as the players on the ice.

Then again, there aren't many people like Kerry Fraser either.

He's perhaps the most recognizable referee in the history of hockey. In his 30-year career he managed to get under the skin of fans in nearly every NHL city. Yet, he was simply doing his job in most cases.

At the end of last season he hung up his whistle after more than 2,000 games all across North America. He penned a book, The Final Call, while taking those last laps in stripes. It's a telling memoir featuring candid insight and often provides the emotion behind stories fans may not have otherwise been privy to.

In the podcast below Fraser shares some of those memories. He talks about lecturing a young Mario Lemieux and the friction it created, allowing Mark Messier a little latitude when taking care of a situation on the ice and recalls a crushed Theo Fleury asking him for help.

Of course, he also talks about several key events involving the Kings - including the non-call on Wayne Gretzky in the '93 playoffs vs. Toronto, Marty McSorley's illegal stick in the Stanley Cup Finals, coach Tom Webster throwing a stick at him and quite a bit more.

He shares the experiences of receiving death threats, contemplates rule changes and offers opinions on calling penalties in the final minutes of play.

Like many MayorsManor interviews, we also play word association and you may not believe what he has to say about guys like Gary Bettman, Chris Pronger, Sean Avery, Patrick Roy and several others. The most shocking though may be his comments on Alex Ovechkin.

[Audio player after the jump]