NHL commish Gary Bettman comments on tradition of getting rained with boos on draft night

Every year at the NHL Draft, fans boo commissioner Gary Bettman as soon as he walks on stage. It has become routine and the boos are loud enough to obstruct his speech during the event. He has been the league's commissioner for over 32 years now. Several of his decisions have played a root cause in upsetting fans, to the extent that they have started to dislike his actions.

Speaking during his Tueday's appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show”, Bettman discussed the boos he received from fans during the 2025 NHL draft.

“If they ignored me I would be concerned. If I’m getting booed it means they’re paying attention,” Bettman said.

This year's NHL draft boos were partly due to a different reason. In February, it was decided that Gary Bettman would announce every first-round pick. The draft was held in Los Angeles, and it was the league’s first decentralized draft.

However, he felt that the event was successful and people enjoyed it.

“We had a good time," Bettman said to McAfee. "I think the people in L.A. who attended the draft had a good time. … It was a lot of fun,”

Apart from the NHL draft, fans also boo him during the Stanley Cup presentation. And that is the reason why many now believe that this is a tradition. If we trace its beginning, it started after the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Bettman played a big role, and now, almost 20 years later, fans still haven’t forgotten his actions. Nonetheless, other things over the years, like team relocations and rule changes, have also added to the frustration.

The boos will likely continue until the day he retires, and such talks started in January this year.

Insiders critiqued the changes in the 2025 NHL Draft, 33rd under Gary Bettman

Earlier this week, Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney talked about the 2025 NHL draft on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. They had different views on the changes included in the 33rd NHL draft conducted under commissioner Gary Bettman. Whitney said the draft was poorly organized. He called it a “comedy show” and said the setup was full of mistakes.

"They decided to hold this decentralized draft..." Whitney said "It was an absolute goon squad of errors."

Bissonnette didn’t think it was that bad. However, both agreed that the Zoom interviews didn’t go well, except for one part Bissonnette really liked, which was the moment between Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders.

"For that moment alone, I felt like it was worth it," Bissonnette said.

Bissonnette said that moment showed who Schaefer is as a person. He was drafted first overall in 2025, and it was Gary Bettman who announced it.