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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman does not agree with Paul Bissonnette’s hot take about the Florida Panthers’ success.
Ahead of the Stanley Cup Finals, Bissonnette felt the Panthers have an unfair advantage because Florida does not have a state income tax, which is attractive to free agents.
“The fact that Florida, not only is it an unbelievable team, an unbelievable market, but the fact that you’re not paying state tax,” Bissonnette said. “That is an advantage that maybe has to be addressed in the next CBA. That’s a conversation for another day.”
On Monday, Bettman appeared on TNT’s Stanley Cup pregame show and dunked on Bissonnette over his hot take.
“It’s a ridiculous issue. When the Florida teams weren’t good, which was for about 17 years, nobody said anything about it. For those of you who played, were you sitting there at the tax table? No, you wanted to go to a good organization in a place where you wanted to live, where you wanted to raise your kids and send them to school. You wanted to play in a first-class arena with a first-class training facility, with an owner, an organization, a GM, and a coach that you were comfortable with. And you wanted to have good teammates so you would have a shot at winning.
“That’s what motivates it. Could it be a little bit of a factor if everything else were equal? I suppose, but that is not it. By the way, state taxes are high in Los Angeles, high in New York. What are we going to do? Subsidize those teams?”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman calls Paul Bissonnette’s concern about the NHL & Florida’s lack of state tax “ridiculous.”
Bettman adds, “I was watching you during the prior rounds. Your attire was a little suspect in terms of your journalistic objectivity.” 🏒🎙️#NHL #StanleyCup https://t.co/eLmLyNCi2c pic.twitter.com/25Tuu8gKnm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2025
Bissonnette reacted to Bettman’s viral comments on social media.
Get the people talking. Look at that engagement. Throwing Gary softballs. 🥎
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) June 10, 2025