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Somewhere in his office or at home, Gary Bettman has a caricature of Stan Lee representing himself with incredible strength.
We are going to badume that this amounts to using his powers wisely, although some people, especially supporters in Canada, may have difficulty removing him from the dark side of the National Hockey League's leadership.
Three lockouts, one of which spent a whole season, were under the supervision of the Commissioner. However, his final match corresponded to what the Board of Governors had envisioned when the 40 – year – old was hired in February 1993. He reinstated the order at their loose box, took professional hockey into the game. Modern era and fired an envelope that covered the continent and much of the world with the NHL brand.
To stick to this vision, the Commissioner joins the predecessors of the presidency, Clarence Campbell, and John Ziegler, in the Hall of Fame Hockey Hall of Fame.
"Yes, he (has angered some people) and I can not say that I agree with everything he's done," said Lou Lamoriello, general manager of three teams of the Bettman era.
"But the important thing is that he created the game worldly, he was North American, he has followed the right path. And he kept a lot of franchises alive. What he is getting now in the room is deserved in every way. "
At its first ever media meeting at league meetings in Montreal, former NBA number three asked not to be prejudiced by his lack of insight into hockey, but by his strengths in the fields legal, marketing and executive players. Questions.
Bill Wirtz and some old guard owners still had influence in a 21-team league, which was likely to stagnate as baseball, football and basketball pushed the envelope to the approach of 39, a new century. One of Bettman's primary goals has been to civilize the often tumultuous meetings of governors by installing individual microphones so that every man can be heard – or cut, if necessary.
"A well run league launches almost alone," was one of his maxims.
In 2016, when he appeared at the MIT / Sloane Analytics conference, Bettman explained how his world and hockey had changed: "The email was just starting. We had no live TV presence on a network In the United States There was no NHL.com, no off-stream streaming packages. If you want scores from a match outside the city, you must call Sports Phone to get them.
"If we had to discipline a player for something that was going on in a game, usually if the game was televised, someone had to send us a tape to FedEx, which we would have a day or two later. What has happened thanks to technological advances and digital platforms has allowed us to function better as a league, in real time. "
The outdoor games, more than 20 since Bettman's exploration of the concept, have attracted more than a million spectators, including 105,000 in a day at the University of Michigan.
"Some suggest that they are too many," said Bettman. "If you just watch on TV, you say," The 18th game was nice, but not as special as the first one. "But if you're watching a match, the way our fans get together in community, to their reaction in the elements, the game takes back its roots. "
The sport has certainly not experienced much labor disputes in the past when players were subjugated. But Bettman was partly hired with the mandate to give the owners a hammer blow after a new militant version of the union was born from the ashes of Alan Eagleson's tenure. Ziegler suffered a brief player strike in the spring of 1992, an awakening for the painting.
Bettman and union CEO Bob Goodenow engaged in two violent collective bargaining wars that changed the course of labor relations and the hockey pay structure. But only Bettman – and his long-sought salary cap – were in place at the end of the 2004-05 burned season, along with a change in philosophy regarding the rules that made the world's fastest sport even faster. Another semester was lost in 2012-13 against the new boss of the union, Donald Fehr. Lamoriello acknowledged that Bettman did not have much applause during work stoppages.
"But I was fortunate enough to be a member of the executive committee in two different negotiations between ABC and Gary. He has extreme intelligence and common sense, not always the case with many people. "
For Canadians, seeing the league expand into non-traditional markets over the past 25 years has been difficult to reconcile, as cities across the country were hungry for hockey. But an badistance plan had been developed to prevent more teams from moving south with the stronger US dollar. Calgary and Edmonton have remained, Winnipeg has recovered its franchise via Atlanta.
"Our entire organization sees this as a well-deserved honor for Commissioner Bettman," said Larry Tanenbaum, president and governor of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "For over 25 years, he has been a pbadionate steward of sport and has contributed to the growth of hockey, not only in the NHL, but around the world. Personally, Gary has always supported our work in Toronto and we are proud to see him receive this honor. "
By the time the league celebrated its centennial in 2017-18, Bettman was immersed in his story, able to fully appreciate the impact of Rocket Richard, the humility of Gordie Howe and comfortably interacting with everyone from Wayne Gretzky to Alex Ovechkin.
He calls each year to hand the Cup to the victorious captain one of his greatest thrills and joke with the public who booed him in all cities. The book is not closed on contentious issues such as concussion research and the restoration of Olympic participation, although the Hall Selection Committee reserved it for the vote to choose it before the end of the year. his mandate as commissioner.
Bettman said he was surprised by his early entry into the game, praising those who contribute to every facet of the game.
"I'm proud that at the league and club level, on and off the ice, hundreds, if not thousands, of people are involved and working hard to make the game evolve at all levels. . I think there are now more people playing hockey, watching hockey, being hockey fans, not just at the NHL, but at all levels. And see this game so special; The people, the fellowship, the teamwork, the values we believe in the game make a difference in people's lives. Seeing this impact growing geographically and in numbers has been very rewarding for everyone involved in the game. "
THE GARY BETTMAN FILE
Born: June 2, 1952, in Queens, N.Y.
The lean: The oldest active commissioner in professional sports … Under Bettman, the league went from 21 to 31 (soon to be 32) teams generating revenues of more than 3 billion US dollars … First of all, the players of the NHL at the Olympics have recently taken Judge that it was not in the interest of the league … Adding old players to positions of influence such as the safety of players … Graduate of Cornell University and the New York School of Law … Father of three children … His father and grandfather owned a walnut importing company in the New York area.
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