The honor shouldn’t have been as shocking as it was. While Jacobs calls Bettman the engine of the NHL, the Buffalo native can be looked at as the conductor. Jacobs has served as the chairman of the board of governors since 2007, helping drive the league to its most prosperous era.
“It’s a great to see the evolution of hockey in this country,†Jacobs said. “It’s been amazing. We’ve gotten the teams south and in the deep west, where we never were before.
“When I think of expansion, I’m thinking of the National Hockey League expansion, but each time that moves, it moves so many other things with it. By that I mean the game starts to take on roots of its own in those communities. That’s the part that really counts. That’s the part where you get the community involvement. That’s the excitement.â€Â
Jacobs sees potential for much more growth. As one of hockey’s key decision-makers, he’s helping funnel money into the grassroots level to get more people playing.
“What we’ve focused to fund on within the league is the growth of youth hockey,†Jacobs said. “It’s how do we grow it and put money back into the system, as opposed to the necessarily team issues in the system. It’s how do we make the awareness better, how do we get the experience more.
“Being in Buffalo you know what it takes getting a kid ready to play hockey. It takes a family to get to the rink. You can’t send them out with a basketball. You’ve got to get them there, and it builds community and it builds interaction between parent and child, which I don’t think other sports can match.â€Â
Jacobs saw firsthand how families can interact through hockey. His father purchased the American Hockey League team based in Syracuse in 1940 and moved it to Buffalo, where it became the Bisons. Jeremy Jacobs became an owner in 1975 when he bought the Bruins.
His standing as one of the NHL’s longest-tenured owners is what led to him becoming a driving force in the NHL and Bettman’s go-to guy.
“I was one of the earliest owners that is still in existence today, so I think in some way I’m a resource as to the history of it all, not that I’m a particularly great historian,†Jacobs said. “But every time you mention something it has a history to it. I think when you first start something, you look back and you talk to some of the oldest people involved with the league and say, ‘How do you see this?’
“So I think you carry a little different message. It’s not a short-term message. It’s a long-term message.â€Â
Jacobs’ focus on the long term has led to many unpopular decisions, particularly two lockouts in the past 11 years. But the chairman sees how the shutdowns to create a salary-cap system have benefited the league and will continue to do so.
“We’ve achieved something that other professional leagues he attempted or will attempt or have gotten in place,†he said. “That is a balance of competitiveness. That competitiveness really comes about by the balance of our cap system.
“When you see a Tampa or a Carolina team win the Cup, you know that you’ve got some balance there. It’s not a big-city only.â€Â
