sawchuk1971
Registered User
- Jun 16, 2011
- 1,494
- 509
Bettman makes history, will mark 31 years as NHL Commissioner | NHL.com
Becomes longest-serving chief executive among major North American pro sports leagues
www.nhl.com
Detroit Red Wings senior vice president Jim Devellano won the Stanley Cup with the New York Islanders and Winged Wheelers. Devellano already had been an NHL sage when Bettman first cut his puck teeth at the League's Manhattan acreage.
"When Gary was hired, the owners gave him two big chores," Devellano told me the other day. "One was to grow the footprint of the NHL across America, mainly south and west, so we could catch up to the NFL and NBA in terms of teams. And make us 'national' for television purposes.
"Without a doubt, he accomplished that. The other chore was to get 'cost certainty' regarding rising player salaries when teams were bleeding many, many millions. The union and players fought back. But, in the end, Bettman delivered a hard salary cap. As a result, the NHL has never been stronger and, ironically, the players continue to prosper as they should."
Those who insisted that major league hockey couldn't thrive nontraditional markets were rebuffed, with teams such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators having developed substantial fan bases.
"Thanks in large part to Gary's leadership," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, "we have reached a point as a league and as a business where our time can be spent primarily on being creative, ensuring the game on the ice be maximizing fan interest and growing revenues. That makes it a lot of fun coming to work every day."