Gary Bettman
Gary Bettman
Gary Bruce Bettmanis the commissioner of the National Hockey League, a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice-president and general counsel to the National Basketball Association. Bettman is a graduate of Cornell University and New York University School of Law...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSports Executive
Date of Birth2 June 1952
CityQueens, NY
CountryUnited States of America
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Even in those cases when there were instances of alleged provocation, we have made it clear that NHL personnel need to do everything possible to avoid a confrontation of fans, and the failure to do so is not acceptable.
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While there is speculation as to which other NHL personnel may have been involved in this matter, we continue to await guidance in that regard from the New Jersey law enforcement authorities.
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I thought that in light of the new era that we were ushering in, there would be no better indication of the fact that the players and the league are working together to move things forward that the best indication of that would be to have Ted here. And perhaps even more important, I thought it was important for the governors to hear what's on the players' mind.
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Our players play all year for their NHL teams. We, as an accommodation to the Olympics, take a break. We're going to go, but to the extent players are injured it becomes a very personal decision as to what the right thing to do is. And I don't think people should second-guess them.
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I know historically the projections we get at this point in the season, they could still be two, three, four percent off. And so what we did is, with some degree of comfort and intuitiveness, said this is where we think we're going to be.
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In places where there still are some empty seats, there are fewer empty seats than there were in the past. I didn't expect we'd come back from the work stoppage to 100 per cent of capacity overnight, but the fact that we're up 5 per cent is spectacular. I knew that when we got everything put to bed and fixed the right way, the result would be compelling enough that our fans would respond.
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When I stood before you in September, I said NHL teams would not play again until our economic problems had been solved,
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We go to the Olympics because it's part of our partnership with the players. This was very important to the players. It's not without its issues, but on balance I think it's a good thing to do. It will enhance the hockey tournament.
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The view is any team within that range can be competitive, unlike the $20 million to $80 million spread we had before. It enables each team to have the flexibility it needs with young players and returning players.
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Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Teams might be pushing more because they don't want to go to a shootout.
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We have a lineup because we owe Atlanta and Phoenix All-Star Games. We have a long to-do list. ... It's hard to predict because we owe two and have a couple in the hopper that were being worked on.
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We will return this game to our fans with a promise - we will do everything in our power to be the best we can be and to earn your continued devotion. This was a terrible time for everyone associated with the game. We will do everything we can to make it up to you.
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Who ever believed it could come back this strong? Actually we did.
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We're delighted to have XM as our newest satellite radio partner. At this exciting time in the league's history, a new partnership with XM allows us to offer hockey fans unprecedented NHL coverage on the nation's largest satellite radio service.