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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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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If an official puts his whistle away, they should put the official away for the rest of the playoffs. How long you work in the playoffs is discretionary, and that depends on how well you're working. And if a guy decides he's putting the whistle away, then he's done.
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I believe that I owe it to our fans, our business partners, all the people that work in and about the game, that I'm going to have to make an official announcement. But in some respects, I'm sort of doing that now because I think everybody understands the timetable.
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I have heard recent comments by the union and players who say they expect a work stoppage of anywhere from a season to a season and a half or even longer,
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We had a candid dialogue, ... If Congress, because of what's going on in some other sports, thinks we need to do more, then we'll work with Congress.
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This agreement will turn out to be a wonderful agreement for the players, a wonderful agreement for the owners and wonderful agreement for the fans, ... Exactly how this will work will emerge over the coming weeks and months. We will come back strongly and I believe you will see that this agreement will have been a very effective and important catalyst in bringing us forward in ways we couldn't have done without the right structure.
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Phyllis Gretzky's influence on her family no doubt matches Wayne's impact on hockey. She taught tenaciousness and teamwork, hard work and humility, respect for people and for the game. Her legacy is defined daily by the way Wayne, and all her children, have shared those lessons in every area of their lives.
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How long you work in the playoffs is discretionary. It depends how well you are working. And if a guy decides he's putting the whistle away, then he's done.
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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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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.