Gary Bettman was hired as commissioner of the National Hockey League 20 years ago.
Technically, he did not take over the position until Feb. 1, 1993, but he was named as the titular head of the sport in December 1993.
Every hockey fan is well aware of the negative side of the ledger: three lengthy lockouts. One of those lockouts caused the NHL to lose the entire 2004-05 season and is threatening to do the same to the 2012-13 season.
Let's not forget the 1994-95 season. Gary Bettman and the owners that he works for locked the players out for nearly half the regular season. NHL teams played just 48 games that season.
But Bettman has had an impact in many areas of the game and some of them have been positive. It doesn't mean that on balance he has been good for the sport, but if we are going to regularly list his faults, we can also make sure he gets credit for his accomplishments on the occasion of being on the job for 20 years.
When the NHL is not locking out its players, its business has increased significantly. The NHL had revenues of about $400 million in 1992 and that figure has grown to $3.2 billion in 2012, according to th ...
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Article written by Steve Silverman
Gary Bettman: What Exactly Has He Done on His 20 Years on the Job?
December 24th, 2012 by Steve Silverman Leave a reply »
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