25 years of Bettman

[Kin]

The NHL hired Bettman as Commissioner 25 years ago today. Here's Greg Wyshynski on the good and bad of his tenure:

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/22273439/good-bad-ugly-gary-bettman-25-year-nhl-tenure

I don't know if I agree with all of it. I agree Bettman gets blamed for a lot of things he shouldn't(he's just the owners' frontman on a lot of things) but also agree he doesn't get enough blame for things he probably should(the league's slow/nonexistent response to on-ice problems).

Either way, I don't really remember a pre-Bettman NHL so I have nothing to compare it to but I'm on record at not loving the league these days so...boo, I suppose.

 

[Kin]

Shockingly, NHL.com thinks he's done a bang-up job:

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-growth-in-bettmans-25-years-as-commissioner/c-295493542?tid=277548856

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It's weird to me that Bettman's job as commissioner essentially comes with a life-time term (or I mean as long as he wants it). Considering that when Bettman started out the NHL was a distant 4th in the major North American sports and when you fast-forward today the NHL is... a distant 4th in the major North American sports, I have a hard time thinking that he's done such an amazing job that literally nobody on the planet could do it better.