From as early as I can remember, I was focused on becoming a lawyer.
Gary Bettman
I couldn't do what I do day-in and day-out if I didn't love the game.
I never rule anything in or out; life can surprise you.
I don't really think about having a retrospective on my high-school years. It's not something that, from a positive or a negative standpoint, is a driving force in my life.
Market size, particularly when you're dealing with major media markets, has an impact in terms of gathering attention.
I believe that the Greater Phoenix Area is a terrific sports market; it's a terrific hockey market.
If you want to know how I feel, I'll summarize it in one word - terrible.
On the issue of behavioral health and the like, the program we have in place has always been available to former players as well.
At least two or three of the leagues in Europe over the last few months have said to us, 'We hope you go to the Olympics,' and I looked at them, and I said, 'Why?' and they go, 'Because if you don't send NHL players, we have to send our players, and that's way too disruptive to our season.'
My rooting interest these days is first and foremost competitive hockey, and secondly in officials not making a mistake.
The fact is, I view part of what I do is, if necessary, on difficult issues, be the lightning rod.
Sports, as a media property, is increasingly valuable because it's something you have to have live. As a result, we're a better touch point for sponsors and advertisers because our commercials typically don't get zapped out.
I think there needs some attention to be paid to what sport is going to represent to young people: should it be viewed in the competitive, team-oriented sense that it is now, or does it become a vehicle for betting, which may, in effect, change the atmosphere in the stadiums and the arenas?
We are not giving up on the Coyotes in the Greater Phoenix Area... The team has got a number of options and is going to pursue them, so nobody should think that team is moving other than out of Glendale.
I don't see the Hurricanes relocating, period. I think the Triangle is a terrific market.
Relatively, a very small percentage of betting takes place on hockey and even baseball because of the nature of the game and the scoring.
I believe, certainly in the NHL, a player who can help a team win because he can contribute on the ice is going to be coveted whatever his beliefs may be or whoever he may be. That goes to national origin, religious beliefs, or sexuality.
The issue of how the game is played is something that's constantly being reviewed internally with the Players' Association, with the general managers, and it's something that we continue to monitor on a daily basis.
My message to the kids and our fans is hockey's a great game. There's a lot of hockey being played at all levels. Get involved, do it. We will be back and we will be back better than ever and hopefully as soon as possible. Don't give up on the game. It's too good.
There are a couple people who have complained on other teams about some of the things that Pittsburgh players have done. Some of that goes in the category of gamesmanship. Some of that goes to the fact that we need to be vigilant as a league to make sure that players aren't unnecessarily and inappropriately hurt.
I'm not here to win a popularity contest.
The relationship between concussions and the asserted clinical symptoms of C.T.E. remains unknown.
What you want to do, particularly when you're dealing with a professional sports league and franchises and people's passionate commitment to the game and for the team they root for is, it has to be sustainable.
I think it's fairly clear that playing hockey isn't the same as playing football.
None of our series are ever static in terms of the dates. We always have a range of flexibility to respond to whatever may or may not happen.
All have used the economic opportunity of a new arena project to transform their cities into the future.
I don't weigh into politics.
I think there's always a line between what is parody in good fun in chanting and what is intended to belittle certain segments of society.
What our fans want, what our fans believe, what our fans are interested in is why we are what we are. But, nevertheless, ultimately we have to do the things that we believe are essential for the long-term health of the game, of the league, and of all of our franchises.
NHL clubs don't like having to shut down at a critical part of the season and disrupt our season for anything, let alone a situation where we're not given an opportunity to promote our presence.
Our economics are not baseball's economics. Our game is not baseball's game. Our owners are not baseball's owners, with one or two exceptions. Our union is not baseball's union. What we do has to be crafted and suited to address hockey, to address the NHL, to address our 30 teams and our 700-plus players.
Whatever you do needs to be sustainable over time, and taking the money in the short term and taking it in a bubble - like buying an Internet stock in 2000 - may not be sustainable.
A good fan base has developed around the Hurricanes, and I see the opportunity for continued growth for this franchise in the future.
We don't tell the officials to change the standard for the playoffs, but as we all know, time and space tends to evaporate very quickly in a playoff game; there tends to be a lot more physicality and a lot more adjustments in the course of a series.
While we know gambling is part of the industry in Las Vegas, we're not going to make it all that easy for you to pick up a ticket, a gambling ticket, on your way into the arena.
Doing jersey advertising for the World Cup is not in the same universe as putting advertising on NHL sweaters.
We're certainly not in position to expand into the East. We've been very candid and up front that if, in fact, we go through an expansion process, the world will know about it.
Let's put it this way: I would consider my skiing ability to be far superior to my skating ability. And, in fact, my 10-year-old grandson, who's a AAA squirt, can skate circles around me.
I think it's very difficult to generalize as to why, in a particular league or a particular industry, somebody has or has not come out. We certainly don't want a player to come out for our sake. It should be what's right for him and something that he has to be comfortable with.
We went from journalism, in newspapers that gets heavily edited, to blogs, where you can express your opinions, to tweeting, where you can say anything, and it gets repeated and becomes fact when it isn't. It's something the entire world is going to have to come to grips with.
There are lots of come-from-behind wins, games getting tied in the last period, teams going on to win. That, I think, tells the best story. Whether or not some teams have more grit, better chemistry, or more luck or more skill, it's still within the parameters. I think that makes for great storytelling and great interest for our fans.
We just want to see entertaining, exciting games, and we want the officials to do a good job.
The Steelers run a great organization.
It takes two sides to make a deal, two sides to negotiate and two sides to make it go bad.
The Canadian franchises and Canada as a market for NHL hockey has always been a priority for us.
There's no question that the Kings have been, are, and can be great hosts for any major events.
You can have the biggest markets in the world, but if the game isn't exciting, compelling, and competitive, it's not going to generate a lot of interest.
Fighting is one of those things that gets tons of attention, far more than it deserves.
The Olympics are very proprietary about letting others promote and market what's going on, so we shut down for 17 days, and they don't let us do a whole lot in return for giving our players to them. We don't get compensated, and we've never looked for compensation.
I don't feel that it's either necessary or appropriate for me to comment on what the NFL either says or does.
