from Stan Fischler at the NHL's website,

A product of Canada's raw northwest, Clarence Campbell was adventurer, academic, attorney, World War II prosecutor, major league referee and shepherd of the great NHL expansion all rolled into one amazing lifetime. And that's not all.

This coming Monday will mark the 77th year since Campbell took office in Montreal's massive Sun Life Building. He served the NHL for 31 years and to this day holds the record as longest serving head of any major sports league in North America. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will tie that mark Feb. 1, 2024.

"As a commissioner," Campbell once explained during his presidency, "you are almost like an (on ice) official. From the start, everything is against you, and you'd better understand that."

Campbell understood that well. At the time of his retirement in 1977, the NHL had grown from its Original Six teams in 1946 when he took office to triple that size and had grown enormously popular, coast to coast.

The legendary League executive may have been fortunate that his first year on the job coincided with "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe signing his first pro contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

"When Howe came into the game, hockey was a Canadian game," Campbell explained. "He converted it into a North American game."

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