The Denver Post's Adrian Dater suggests that it's Gary Bettman who's "made the NHL popular again," citing the league's TV deals with Rogers Sportsnet and NBC Universal, as well as the ridiculous selling price of the New York Islanders, as examples, and he affords the 3-lockout-conducting commissioner the last word:

[T]he biggest thing Bettman did was listen to his players and coaches on how to make the product on the ice better. That began with rule-book changes to make the game more free-flowing when play resumed after the 2004-05 lockout.

"I used to talk to, without mentioning any names, coaches of less well-endowed clubs. And I would go: 'How do you do this? What's your game plan?' And universally, in those days, it was 'Clutch and grab, hook and hold, we had to neutralize the skill differential,' " Bettman said. "And then 'We'd try to steal it in the last 10 minutes.' That was not how this game was meant to be played. It all starts with having the game as good as it can be. But it isn't as simple as passing new rules. It goes to having the best competitive balance in all of pro sports. And it then means reaching out to the fans to give them the best connective experience."

Bettman has become the most senior of commissioners among the major pro sports. He has persevered through some tough times, and in the process has earned more of a grudging respect for the media and the hardcore hockey fan base.

"I'm not an 'I told you so' kind of person," Bettman said. "Although, I actually had a former player in my office today, who lived through 2004 and said to me, 'If I only knew then what I know now.' It's not an 'I told you so,' it's that we had a vision to fix fundamental problems to get the game healthy again so that it could grow."