Gary Bettman People Quotations

I believe that I owe it to our fans, our business partners, all the people that work in and about the game, that I'm going to have to make an official announcement. But in some respects, I'm sort of doing that now because I think everybody understands the timetable.

Phyllis Gretzky's influence on her family no doubt matches Wayne's impact on hockey. She taught tenaciousness and teamwork, hard work and humility, respect for people and for the game. Her legacy is defined daily by the way Wayne, and all her children, have shared those lessons in every area of their lives.

Our players play all year for their NHL teams. We, as an accommodation to the Olympics, take a break. We're going to go, but to the extent players are injured it becomes a very personal decision as to what the right thing to do is. And I don't think people should second-guess them.

Our member clubs, our officials, our players and our hockey operations people will face many challenges in the weeks and months ahead. My job is to make sure that everyone stays focused on the objective of fostering competitive NHL hockey that features flow, skill, speed, puck movement and skating.

People make too much out of the term drop-dead date. But, at some point, as a practical matter, it's clear that there isn't enough time left. Whether or not it's Friday night or Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, if we aren't actively engaged in drafting documents this weekend, I don't see how we can have a season.

We plan to do a lot of things in the community, grass-roots programs, events for people not necessarily coming to the game to get involved. The schedule is going to be elongated to give the players and the NHL an extra day ... It's an opportunity for us to celebrate our game in truly grand Texas fashion.

It will take time for people to find us, to get into the habit, to get used to what the schedule is.

We profoundly regret the suffering this has caused our fans, our business partners and the thousands of people who depend on our industry for their livelihoods. If you want to know how I feel, I'll summarize it in one word - terrible.