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" If the IOC would move the Olympic hockey tournament to the summer, that would be great. We'd be thrilled to have our players participate because then it doesn't affect our season. "

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" 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. "

Gary Bettman

Baseball

Two

Hockey

" If you want to know how I feel, I'll summarize it in one word - terrible. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I think it's fairly clear that playing hockey isn't the same as playing football. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" The Canadian franchises and Canada as a market for NHL hockey has always been a priority for us. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" We'll have clinics and educational events and conferences to get more and more young players developing as hockey players. "

Gary Bettman

Events

Hockey

" 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. "

" You don't want people rooting for anything other than the team that they love and the players that they think the world of to win. We don't want there to be another agenda. "

" I was always a fan of the game, and I wouldn't have taken this job if I wasn't a fan of the game. "

" We don't worry about the integrity of our game. I'm more focused on the atmosphere in the arena, and that's something we're comfortable with going forward. "

" When you look at the team that Jimmy Rutherford has put together and the players that he has, this is just a great story of excellent in professional sports. "

" To be the organization that we want to be, we have to have a place to play. "

" We did the World Cup to relaunch our international efforts, and that served as a foundation. "

" 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. "

" 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.' "

" In '94, we made the deal during collective bargaining that wasn't the right deal, just to save the season. Allowing the 'in the crease' rule, the foot-in-the-crease rule, we should have not done. "

" There are always going to be critics... and I have always had a rule: no matter how good the commentary is, or how bad the commentary is, it's more important that you do what you think is right. "

" What we have tried to instill across the league through ownership and management is that we stand for inclusiveness and to judge somebody on the merits. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Because of the way my words get scrutinized, I have to use a level of precision so people don't accuse me of misleading them. "

Gary Bettman

Words

Way

" I never rule anything in or out; life can surprise you. "

" Doing jersey advertising for the World Cup is not in the same universe as putting advertising on NHL sweaters. "

" If you're a sports fan, it is really cool when you see the best-on-best for hockey at the Olympics. "

" 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. "