How much do you know about Gary Bettman?
You know doubt are aware that he came to the NHL from the NBA in 1993, hired as the first commissioner in League history. That he was born in Queens and went to Cornell. That he pushed for NHL expansion into Southern U.S. markets, while he pushed for the Canadian Assistance Plan to help struggling franchises north of the border. That he’s presided over a hat trick of work stoppages. That his middle name is Bruce.
Oh, but there’s so much more. Jonathan Gatehouse’s new book “The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the League and Change the Game Forever” is a must-read for any fan that’s seen the NHL reshaped during Bettman’s reign. (“The Instigator” is released on Monday, Oct. 1.) It’s also a treasure trove of anecdotes — some well-known, some previously unknown and some that simply had been lost in the timeline.
Here are 10 things we didn’t know about Gary Bettman until we devoured Gatehouse’s prose.
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