I think that when somebody loses a bet, they tend to sometimes confuse their motives in rooting and enjoying the game because if you lose your bet, even though the team you're rooting for wins, you have a potentially conflicted outcome.
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.
I don't think taunting chants at players on the other side of the ice is intended to be sexist in the slightest. It's like when you call a goaltender a sieve, they chant that. Is that now inappropriate also?
On the issue of behavioral health and the like, the program we have in place has always been available to former players as well.
We encourage the growth of women's hockey.
Our franchises have never been healthier. Our league, in terms of its economic footing, has never been healthier.
Young people, particularly in their teens and 20s, are not consuming sports the way my generation did. They are doing lots of things; they are multitasking. They are getting downloads; they are getting alerts on their computers or on their cellphones, and they are consuming sports in a more real-time but less full-time basis.
I would hope there would be a greater appreciation by casual sports fans of the incredible skill and passion of our players.
We did the World Cup to relaunch our international efforts, and that served as a foundation.
We'll have clinics and educational events and conferences to get more and more young players developing as hockey players.
While players say they like the five-day break, they're also saying they don't like the compression that goes along with it, and that's something that is of great concern to us as well.
Obviously, we're focused on the Winter Classic.
None of our series are ever static in terms of the dates. We always have a range of flexibility to respond to whatever may or may not happen.
It's not about big markets or small markets. It's not about dominant teams or not. It's about the actual competition and how good the games are, how good the series turn out. That's what I think is the most important for fans.
When you're in other time zones in other places, you don't get quite as much attention; you don't get quite as much visibility for the game, and you give up a lot to do it.
Our sport probably has the best history and tradition of being engaged in international competition.
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.
There is less fighting in the game than we had years ago. I mean, we penalize it.
I think the media world is adjusting to the digital age.
Having to respond to things that are made up or untrue tends to be a waste of time.
