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Gary Bettman
Commissioner, National Hockey League
On Sept. 28, the longest active commissioner in major U.S. pro sports awarded the Stanley Cup to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Edmonton’s Rogers Place, sans fans. Bettman and his team navigated through a two-city bubble format, expanded the playoffs to 24 teams and administered more than 33,000 COVID tests to teams’ traveling parties, finishing the postseason unscathed. He also guided the league to a new six-year labor agreement. — Mark J. Burns
Bill Daly, Steve Mayergetty images (2)
Bill Daly
Deputy Commissioner, National Hockey League
Steve Mayer
Chief Content Officer, National Hockey League
Daly championed the NHL’s return to play negotiations with the NHLPA, including securing an extension on the collective-bargaining agreement that will go through the 2025-26 season, and outlining stringent testing protocols. The latter resulted in zero positive cases inside both the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles. Mayer designed the league’s in-arena layout and led the game presentation while maintaining the security of both hub cities. Under Mayer’s direction, the NHL incorporated new, real-time statistics and interactive information into the broadcasts and experimented with new camera angles and technologies — such as the drone-like JitaCam — to capture the action. — Mark J. Burns
