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Gary Bettman was walking down a Toronto street recently when a fan approached him.Some guy walks up to me and says, I really dont like you, the NHL commissioner recalled. And I said, But you dont know me. And he says, Yeah but I dont like work stoppages, and I go, Well neither do I, so we have that in common.Bettman will forever take a popularity hit for three lockouts during his tenure, but he wont apologize for them. Ten years after the league ground to a halt and the 2004-05 season was cancelled, he maintains it was necessary for the health of the sport.Pointing to the 04 Stanley Cup final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames in which the team to score the first goal won each game of the series and contrasting that with the 2013 playoffs and its unpredictability, Bettman believes the on-ice product is better than ever.To get to this point, though, Bettman said implementing the salary cap a€” which came out of the 2004-05 lockout a€” was essential.We had teams with 80-, 90 million-dollar payrolls and we had teams with 20-million-dollar payrolls, Bettman said at a recent Canadian Club luncheon. And I would talk to the managers and coaches of the 20-million-dollar teams and go, How are you doing this? And they would say to me, to a man, We clutch, we grab, we hook, we hold and we do everything possible to neutralize skill for 50 minutes and then we try to steal the game.That is why the game as it was being played in the late 90s and early 2000s wasnt nearly as good as it is today.In his 21-plus years as the first official commissioner of the NHL, Bettman has overseen expansion, change and booming business. In the process he has also become a popular target for fans because he has shown a willingness to sacrifice games to affect the kind of change he and the owners want.The game was unhealthy, the competitiveness wasnt there, Bettman said of the 2004-05 lockout. We did what we had to do to not have six, eight or 10 years of a mess. We go through these things not because we want to but because we have to get to a point where the game can be healthy.Now that its healthy, Bettman doesnt look like an executive on the way out. When Bud Selig steps down and Rob Manfred takes over Major League Baseball, Bettman will officially be the longest-tenured commissioner in North American professional sports a€” though he insists because Selig previously had an interim tag that he already is.I will be the oldest when he steps down, said Bettman, who says he hasnt considered any kind of a succession plan. Im still trying to figure out how I got to be 62 years old.Bettman said on multiple occasions during a public interview with George Stroumboulopoulos at the Canadian Club luncheon and in a sit-down with The Canadian Press that he loves his job and the people associated with it. After he hands out the Cup each June, the New Yorker wonders What do I do with myself at night with no games? and insists he hasnt thought about how long he wants to remain in his post.Its as long as Im happy and excited and energized as I am today, Bettman said. If I ever reach the point where Im not, then I need to let somebody else do it. But its a joint decision. Its the owners and its me. But I love what I do and I come to work excited and energized every day.NFL counterpart Roger Goodell is going through a crisis period amid criticism of how he has handled domestic violence and child abuse cases in his league. NBA counterpart Adam Silver recently forced Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after racist audio recordings surfaced, and the Atlanta Hawks are going through a similar process.Selig, like Bettman remembered for games not played because of the 1994 strike that cancelled the World Series, has a legacy tied to an era of performance-enhancing drugs but also introduced revenue sharing.Pending concussion lawsuits, particularly in light of the deaths of Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, look like the NHLs biggest concern. But Bettman has pointed to the league creating concussion study groups well before the NFL or any other sports league.On the ice, Bettman called last season the best in an almost 100-year history and expects this one to be even better. On a personal level, he doesnt know when, or if, he hit his stride in this job but is proud of where the league is.The game is growing and the game both from a business standpoint and more importantly on the ice has never been healthier, Bettman said. If thats a measure of my stride, then were moving at a pretty good pace. ...Its an honour for me to be associated with the game. Theres no place else Id rather be.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Custom Dodgers Jerseys .com) - The Atlanta Hawks have stepped up to every challenge during their 14-game winning streak and will face another daunting task Friday with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town. Corey Seager Jersey . 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Canada ran roughshod over Barbados in a 68-5 victory to bounce back from a 39-0 loss to defending champion earlier in the day. "We let ourselves down big time in that first game and it was a chance for them to redeem themselves," said coach Kieran Crowley. John Moonlight, Mike Scholtz and Ciaran Hearn scored two tries apiece as Canada bounced back from a 39-0 loss to defending champion New Zealand earlier in the day. Nathan Hirayama, Harry Jones, Connor Braid and Justin Douglas had one try apiece, while Hirayama was good on all six conversions and Braid booted three. The Canadians face Scotland in their final game of the day, needing a victory in front of whats sure to be a jam-packed Ibrox Stadium -- normally home to Rangers F.C. -- to be in the medal mix on Sunday. "Home ground, 50-odd thousand people here roaring for them, so it will be massive," Crowley said. New Zealand eged Scotland 17-14 to clinch Pool A. The Canadians faced an eight-hour break between games before taking the pitch against Scotland, and werent pleased about it. "We went through the channels to put complaints in about it," Crowley said. "And in the end it came down to TV scheduling and things like that which is not the ideal thing as far as were concerned. "A couple of other teams are in the same boat as us. Theyre not going to change it, it is what it is, weve got to deal with it." The Canadians, who had been at the storied stadium since shortly after 7 a.m. to begin warmup, planned to remain there all day rather than return to the athletes village. Large tents with mattresses had been assembled behind the stadium. "We talked about it before coming to the tournament, how were going to rest and recover," Jones said. "Brought some board games, might have a quick nap just to kill the time. "The biggest thing is not to turn off too much, obviously wwe didnt show up in that first game, and that was a bit wakeup call and we cant do that again.dddddddddddd" Board game of choice: Settlers of Catan. The Canadians were drawn into arguably the tournaments toughest group with three of the worlds core teams -- New Zealand, Scotland and themselves. They were no match for the mighty New Zealand All-Blacks earlier in the day. The bigger and faster All-Blacks thoroughly dominated the Canadians, swatting away their tackle attempts like they were brushing away pesky flies. "Our own defence and penalties let us down," Braid said. "We had systems in place but we fell apart when it came time. Whether it was jitters or not, we have to make sure that stuffs gone. . ." DJ Forbes and Ben Lam scored two tries apiece, and Bryce Heem, Tim Mikkelson and Akira Ioane had one each. New Zealand is gunning for its fifth gold medal in rugby sevens, having won the title all four times the sport has been in the Games. Rugby sevens, which will make its Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, was touted as a sure highlight of the Commonwealth Games, played before capacity crowds in the 51,000-seat storied Ibrox Stadium. The arena was packed from the opening game -- Canada vs. New Zealand -- and during Canadas second game, the noisy crowd roared when Sean Ward scored the lone try for fledgling Barbados. The Canadians say theyre prepared for a stiff test against the Scots on Saturday night. "We had a bit of a taste a couple of months ago, but obviously this is a little bit different, packed house here, but weve played in big stadiums against big teams before," Jones said. "Its nothing new to the guys, obviously the Scottish fans are going to be on their home side the whole time but well just have to deal with that when it comes." 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