Gary Bettman is the long-suffering head of the National Hockey League. He's most notorious for having cancelled the entire 2004 hockey season over a labor dispute.

A Queens native, Bettman graduated from Cornell, attended NYU's law school, and even worked in a traditional law firm before entering the sports world, with a job for the NBA. He worked at the NBA for over a decade, mostly in the legal and marketing departments, but made his mark when he developed the "soft salary cap" system in 1983, which is still used to this day. He worked his way up to the league's general counsel and senior vice president before moving the NHL as their first ever commissioner in 1993 (they had previously worked with a presidential model). Under his leadership, the NHL has seen a massive increase in revenue and has expanded with six new franchises, but Bettman is not without his detractors. He is criticized for "Americanizing" the game and forcing teams into non-traditional markets, such as in the South. However, his most unpopular move came in 2004 when he cancelled an entire season over labor disputes, the first time that had ever happened in American sports. Naturally, hockey fans don't look on him too kindly. [Image via Getty]