Challenges of job appear to be never-ending for Bettman

DALLAS —  Tonight is the fun part, a gathering of players who have honorably carried their teams for years and youngsters entrusted with carrying the NHL into the next decade.

But when the All-Star game concludes and the last in a likely goal barrage is recorded at the American Airlines Center, the hard part will begin for Gary Bettman.

He is known as the commissioner of the first major professional sports league to cancel a season because of a labor dispute, but his ability to handle an array of troubling issues may determine his ultimate legacy and the course of the NHL’s future.

It may be that he has taken the NHL as far as he can. Or as far as it can go, which might be something else.

But while the collective bargaining agreement that ended the lockout has created a perception of parity and the rule changes implemented when play resumed have made for a more appealing product, Bettman faces a new set of problems.

Given time, coaches have devised defensive schemes that have eroded the offensive gains, dropping scoring from 6.2 goals a game last season to 6.0 this season. Attendance is down from the record levels it reached last season.

TV ratings on Versus would have to increase to reach awful, negating the fact that Versus gives the NHL more time and promotion than ESPN and ESPN2 did in their last few seasons as the cable rights’ holders.

The salary cap, the key component of the new labor deal, has risen from $39 million to $44 million this season and might hit $46 million next season, alarmingly close to the levels at which many teams claimed they lost piles of money before the lockout.

Revenue from new technologies has grown and the international market may be ripe for plucking, but the NHL remains more heavily dependent on gate receipts than other leagues. In the last 15 or so years, all but a handful of teams have moved into new arenas stuffed with revenue-producing luxury boxes. The potential for increasing ticket revenue is limited besides price hikes that many markets won’t bear.

Not all of this is Bettman’s fault. Most of these things, in fact, are not.

“You’re talking about a whole list that’s as long as my arm,” said Brian Burke, the Ducks’ general manager and a former NHL executive. “But to blame Bettman is like blaming a meteorologist for a drought.

“Compare us with what we’re up against. Every kid in America plays baseball and football, even if it’s touch football, and basketball. There are no barriers to entry in those sports. Our sport requires a major investment of money and time. We can’t expect to be at the level of those other sports....

“Do I think we need a different guy driving the bus? Not a chance.”

Bettman, however, must find a new route for his bus.

If he’s going to make household names of Sidney Crosby and the other youngsters who are beginning to have an effect on the scoreboard, if he’s going to add new fans without alienating the small but loyal group of core fans, this is the time to do it.

Maybe it can’t be done.

Or maybe Bettman’s not the man to do it.

Tim Leiweke, president of AEG -- the Kings’ parent company -- and a member of the NHL’s executive board, thinks Bettman is up to the job.

“There are new challenges and new struggles ahead and no one knows that more than Gary,” Leiweke said. “I’m personally optimistic he can define what we need to do to grow the sport.

“And that’s what we need to do now. Until now, all we’ve been trying to do is recover. Now we need to grow.”

The NHL’s greatest resource is its players, and it must market them better. It must also take a hard look at whether some cities can support franchises over the long term and whether Versus was a mistake.

“Does he realize we’re in for a different kind of struggle? I think so,” Leiweke said. “Let’s not kid ourselves. Our TV ratings aren’t good and there are other problems. But he does have the passion for the sport, even though most people don’t think so.”

Passion is wonderful, but that alone may not be enough to get and keep the NHL on a successful course.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com

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NHL ALL-STAR GAME

* When: Today, 5 p.m. PST.

* Where: Dallas.

* On TV: Versus.