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Anybody who spearheads possibly 3 lock-outs in his career needs to go. And believe me, although there are some very strong willed owners like Snider and Jacobs, they each have only one vote; the BoG (like most Board of Directors) follows the recommendations of the commissioner who has the resources to analyze any number of situations and go forward with recommendations based on that. The owners are generally businessmen with a number of pans in the fire, their NHL franchise is likely only one of many pans. They cannot possibly follow and be totally immersed in the day-to day actions of the league. Bettman brings to them any number of options around a new CBA with a recommended course of action around one, and away they go. I'm sure there's probably a dozen slide shows in the NHL office, each with a different scenario as to how an option might play out. I'd be completely surprised if he and his cronies like Daley don't have at least 90% of the say in the decision making process. Trust me (and I've been there) it's pretty easy to influence a consensus decision around the way you present any number of proposals and preferred option and I'd just about bet my bank account (such as it is) on Bettman steering this thing the way he wants it to go. IMO, this thinking of some that he's just following the wishes of the owners is an over-simplification of what actually is happening.
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