The Commissioner was going to grab a bite with Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and head to his hotel room to pack. The Stanley Cup Final had ended with a 2-0 win for the Lightning against the Dallas Stars in Game 6. The work had not, with the 2020 NHL Draft on Oct. 6-7 and the 2020-21 season to plan.
But first, he took a few minutes to put it all in perspective. The NHL had two main goals when returning to play after pausing the season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus: keeping everyone safe and awarding the Stanley Cup with integrity.
"We did what we set out to do," Commissioner Bettman said.
As of Monday, the NHL had administered 33,174 tests to team personnel, including the players, since the teams arrived in the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto on July 26. None was positive for COVID-19.
The League staged 130 games in 59 days since Aug. 1, and despite the 4 1/2-month pause, strict safety protocols and isolation of the bubble, the level of play was more than worthy of the Stanley Cup.
"There were sleepless nights, and there were skeptics," Commissioner Bettman said. "But I believed that with our collaborative effort across all our constituents, we could do this. And yes, there is a sense of relief, but I'm also …"
He paused for a moment.
"Actually," he continued, "I'm feeling more proud of everybody who participated than relief."
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Remember that the regular season was humming along as usual, and then one day it screeched to a halt. There was no playbook to consult. Worse, there was no certainty as to how the pandemic would play out. Even worse, the situation was evolving differently, in terms of the coronavirus and local governments' responses to it, in each NHL market.
Together with the NHL Players' Association, the NHL created a new way of competing, living and viewing on the fly -- a 24-team tournament in two Canadian hub cities, made for TV with no fans in the stands. Everyone bought in, wearing masks, social distancing and putting on a show.
"I'm proud of everybody who worked on this: the players, the front offices of the clubs, our staff," Commissioner Bettman said. "We had 150 people between the two bubbles. The networks that supported us. Our partners. The doctors. The Players' Association. This was the ultimate collaborative effort by many, many people, and it shows as a league and an organization when we bring everybody together what we're capable of."
Commissioner Bettman has handed out the Stanley Cup 27 times since 1993, but this was different. He and Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois spoke about how this represented something special, considering how the 52 members of the Lightning traveling party had been in the bubble, away from their family and friends, for 65 days.
"He discussed with me how we should commemorate this, and I suggested that we do what we wound up doing," the Commissioner said.
Commissioner Bettman walked out in a black mask and removed it as he approached the Conn Smythe Trophy.
"To be in this place at this time under these circumstances is remarkable and frankly overwhelming," he said into the microphone. "It's a testament to everybody who participated in our Return to Play, and it's a testament to a great Stanley Cup Final from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars."
