Gary Bettman signs new contract through 2022 (and next lockout)

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has signed a contract extension that carries through the 2022 season, according veteran hockey scribe Michael Farber and John Shannon of Sportsnet. 

Shannon notes that this would mean 30 years at the helm for Bettman, which would match the 30 years his mentor David Stern had at the helm of the NBA. (Although it would be one year short of the run that Clarence Campbell had as NHL president.)

The NHL has seen unprecedented growth and change under Bettman. Four expansion teams. Five franchise relocations. Three playoff formats. Olympic participation.

Perhaps most of all, television contracts that have lately earned the league $2 billion in the U.S. and $4.9 billion in Canada. With innovation, good fortune with strong U.S. markets and smart hiring of executives, Bettman now oversees a $4 billion industry rather than the  $732 million industry he inherited in 1993.

[READ: Gary Bettman’s 20-year anniversary as NHL commissioner: The good, the bad and the un-played]

But that growth has come with a cost. Since he was hired on Dec. 12, 1992, Bettman has been at the wheel for four work stoppages, including the inexcusable and still embarrassing cancellation of a full season in 2005.

His new contract runs through 2022. It should come as no surprise that the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and owners runs through Sept. 15, 2022 – and either side can opt out of it in Sept. 2019.

Once again, it appears, it’ll be Gary Bettman rolling up his sleeves on the owners’ end of the bargaining table. Which likely means the matter of the next lockout is “if” but “for how long?”

Here's a look back at how it all began:

What do you think of Gary Bettman as NHL commissioner?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.