In Gary Bettman's 25 years as NHL commissioner, his greatest move has been the one he's most reviled for: presiding over the league when it elected to become the first North American sports league to sit out a whole season for a work stoppage.
While the pushback that greeted the move was great, he kept his course and got what he wanted -- most important, a salary cap to make the finances more beneficial to the owners.
Up until the 2004-05 season, it was no secret that the league's owners were relying on expansion-team payments to make their balance sheets better.