Bettman receives leadership award at Reeve Foundation gala

NEW YORK -- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman returned home from being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this week and received another prestigious honor.

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Commissioner Bettman, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday, was honored with the Arnold H. Snider Visionary Leadership Award by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation during its Magical Evening Gala at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on Thursday.
Commissioner Bettman received his award from Will Reeve, the 26-year-old son of Christopher and Dana Reeve and a lifelong New York Rangers fan.
Joining him onstage to receive it were Pat LaFontaine, the NHL vice president for hockey development and community affairs; LaFontaine's former Rangers teammate Adam Graves; and Mikey Nichols, who sustained a spinal cord injury while playing for his high school team in New Jersey four years ago. The injury left Nichols in a wheelchair.
"It's important to me that the game play a role in making a difference in people's lives," Commissioner Bettman said prior to receiving the award. "Having the Reeve Foundation be in position to fund research for spinal cord injuries and make a difference in people's lives to make their lives better to the extent they can, that's a very important and worthy cause."
The Reeve Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to curing spinal cord injuries. The Visionary Leadership Award is presented to an individual in recognition of his or her outstanding professional leadership and philanthropic footprint.
"I can think of no better steward with no bigger footprint than Gary Bettman," Will Reeve said as he presented the award to Commissioner Bettman.

The NHL and the Boston Bruins have been leaders in providing funding and support for the care of Denna Laing, who sustained a spinal cord injury playing for the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League during the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 31, 2015.
Commissioner Bettman and Bruins president Cam Neely presented Laing with the Dana Reeve Hope Award at the annual Reeve Foundation gala two years ago.
In addition, Jack Jablonski, who was paralyzed during a high school hockey game in Minnesota in 2011, has been supported extensively by the NHL community, most notably the Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota Wild. He worked as an intern with the Kings.
"Hockey is a family and family steps up to take care of its own," Commissioner Bettman said. "We raise consciousness and we help raise funds, all of which is important when you're supporting an important cause."
The NHL supports the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation through donations made from the NHL Foundation and through fundraising efforts. The Reeve Foundation has used some of that funding for $318,469 worth of grants to fuel growth in the sled hockey community.
"That's all about improving the quality of life for people that have been afflicted with spinal cord injuries," Commissioner Bettman said.
A sign of that growth and improved quality of life can be found at USA Hockey, which had 1,683 sled hockey members in 80 programs at the end of the 2017-18 season, up from 802 members in 55 programs at the end of the 2013-14 season.
"We are a family, we come together, we support each other and we try and make a positive difference in our communities and in people's lives," Commissioner Bettman said. "That's what [the Reeve] Foundation is all about and that's what the NHL and the hockey family is all about."