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The NHL's return to the ice brought fans back to the arenas in record numbers last season, but TV ratings continued to stagger. The question now is, can they turn this around? Illustration by Tim Bower. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is walking down a Manhattan street during his lunch break on a Monday afternoon in August when a stranger approaches him. "You're the commissioner, aren't you?" the man asks. "You know, during the lockout I was upset, but what you guys did last season, I want you to know I appreciate it." The man shakes the commissioner's hand and walks away.