American-born and New Jersey raised Bill Daly takes enormous pride in his connections to Canada. His mother was born in Saskatoon and his grandfather – Lawrence (Curly) Woodhead – was an accomplished springboard diver who was posthumously inducted into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

Besides all that of course, the former running back for the Dartmouth College Big Green and grad in law from New York University in 1990 has become synonymous with hockey where he’s devoted two decades in what we will always consider Canada’s game. After representing the NFL and NBA on a variety of legal and collective bargaining matters through his law firm in New York, Daly joined the NHL on December 13, 1996.

Named the NHL’s first-ever deputy commissioner on July 22, 2005 he serves as the chief consultant to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on all issues that impact the league’s operation and overall business. In addition, he is instrumental in administering the NHL’s collective bargaining agreements and relationships with the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL Officials’ Association. Daly also oversees the NHL’s participation in all international hockey competitions, including the Olympics, World Cup of Hockey and the International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Hockey Championships.

He is committed to hockey and proven himself as an accomplished – and powerful – sports executive. In 2014 Daly received one of the most prestigious awards in hockey when he was a recipient of the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.