TORONTO - Amid the NFL's Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson domestic violence scandals, Gary Bettman says the NHL has been proactive about off-ice conduct.
Speaking at a luncheon for The Canadian Club of Toronto, the NHL commissioner did not specifically address football's problems but said hockey has tried to stay ahead of similar issues by educating players.
Bettman added that sports can be a "vehicle for positive social change."
Asked by new "Hockey Night in Canada" host George Strombolopolous about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Bettman says he "can relate to being a subject of media scrutiny."
Goodell has taken heat for mishandling the suspending of now ex-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice after video showed him punching his then-fiancée at an Atlantic City casino.
Meanwhile, Minnesota star running back Peterson faces a child abuse charge in Texas for using a wooden switch to spank his four-year-old son in May.
Bettman says in a highly visible job like his, any mistake is magnified.
