If Bettman can do all this, he will be a bargain at his salary of more than $1 million a year.

"I think there is a perception that the sport needs to be improved from a public relations standpoint and a marketing standpoint," said Bettman, 40, who was hired from the National Basketball Association after 12 years as its third in command. "Some of the criticism and negativism has been overblown. We've got a great product that is underappreciated."

The negative perception of hockey, Bettman said, is "a pretty good snowball, some might call it an avalanche."

When someone noted that NBC showed the Super Bowl on Sunday without promoting the N.H.L.'s All-Star game, which it will carry Saturday afternoon from Montreal, Bettman didn't directly comment, but said: "Obviously, I was envious of the attention the Super Bowl got. We're going to have to improve the way we are perceived, the way we are followed, the way we look. We can be worthy of attention. The goal is attention so that NBC would love to promote us during the Super Bowl the way it did the N.B.A, for example." To Be Considered

Bettman spoke with reporters in his office and on a conference call with points from Ottawa to Tulsa. He went over issues he has been discussing continuously since his hiring was announced in December. He will keep an open mind, he said, to suggestions of rules changes about eliminating the center red line as a restraint to passing and about further toughening the rules against fighting. He is concerned that the Edmonton and Minnesota franchises might move, he said, but he hopes they don't. Yes, he'd like to see more fans in the seats in Hartford, Long Island and New Jersey.

He already has talked informally with Bob Goodenow, the head of the players union, and hopes to soon move the dialogue toward serious negotiation aimed at developing a true partnership before next season.