NHLPA Exec Dir Paul Kelly Favors Euro Expansion, ESPN TV Deal

Kelly Discusses European Expansion, Labor Talks With Q&A

NHLPA Exec Dir Paul Kelly, in a Q&A with SPORTING NEWS TODAY's Craig Custance, when asked whether the NHL has "missed the boat on expansion overseas," said, "I don't know that we've missed the boat. We need to get on that boat now." Kelly: "I do think that what we're doing with the Victoria Cup and some of the exhibitions planned is a serious step in the right direction. I think the NHL has to begin seriously exploring actually having an NHL club in Europe, perhaps identifying two to five of the big cities that could support an NHL team and work towards having an entire division of NHL clubs based in Europe." When asked when European expansion is feasible, Kelly said in a "five- to ten-year range, our sport has to take a hard serious look at that. We would be shortsighted not to seriously explore if that can work." When asked if the players are considering re-opening the CBA after the '08-09 season, Kelly said, "We have begun the dialogue. ... Hopefully by the first of the year we'll have a pretty strong sense of what the players want." When asked whether the NHL "needs to get on ESPN," Kelly said, "We've got a majority of our guys living and playing in the U.S. They are not satisfied with the nature of the coverage at the national level in the U.S. ... The players would love to have a block of their games on ESPN, continued coverage on Versus and NBC. If something can be worked out there, the players would be very happy" (SPORTING NEWS TODAY, 8/5).

FOUR-STEP PLAN: THE HOCKEY NEWS' Mike Brophy lists four things NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman can do to "get back into people's good books." Brophy: "Do away with this phrase: In keeping with club policy, terms of the agreement will not be made public." Also, "turn down the damn music. I come from an era when just being at the game was good enough." In addition, "speed up video replay" and "have home teams wear their white jerseys so fans can see more color from the visitors" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 8/4).