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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Bettman: NHL Will Not Necessarily Expand; Lack Of Seattle Bids "Wasn't A Surprise"

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday reiterated that league expansion "isn’t guaranteed," according to Pat Leonard of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The NHL felt that Monday night’s deadline for prospective expansion groups "would help in 'filtering out' the true bidders from those without the means to actually field a franchise." Sixteen applications "were requested but only two were submitted" -- Las Vegas and Quebec City. Bettman was "reluctant to address Seattle’s non-bid specifically, but it is well-known the Pacific Northwest city was among the top three most likely destinations to submit an application until it failed to file before Monday night’s deadline." Bettman said, "Based on what we’d heard, it was clear to me that there hadn’t been much progress made on an arena, and in the absence of an arena plan, it wasn’t a surprise" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/23). In Seattle, Geoff Baker cited a source as saying that the league on Tuesday invited RLB Holdings Founder & Managing Partner Ray Bartoszek, who had plans to build an arena in Tukwila, Wash., to its N.Y. offices "for a chat." Baker: "So there’s still a relationship there." Bartoszek said that he will "continue getting his Tukwila arena shovel-ready." His plan, ever since Steelers investor and Legendary Entertainment Chair & CEO Thomas Tull "balked at joining his venture, has been to get arena approval and then use it to lure bigger investors" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/22). But THE HOCKEY NEWS' Ken Campbell wrote even if Bartoszek "wanted to get Seattle back in the game," the NHL's "strongly worded and mean-spirited news release on Tuesday that threw potential bidders from Toronto and Seattle under the bus, made that all but an impossibility." The process of "vetting the prospective franchises is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 4, which would allow the league’s board of governors to hold a vote at its meeting later that month." No time or venue "has been finalized, nor is it known whether the board will vote on expansion at that meeting" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 7/22).

CHERRY ON TOP: Hockey commentator Don Cherry yesterday in a series of tweets "expressed his enthusiasm to see a Nordiques-Canadiens rivalry renewed." Cherry wrote, "Quebec Nordiques will get an NHL franchise just like I predicted on Coach's Corner last winter. So will Las Vegas. The Las Vegas franchise is the one the NHL wanted. Why? They want to be the first major league sport in Vegas. Billy Foley and the Black Knights have got deposits for over 13000 season seats and a building almost done. It's a done deal. As far as the Nordiques, there's not a rivalry like Montreal and Quebec anywhere." Cherry added, "This is a great move by the NHL. Québecor has the money. You should see the beautiful building. I can hardly wait for the first game between the Nordiques and Canadiens" (TWITTER.com, 7/22).

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