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Gary Bettman Tells NHL BOG Not To Hold Breath For New Flames Arena In Calgary

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday told the NHL BOG they "shouldn’t have any realistic expectation there’s going to be a new building for the Flames in Calgary," according to Rick Bell of the CALGARY SUN. Bettman said, "Clearly things are headed in the wrong direction. Their revenues are lagging relative to the other teams in the league. Financially this is no longer a dominant team. Their position is shifting from positive to negative. It will continue the way it is in the absence of a new arena." He added, "I’m not threatening the move and they’ve said they’re going to hang on as long as they can. But in the final analysis, this situation isn’t going to a good place in its current form." Bettman also detailed a mid-March sitdown he had with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi where he "asked Nenshi a question and got an answer" that was "surprising and disappointing." Bettman said, "We were talking about the type of deal that was and wasn’t doable. At one point I said: Let me ask you a question. I wasn’t being threatening. I wanted to understand. What happens if the end result of this is the Flames have to move? And you know what the mayor said to me? So they’ll move.” Bell: "So they'll move. Did Nenshi really say that? If the Flames have to move, so they’ll move." Bettman said there was "no point continuing this charade." Bettman: "It was clear this was going nowhere." Nenshi said his recollection of the conversation was "somewhat different." Nenshi: "It is fair to say he wasn’t making any overt threats. But he certainly did say: You know, if you screw this up the Flames are going to leave and that is going to be miserable and it’ll destroy your city. I remember very well saying to him: That would be an awful outcome but it’s not going to destroy my city" (CALGARY SUN, 9/28). Bettman: "I get contacted all the time by people in markets that are interested in having a team" (CALGARY SUN, 9/28).

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