NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in Edmonton on Thursday morning to participate in a breakfast hot stove chat in partnership with the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and the Oilers Entertainment Group and hosted by 630 CHED’s Bob Stauffer.
It had been a year since Bettman was last in town and he’s thrilled to see all the progress being made in Ice District and around Rogers Place.
“I obviously saw the arena in all its glory last year, but this has clearly been a transformational project and once it’s done we are going to be happy to bring some NHL events here,” he said.
“To use an arena as the opportunity to redevelop a part of the city that could use it, bring more people downtown, this is going to have a positive impact on the quality of life for people in Edmonton and it’s going to, in effect, remake how Edmontonians live for decades into the future.
“I’m excited and proud on behalf of the league to see what’s come out of the ground, and what’s still to come out of the ground.”
Bettman was in Vancouver on Wednesday where the league announced that the 2019 NHL Entry draft would be held in Vancouver. When it comes to Edmonton getting an event such as a draft, Bettman says that’s still to be determined.
“I don’t know the exact number of years but its something that we’ve been discussing with the Oilers because we want to be able to show the Ice District off in its fully completed state, so depending on how long it takes to complete it will determine when we start bringing in events.”
Bettman held a media scrum after the hot stove and was asked about the NHL not going to the Olympics and the NHL’s current coaches challenge system.
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With the Winter Olympics coming and going, Bettman said he doesn’t have any regrets about the NHL not participating.
“I think it was the absolute right decision. Our season has been fabulous for the last three weeks, and uninterrupted,” Bettman said. “We’ve seen great streaks, great games, great plays, the trade deadline and all of that would have been disrupted and we would have disappeared.”
But will the NHL be back at the Olympics in 2022?
“I can’t prognosticate into the future, the next Olympics is a long way off, but we have concluded after five different participations that it is very disruptive.”
The NHL’s coaches challenge has been a hot topic surrounding the Oilers, especially when it comes to challenging goaltender interference. Bettman said the challenge system was initially brought to the table to give the officials an opportunity to correct an “egregious error.”
“I think maybe there have been to many coaches challenges on things that are marginal, and marginal judgement calls are always going to be subject to second guessing.”
There is a perception that there may be a league bias against the Oilers, as the team had lost 18 straight challenges prior to winning a challenge against the Los Angeles Kings over the weekend.
“Every team feels the same way and the fact of the matter is the calls are made on the merits and people who are passionate about their teams are going to disagree with calls,” Bettman said.
“I’m not a big fan of just looking at the raw numbers. It goes to style of play, it goes to differentials, it goes to a whole host of factors other than raw numbers.”
Bettman will be in Calgary on Friday where the arena situation in that city is sure to be a hot topic.
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