It’s that time of year again. No, not Christmas, much better. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is about set to give his annual address to the media. Expect him to talk about how great the NHL is, how terrific all the league’s decisions have paid off and sidestep any tough questions he faces.
Luckily for Bettman, there won’t be too many of those. Check out the live feed below. We’ll update this post with highlights, such as they are, as we go along.
Important Notes
- June 20th or 21st: Release of the 2016-17 schedule.
- “I anticipate being able to offer a more definitive word on where the expansion draft lies. Whether there will be no expansion, whether it will be deferred or whether there will be expansion and if there will be one or two expansion teams.”
- Bettman expects an announcement on the expansion team(s) by June 21.
- Bettman is a little sour on the Olympics based on the cost to the teams. Sounds like he wants the IOC to at the very least meet the league in the middle, if not more, financially to make it possible.
- “The change to 3-on-3 overtime did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said Bettman.
- The executive committee will likely make a recommendation on expansion a week in advance of the June 21 Board of Governor’s meeting. 2017-18 is the earliest expansion can happen.
- Slava Voynov’s status has not changed as far as the NHL is concerned. He’s been suspended and is not eligible to play in the World Cup of Hockey./
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