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NHL: No Timetable On Las Vegas and Quebec City Expansion

By Andrew Thompson

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For the moment, it seems like Quebec City and Las Vegas are still on the board for possible expansion. NHL boss Gary Bettman said yesterday that there is no timetable for the league to decide on the expansion. While there is no time-table, the league hasn’t chosen to turn down either one of the proposals.

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“The board will meet to vote when we decide there’s something to be put to a vote,” Bettman said. “That will really be after the executive committee begins and finishes deliberations and are prepared to make a recommendation.”

“When I say there’s no timeline, I know the steps we have to go through to get there,” offered the commissioner. “Could they be done in time for ’17-18 start? Yes. Will they be? Maybe. Maybe not.”

Bettman also stated that only Las Vegas and Quebec City were on the table. He was likely waving off the stories of a Seattle bid still trying to get into the league.

“We will go through this process and complete this process one way or another, and that’s where we’ll be,” he said. “If we decide at another point in time to reopen expansion — I’m not saying we would — that’s a subsequent decision. This process is this process with these two applicants, period.”

Once again, it would be a travesty if Quebec City did not get into the league and Las Vegas does. It would be shameful if Bettman and the other owners denied the history and tradition of Quebec City (not to mention adding another Canadian hockey club to the league). Las Vegas has always been a city of a quick thrill. They’ll embrace hockey in the short run, and then quickly move on to the next shiny thing that catches their eyes.

Hopefully, we’ll all be around to see the return of the Nordiques to the NHL.

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    • The NHL owners were also given the projected salary cap for the 2015-16 season. At the moment, it looks like 74.5 million for next year’s salary cap(an increase of three million dollars). That’s a little surprising, especially with the recent damage to the Canadian dollar.  It seems a bit much, but many of the general managers were pleasantly surprised by the projected figure.

    To be fair, last years salary cap was originally projected at 73 million, so it could be equal parts inflation and wishful thinking.

    Finally, Bettman reported that the 3-on-3 overtime system seems to be a hit with both the teams and the fans. He also reported that the teams approve of the coaches’ challenge as well. He had nothing to offer on how to increase scoring in the league though.

    “None of that is really on the table until we have a discussion about whether or not we need more goal scoring,” Bettman said. “Based on all the data available and fan research that’s been done, I don’t know there’s anything wrong with this game.”

    For the moment any talk about making goalie pads smaller or making the net bigger have been taken off the table. It will be up to the general managers to decide if there really is a problem with goal scoring if that subject will be put back on the table later.

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