Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner

We continue this at the Guilf Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. Welcome back, playoff hockey. I'll be in attendance Saturday night at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Hopefully the Rangers will have a nice lead in the series.

I'm looking forward to another hopeful long run for my blue shirts. But as we welcome back in playoff hockey, we now welcome in the commissioner of the NHL, and that is Gary Bettman. Commissioner, first off, appreciate you doing this.

Thanks for the time. How are you? Good to be with you. It sounds like you're a Rangers fan.

Yes, very much so. I've invested a lot of money this year in this team, Gary, so I'm looking forward to a nice long run in the playoffs. You know, what's great about our playoffs is no matter who you root for, they're going to be exciting, they're going to be competitive. I mean, there's really nothing like them, particularly our first round.

And going to a game at attendance is just second to none when you look at all the sports for playoff hockey. But when we look at a team storyline here, commissioner, clearly the Bruins are the talk of the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs just with the historical season that they've had. And you know, in this sport, just like you said, anything can happen. We've seen the top dogs go out often, but when you have a team like this, it's been so special for the sport. They were incredible this year. Records for most points and most wins.

You look at the composition of the team, it's hard to see any weaknesses. But don't forget it. It wasn't too long ago. Let's remember when Tampa Bay had an extraordinary regular season. What, four years ago, we then got eliminated in the first round, bore a zip by the Columbus Blue Jackets. You just never know.

No, you truly don't. And I was watching ESPN early this morning, and we all love P.K. Subban. And he said that Connor McDavid, when you go to individual storylines, may be the best player to ever play the game. And he's never seen a player to play the game like Connor has, which is saying something since Wayne Gretzky, as you know, was the face of your sport for so many years. Just when you look at McDavid's season, Commissioner, 64 goals, 89 assists at 153 points. How do you kind of process what he was able to do?

Well, P.K. 's analysis is shared by lots of people. Connor may be the best hockey player on the face of the earth. And frankly, he may be the best athlete when you think about everything he has to do and how physical the game is. Wayne is and will always be the face of the game.

But Connor shows that you can go from generation to generation, and the sport always renews itself and can even get better. It's kind of crazy because we know McDavid is the biggest star in the sport right now, but for so many years it was Crosby and Ovechkin. For them not to be in this postseason, even though I can't stand the Capitals and Penguins, Commissioner, it is a little bit bizarre.

Well, I don't know that it's bizarre, but it is unique for us at this juncture. Sid and Ovechkin are sensational players. They're great representatives to the game. And yeah, it is a bit of a shock for them not to be in the playoffs.

But again, this is just another indication of how the game is moving forward and getting younger. Commissioner Gary Bettman here with us on the Zach Gelb show. We know the Knights have been successful in Vegas. They've been in the league since 2017. Seattle just finishing up its second season now in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That's going to be an atmosphere coming up later on in the week. When you get to the topic of expansion, are you guys looking to add more teams, Commissioner?

You know, it's a great question and I get asked it all the time. We just had two incredibly successful expansions, as you said, with Vegas and Seattle. We're getting continuously additional expressions of interest, whether it's Salt Lake City, Quebec City, Atlanta, Houston, but we don't have an active plan and we're not actively pursuing expansion at this point. I don't know that we will.

I wouldn't rule it out. But at least at this point in time, we're pretty content with what we have with our 32. So what do you make when you see that report today by Zach Klein at WSBTV about this proposal in Georgia in Forsyth County, about an hour away from Atlanta, where there could be just so conveniently an 18,500 seat stadium potentially being built? Well, that goes to the point that we're getting expressions of interest, but we're not doing anything with them at this point in time in terms of focusing on a plan of expansion, at least for the time being.

And I'm not suggesting we're going to at some point in the future actively pursue expansion, but it's not something that we're focused on right now. The Coyotes, they've been a big topic of conversation. Could you see them maybe move into Houston? I'd like them moving to Tempe into a brand new building. They're in Tempe now actually playing at ASU. There's a referendum on May 16th, which is the last step in the approval process for the team to pursue the project. Alex Morello is the owner. He wants to create a mixed use development around an arena.

He's doing it all privately and our hopeful is that the people of Tempe will approve their referendum on May 16th and everything can move forward. The 5,000 seat stadium that they played in this year, I'm sure you went to a game or two out there, I would assume. I know that you obviously want a bigger stadium and it was a different circumstance, but what did you think of the atmosphere out there? It was incredible. It was actually a lot of fun.

Obviously, it doesn't work on a temporary basis, but it was a lot of fun. It was loud. Fans were engaged. Everybody's literally on top of the ice and it's great that ASU was willing to share their facility, because based on the way things played out in greater Phoenix, there was really no place else for the Coyotes to play, which is why we're so anxious and hopeful that the referendum gets approved and we can move forward and see this team anchored there forever. The commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, here with us. When you look back at this TV deal, now two years in with TNT and then also ESPN, are you happy with the way that hockey is being portrayed to their fans on television? We are thrilled.

TNT, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, doing a fantastic job of not just covering the game, but promoting the game and creating content around the game. The reaction we're getting from fans is all positive. Ratings are up since we began this relationship two seasons ago.

It's just been an incredible ride and they've been great partners. You've been doing this for a long time, commissioner. What still motivates you? What still drives you about being the commissioner of the NHL? I love the game and I love all of the people associated with the game, whether it's the players, the team personnel. Ownership has been incredibly supportive and I think we've got the world's best fans. The game has never been more widely followed. The game has never been more exciting, more compelling, more competitive, more entertaining.

It's based on speed and skill. We're looking at a situation where there's great opportunity for us to continue to grow the game and that's what excites me. You're going to turn 71 in June, so happy early birthday to you. How much longer do you want to do this, by the way? You know what? I love what I do and as long as the people that I report to, namely ownership, are pleased with the work that we do and as long as I've got the energy to do this, which I have, I want to keep doing it because it's an honor to be associated with this game and we're having a lot of fun growing the game. The last few years, it's been a challenging time in our country and I love the way how quickly you guys in a safe manner brought the sport back. What did the last few years teach you, Commissioner Gary Bettman? Well, first of all, obviously everybody was challenged by COVID, not just hockey or the sports world. Everybody had to deal with a horrible two years. What it taught me is you've got to work very cooperatively with whoever is necessary to enable your organization to move forward.

You've got to be flexible, you've got to do your homework and you've got to work hard. Before we let you run, just being in the New York area, I hear this complaint a lot from my Ranger fans, my fellow Ranger fans. The common fan feels like they're getting priced out of MSG. What's the message to the Ranger fan with how expensive these tickets are to get to a playoff game?

What do you say to them? The answer is the economics are dictated by the marketplace and like you, there are a lot of fans who want to be in Madison Square Garden. There are only about 18,000 people lucky enough to be in that building and to soak up that atmosphere and it's great to go to a game there. What was attractive to you about Seattle when you were looking to expand hockey back there? The fact of the matter is we know it's a great sports town.

They had a real void in winter sports, particularly after the NBA left. We've always coveted the opportunity to go there and be in a great, vibrant market. We just need an arena. David Bonderman and his partners stepped up to build an arena, really transformed the old key arena.

We're invested in bringing NHL hockey to a great place and we're thrilled to be there. Commissioner, appreciate you doing this. Thanks so much for the time. Thank you. Great to be with you. Enjoy the playoffs.