Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Bettman lukewarm to Olympic participation
Winter Games would interrupt first season of Golden Knights
Before being booed Tuesday by the fans of the newly minted Vegas Golden Knights, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman talked about the upcoming Winter Olympics and gave the locals a reason to cheer.
A decision has to come soon on whether the league will allow players to go to Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February 2018 for the Olympics, interrupting the Knights’ season and that of the other NHL 30 teams for two weeks.
If you’re a Golden Knights fan, do you really want your first season interrupted? More importantly, do you want to risk a key Vegas player getting injured in the Olympics and being lost for the season?
“Right now, there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm among the owners to go (to the Olympics),” Bettman said at the team’s temporary office in Summerlin. “There’s no question it’s disruptive to all of the franchises. You’re looking at playing a compressed schedule, which increases the risk of someone getting injured. And traditionally, the NHL has never made money from participating in the Olympics, so from a business proposition, it doesn’t make sense.”
Still, there are many players who want to play for their country. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin says he will play for Russia. And while Bettman appreciates Ovechkin’s loyalty to his country, it is Ted Leonsis who pays Ovechkin’s salary, not Vladimir Putin.
There are reports the NHL offered the Players Association a three-year extension of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement in exchange for allowing players to go to Korea. Bettman said there have been discussions to that effect but no offer has been extended. That will take place when the Board of Governors meet in Florida Dec. 6 to 8.
“We haven’t even presented it to our owners yet,” Bettman said. “But the most important decision is what the framework will be for labor peace.”
’ROUND THE KNIGHTS’ TABLE
Golden Knights majority owner Bill Foley said he is not seeking to add any minority investors, refuting an ESPN.com story last week that the team was about to have Rob Gronkowski, Jose Bautista, Alexei Yashin and Carol Alt as minority owners.
“Not true,” Foley said. “Someone approached me, I won’t say who, about investing in the team. I told that person we’re not looking to add investors right now.
“What I think happened was that person knows the people who were mentioned in the ESPN article. But I can tell you that we’re not bringing in anyone else. Even if we did, that person would have to go through a long vetting process, and that’s not happening.”
Foley, who paid a record $500 million for the expansion franchise, makes his second payment to the league in early January. The final installment will be made in March.
“Money’s not an issue; we have money,” Foley said. “But the fact is, we’re fine and we’re not bringing anyone else on at this time.”
Foley confirmed an ESPN.com report that the team needed to get the OK from Clarkson College and the University of Central Florida to use the Golden Knights nickname that both schools also use.
“Actually, we didn’t have to do anything,” Foley said. “The NHL handled it for us. They had their lawyers talk to Clarkson and Central Florida, and both schools were great about it. They didn’t ask for any money or anything in return.”
Speaking of money, Foley said merchandise sales Tuesday were around $80,000 and he said sales have been brisk since.
“We’re thrilled with the response,” he said. “We think we have a great-looking logo and colors, and wait until we get our jerseys. They’ll fly off the rack.”
ETC. …
Saturday was a day to celebrate and remember for the NHL. On Nov. 26, 1917, the league was formed with four teams — two from Montreal (Canadiens and Maroons) along with Toronto and Ottawa following the suspension of operations by the National Hockey Association of Canada (NHA). The first NHL games were played Dec. 19, 1917. … It was 25 years ago Saturday that Bob Johnson died of brain cancer. “Badger Bob,” who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 1991 and guided Wisconsin to three NCAA championships, coined the catchphrase “It’s a great day for hockey!” … Nashville and Columbus are hoping November never ends. Going into Saturday, both teams were 8-2-2 for the month.