Bettman isn’t giving up on Arizona

Commissioner Gary Bettman says the NHL is still committed to Arizona after Tempe voters rejected a referendum for a Coyotes arena. Bettman said the team is looking at other areas around Phoenix for a long-term home.

“It’s a good market and if we can make it work, we’ll make it work,” Bettman said. “We’ve had our challenges.”

Bettman, who held his annual state of the league news conference Saturday before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, said he was surprised and disappointed but not shocked by the result of the vote last month.

“Team-related referendums in all sports don’t do well,” Bettman said. “The Islanders did one (in 2011) and it lost. They got their building.”

The future of the Coyotes is now a major question as they go into a second season playing at a 5,000seat college rink on Arizona State’s campus.

Marty Walsh, executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, said members of the Coyotes have expressed concerns about the current arena setup and want answers about a more permanent solution.

“If we don’t have, in the near future, a new location, we have to have a serious conversation,” Walsh said. “These players can’t continue to play in a college hockey rink as National Hockey League players.”

Asked Saturday why the league has been so patient about keeping the Coyotes in Arizona amid turmoil over the years from ownership changes to arena uncertainty, Bettman pointed to the size of the market and the team being a bit of a “victim of circumstance.” While there were questions raised about interest for a team in Quebec City or Salt Lake City relocation is not currently being considered.

“We’re in a better position to resist moving than maybe we were 20 or 30 years ago,” Bettman said. “We want to make sure we explore all options at this stage of where we are before we would consider having to relocate a club, and I’m hopeful we won’t have to.”