The commissioner discussed a variety of topics, including video review, the rationale for preseason games in China, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics and the possibility of Nashville hosting an outdoor game.
On potential changes to the video review process:
“One of the things we’re going to look at is exactly how much time a coach has to challenge the result. Sometimes officials take a little too long to get to the bench, coaches do various things to take more time to watch the video.
“We will consider the possibility, and we must, of timing the time remaining after a goal is scored. But beyond that, we think it works as intended.”
On the state of the next international calendar:
“We’re obviously going to play the preseason games in China and the regular season games in Sweden. In discussions late last year, we had hoped to develop a schedule with the (NHL) Players’ Association solid. over a nine-year period that would have included two World Cups, perhaps the two Olympics, and what we call the two Ryder Cups, in addition to various other initiatives.
“But it got derailed because it wasn’t something we could get traction on with the Players Association.”
Bettman then gave more details on the lack of traction, saying the League met with the Players Association in November to discuss future World Cups.
“We said, ‘Conceptually, this is a great idea, except that we each have a right to reopen (the collective agreement), exercisable by notice in September 2019, effective by notice in September 2020.’ If we want to plan for a World Cup in 2020, we must either forgo reopening or choose a different date.
“…We said, ‘Choose a different year or let’s go back to our voters and see if there’s any interest in forgoing reopening.’ It wasn’t a request, it wasn’t a proposal. It was a suggestion, talking points. We said, ‘If we both give up on our reopenings and extend it for three years, we “We could encompass two Olympic Games, two World Cups, two Ryder Cups, let’s build international trade together as we hope, and lead a whole host of other initiatives.”
