2015 NHL All-Star Transcript -- Gary Bettman, Don Fehr, Patrice Bergeron, Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar Our Coverage Sponsored by Bergen Linen
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GARY BETTMAN: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Columbus. This is obviously an exciting moment for the Blue Jackets and the city of Columbus as well as the National Hockey League. We are thrilled to be here at Nationwide Arena, delighted to have All?Star Weekend back in the mix as a major event, and truly excited that Columbus is getting a chance to show the NHL family and the world all it has to offer. I’m happy for and grateful to John P. McConnell, Mike Priest, John Davidson, and the entire Blue Jackets organization. They have worked extraordinarily hard, first to secure All?Star Weekend and then to present everything that you’re all seeing as we’re here together, and this is great for Blue Jackets fans and for the city of Columbus.
Their objective from the outset has been to make this one of the truly memorable All?Star celebrations in history, and from the appearance of things, whether it was the 5K run this morning or the Snow Slide or the rink at All?Star Winter Park or the Fan Fest at the convention center, they seem to be well on their way to achieving that objective.
The Blue Jackets have always been, like so many of our teams, committed to community endeavors and our joint legacy project, the hockey?themed treehouse, that we dedicated yesterday at Ronald McDonald House here in Columbus is yet another example of devotion to this great city.
I also want to express the NHL’s appreciation to the Greater Columbus Sports Commission and Experience Columbus for going the extra mile for making everyone, all of us, feel so welcome.
Columbus was a great host for the draft in 2007 and it’s showing once again that it is terrific at hosting high?visibility events.
I read one report that suggested that this weekend is expected to generate some $12 million in visitor spending, and I know the NHL alone has booked 8,000 room nights. But numbers aside, we’re proud to have joined with the city, to have found so many points of connection with All?Star events so you can feel a part of the celebration even if you don’t have a ticket to the Honda NHL All?Star Skills Competition or to the Honda NHL All?Star Game itself.
I remember coming here a number of years ago, even before Nationwide Arena was under construction. We went up to the top of the Nationwide building and had a great view of the Union Station Arch because that was pretty much all there was to see. And now to see this arena district and the convention center and all the activities downtown, I think it’s safe to say the John H. McConnell, who spearheaded the effort to bring the NHL to Columbus, would have every right to be overjoyed by what has transpired, inspired by the Blue Jackets’ experience and presence here, what has transformed Columbus, and made this city one of increasing prominence and an area that is a matter of pride and actually great activity for this community.
John H. McConnell is in our thoughts today. His legacy is certainly preserved and forwarded by John P. McConnell, his son. Thank you, J. P., and the Blue Jackets.
I have a few items to cover with you. One of them is player tracking. Our fans are at the center of everything we do with technology, in arena, online and on the air, which is why we with the cooperation of the NHL Players Association will be testing a player tracking system tonight at the Honda NHL All?Star Skills Competition and at tomorrow’s All?Star Game. Through our partnership with Sportvision, we are going to take advantage of the All?Star festivities to use technology to take our fans deeper into the game by embedding Sportvision chips into pucks and player jerseys, using our digital platforms and our broadcast partners, NBC, Rogers and TVA, we will be able to showcase quantitative data, puck and skating speed, puck trajectory, puck location and other key data points behind the skating, stick handling and shooting abilities of the top players in the game.
While we’re excited about doing this test, we’re not exactly sure where this will all take us. This is, if I can coin a phrase, in the embryonic stages of a work in progress, but ultimately we are hoping to deliver the kind of data that will create insights and tell stories that avid and casual hockey fans will enjoy. In short, we are attempting to embark upon a journey that hopefully will enable us to create and then maintain a digital record of everything in our game and compile a complete digital history.
We had a Board meeting today, at which I told the board pretty much what I’m telling you on a variety of subjects. As it relates to the game through 697 games, we’re playing to nearly 96 percent of capacity. Our competitive balance remains compelling. The top ten teams overall are separated by eight points. We’ve got lots of close races for division leads and playoff spots. Of the nearly 700 games played, almost 70 percent of them have been decided by one or two goals. The percentage of total playing time within a goal is 73 percent plus.
In short, and that’s just the brief statistical summary, the quality of play is terrific. It’s probably never been better. And now I’d like to make a few announcements, but before I start, let’s watch this video.
(Video shown.)
So here’s the official outdoor schedule for the 2015?2016 season. We’re going to start with the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic with the Bruins hosting the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on New Year’s Day. Those two teams have played each other more times than they’ve played any other opponents in their respective histories, and the renewal of this rivalry on New Year’s Day should be a truly memorable event.
Then on Sunday, February 21st, the Minnesota Wild will host the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota to launch the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series for the 2015?16 season and to add a highlight to Hockey Day in America.
And six days later, on Saturday, February 27th, the Colorado Avalanche will host the Detroit Red Wings, and where better to play a Coors Light NHL Stadium Series than at Coors Field. And that game will be played in prime time. So that will be quite a week, and when you add that the two Coors Light NHL Stadium Series games will follow on the heels of the All?Star Weekend celebration in Nashville, January 30 and 31, we’re going to have a lot of action and fun for our fans.
Let me touch on a couple of other areas relative to subjects of interest and commentary, some of which at least publicly has been inaccurate. First of all, our franchises are healthy, and all of our franchises have never been stronger. Our ownership is the strongest it’s ever been, and rumor and transactions that some suggested weren’t taking place are off track actually closed, not the least of which is Andy Barroway’s transaction with the Arizona Coyotes.
There has been a lot of speculation about the impact of the fall or decline of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar and its impact on hockey?related revenues and the salary cap. I assure you that even with the decline in the Canadian dollar, the salary cap doesn’t fall off a cliff. When we gave you the rough estimate projection in December, the same estimate that I gave to the clubs, we were projecting a cap of $73 million, assuming the 5?percent increment under the collective bargaining agreement, based on the Canadian dollar at 88 cents to the U.S. dollar for the rest of the year. That would be 73 at 88. At 82 cents for the rest of the year, the cap would be 72.2, and at 80 cents, the cap would be 71.7.
These are not in the context of a $70?million?plus cap dramatic numbers. As of Friday I think the Canadian dollar was 81 cents. Nobody can project exactly where it’s going, but the point that I’m making is you’re not going to see a dramatic difference. The cap is computed based on currency on a daily basis. It’s averaged over the season, so even as I said with an 80?cent Canadian dollar, we’re still looking at a cap of almost $72 million.
There continues to be a lot of talk and speculation about expansion. I really have nothing new to report that I haven’t previously reported. Las Vegas is getting ready. They’re still not ready yet, but they’re getting ready to launch the season?ticket campaign. We continue to get expressions of interest from other places, including Seattle, where the mayor came to visit and we had a nice chat, but I think the building status, at least in downtown Seattle, is still uncertain at this point at best.
With that, I think I’ve given you a fair amount of information to process. I will be happy to take your questions. After the question period, we’ll then talk about the World Cup, so please hold any World Cup questions for the time being. Happy to take your questions.
Q. We saw the Jets made an announcement a few days ago about their outdoor plans. Where are you at with regards to Winnipeg for the future and its status?
GARY BETTMAN: We had hoped to have a fourth outdoor game in the ‘15?16 season, and that would have been a Heritage Classic game in Winnipeg. We were unable to agree with the Blue Bombers on a date that would make us each comfortable, so my hope is that we can schedule something for the following season. Obviously now that there’s a little more time, I don’t have any firm plans to announce other than it’s something we’d like to do because we very much wanted to play an outdoor game next season in Winnipeg.
Q. Is there a general timeline for Las Vegas in terms of the season?ticket drive as to when you sense it’s a go or not?
GARY BETTMAN: I’m glad you asked the question because we’re not controlling that process. We haven’t put hard deadlines or hard numbers. Bill Foley asked us for permission to do it so he and ultimately we could get a sense as to whether or not a market that so many people think is unique would support at the grass?roots level, if you will, a franchise. He’s going to have to make those judgments and then tell us what it is. My guess is the campaign will kick off at some point in February. If he’s still running the campaign next October, my guess is tickets didn’t sell so quickly, and if he’s able to get to a number that makes a lot of sense and shows a great deal of enthusiasm in two or three weeks, he and we will have a better sense of the market, and as I’ve said, and I will reiterate, we have no firm commitments. This is his request to see if he should continue chasing his dream.
Q. This will be the Blackhawks’ fourth outdoor game. Do you worry about overkill for some markets and unfairness to others?
GARY BETTMAN: The fact of the matter is some teams are more comfortable playing these games competitively than others. Everything we hear from Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough is they love to be a part of them. We’re happy to have them; we’re thrilled. They’re a national draw and they get a great deal of attention, and obviously they are very talented and entertaining and exciting team, and we thank the Blackhawks for their willingness to participate.
I know some of you think that these games have some dilutive effect. If you’ve been to one, you know that’s not the case. The impact that these games have for the people who actually attend them in the markets in which they take place is nothing short of staggering. It doesn’t get old, and frankly our fans and our teams can’t get enough of them.
Q. Just curious about your thoughts on the All?Star Game and whether there are any plans to experiment with different formats or have you settled on this format and this kind of schedule?
GARY BETTMAN: First of all, as I indicated in my opening remarks, we are delighted to be in a position to have an All?Star Game. Again, we missed having it. We think getting everybody together to celebrate the game, to celebrate fandom, to celebrate our great players is terrific. I think the Fantasy Draft has been a nice event. It’s actually been imitated. It was a lot of fun to see it last night. The players like it.
We’re constantly evaluating and reevaluating everything we do, but we like where we are right now, and as I said, the Fantasy Draft was a terrific innovation. I think we give credit to that for Brendan Shanahan when he was with the league office. But we’ll continue to look at it, and if you or anyone else has a suggestion you’d like to share with us, we’re always happy to consider.
Q. With Toronto Maple Leafs celebrating their centennial anniversary in 2017 will there be an outdoor game or an All?Star Game there?
GARY BETTMAN: We’re in discussions about appropriate ways to celebrate the Leafs’ 100th, Canada’s 150th, which I think is a sesquicentennial if I have the term right. We’re going to want to do the right things to commemorate these important occasions and it’s also the league’s 100th anniversary, so we’ve got a lot to commemorate, to celebrate, and we’re focused on it, but for today we’re focused on next season’s schedule, which I shared with you.
We’re not done yet. Let’s look at the video.
(Video shown.)
GARY BETTMAN: We’ve been working with the National Hockey League Players Association for a long time to formalize details on what we’re about to announce, and to celebrate and commemorate our joint effort, we have some friends up here, and I’ll turn it over to Kathryn.
KATHRYN TAPPEN: Thank you very much. We are joined by NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr, from the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins joining us for the second part of this program and a very exciting announcement to come.
GARY BETTMAN: Thank you, Don and Anze and Patrick and Patrice for being here with us all today. We are extremely pleased to announce that in September 2016, under the auspices of the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association, more than 150 of the NHL’s top players will come together at the Air Canada Center in Toronto for the World Cup of Hockey 2016, a two?week best-on-best, international tournament that promises to be one of the best competitions in hockey history.
The World Cup of Hockey 2016 will be played starting on Saturday, September 17, 2016, and could end as late as October 1, 2016. The World Cup of Hockey will be an eight?team tournament with six national associations, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States, participating, and an additional two teams which I will discuss in a minute. While the World Cup of Hockey 2016 is an NHL/NHLPA event, I want to thank Rene Fasel and the International Ice Hockey Federation and the six participating federations for their cooperations.
Our objective is to have a tournament as competitive as it can be. Everything we’ve been focused on has been to make this a great, exciting tournament. A North American young stars team and a team of the best NHL European players from outside the big four European countries enables us to include more of the very best players in the world who might otherwise have been left out of the competition. We have concluded that this will provide the most compelling format and the most competitive and entertaining hockey with great story lines.
Each participating team will play three pre?tournament games plus three tournament games in a round?robin format to qualify for a single?game semifinal round. The semifinal winners will advance to a best of three final round.
Each team will be composed of 23 players, 20 skaters and three goaltenders. Again, all games will be played at the Air Canada Center starting September 17th, and if the final goes the distance, the last championship game will be played on Saturday, October 1st.
The World Cup of Hockey 2016 will be played on NHL ice in accordance with NHL rules and will be officiated by NHL officials. The NHL and the NHLPA retain and are responsible for all commercial rights associated with the World Cup, including with respect to pre?tournament games and training camps. The World Cup is the first step in our joint vision for international hockey. We intend to build on this World Cup with a regular schedule of World Cups, hopefully every four years, in a format that will evolve including exhibitions and regular season games and other yet?to?be developed events intended to grow hockey worldwide.
In short, our goal, the NHL and the NHLPA’s, is to deliver the most competitive, entertaining, international competitions possible, and we are really excited about the prospects. We truly feel that the best is yet to come.
Don Fehr and the NHLPA are our partners, and I am pleased that by our ability, the ability of our organizations, to work together, to make this World Cup a reality. Don, I’ll give you an opportunity to suggest what I’ve left out, but I will add one thing: We have had no discussions and made no decision, and this decision has no bearing on, whether we will return to the next Olympics. Something we still have to discuss. Don?
DON FEHR: Thank you, Gary. And thank all of you for being here. The NHLPA and the players who direct the NHLPA in terms of what we do and what we focus on have long been in the forefront of trying to create the best, most competitive and most compelling international competitions. And we think that this has the capacity and believe it will prove to be not only an absolutely spectacular event, but as Gary suggested, the most competitive tournament of its type ever played, and when you look at the quality of the rosters on all eight teams as we get there, I think that’ll be apparent.
It will also provide what we think will be a great showcase for this game and why we all love it so much on a much broader stage than simply North America and I hope simply broader than North America and Europe, also.
We are really pleased to be doing this in a cooperative way with the NHL, and the reason for that is this: There’s so much of the time that if Gary and I are ever in the news together, it’s because we’re disagreeing about something. That’s sort of in the nature of what we do. It’s the nature of the labor relations. But we have an opportunity here to build this game and build this culture and create something that everybody on both sides can be immensely proud of, and to have partners willing to do that with you, is really something to be wished for, and I’m really looking forward not only to the event but also to the process.
I want to echo’s Gary’s comments about Rene Fasel and to the member federations that we’ve had contact with, their cooperation has been critical in putting this together and we look forward to continuing a long and productive relationship with them.
Last, as Gary said, we view this as the first step, although a very important one, in what we hope over time and expect over time will develop into an ongoing calendar of different types of international events which will put our stamp where it should be and will increase and elevate general awareness, not only of hockey fans but of sports fans everywhere, of what we have represented by the three gentlemen on my left. Not only are they the best players in the world, we think they’re the best athletes in the world, too. Thanks very much.
KATHRYN TAPPEN: Thank you guys very much. And we’re going to talk to the players and give you guys a chance to ask some questions, as well. Patrice, you have represented Canada on the international stage five times over the course of your playing career. Describe a little bit what the thrill is like to play on the international stage and how that feeling really never seems to get old each time you go back.
PATRICE BERGERON: It’s definitely something very special every time you get a chance to represent your country, it’s always an honor, and I’ve lived so many great experiences through the Olympics or the world championships or the world juniors, as well. Always been something great to be a part of it and definitely never gets old.
KATHRYN TAPPEN: Patrick, playing on the World Cup stage is going to take a different approach than something that we’ve ever seen before. What do you anticipate in this kind of a tournament?
PATRICK KANE: First off, I would like to say thank you for letting me be a part of such an amazing announcement. The World Cup is something that I grew up watching, especially in ‘96 when the U.S. team defeated the Canadians, watching guys Mike Modano, Chris Chelios, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, win that World Cup was pretty amazing. Hopefully I get the chance to represent the United States, and I think the tournament itself will be very competitive. I think we all have a lot of pride in playing for our country and being able to be part of something as special as this, especially in a hockey hotbed like Toronto, I think it’ll all come together and be a great tournament.
KATHRYN TAPPEN: Anze, the Team Europe concept will be very different as we’ll get to see players on one team from nine different countries. What do you think that’s going to be like as an enter continent is going to be represented?
ANZE KOPITAR: Well, to start, it’s probably going to be a little bit different than the normal atmosphere around the national teams, but we’re all athletes. We’re all competitive, and I’m pretty sure pretty much whoever is going to come together for the tournament, we’re going to go out and play hard.
KATHRYN TAPPEN: We’re going to open it up now to the audience.
Q. Gary, can you elaborate a little bit further on where you see this World Cup going and will we see the European All?Star Team something that maybe continues or is this a one off?
GARY BETTMAN: We decided that bringing back the World Cup, as Don and I both said, was vitally important. We think the sports world was missing something really great by not having our players play this type of best?on?best competition. We wanted to keep the first one exciting, entertaining, competitive and get it right, so we didn’t, with timing, have the luxury of a pre?qualification tournament, so we’re going to let this evolve. We believe after giving the event such a good start that we’re going to build off of it and cause it to evolve, so you may see more teams, you may see a pre?qualification tournament, we may come up with other events, but this is the starting point, this is the foundation of what we wanted to do together.
Q. Commissioner, can you explain your thought process on having obviously that tournament in one city only right now in Toronto?
GARY BETTMAN: Why one city? Because we wanted to be in a central place where we could take advantage of everything the city had to offer, whether or not it’s on the tail of the International Film Festival in Toronto, the ability to do other events like concerts, reducing the wear and tear on the players as we started the season with less travel, having to dress and operate multiple buildings. We wanted to get the first one right. We expect every game to be sold out, and we expect there to be an incredible buzz in the air, and so being in one place, at least out of the box, made the most sense.
DON FEHR: If I could just add, there is something to the notion, quite compelling as you see from other kinds of events, of creating a destination city and the celebratory atmosphere that that creates rather than a series of single games in discrete locations.
Q. Gary, in planning this event, what kind of push back did you get from some of the countries that you excluded?
GARY BETTMAN: I think everybody understood. If you look at the other teams, no other country could be as well equipped with NHL players as ‘The Big Four’ from Europe, and so the notion was to get a really competitive tournament going without the benefit of prequalification, but the fact that we’re going to have a great Pan?European team is going to make the tournament all that more exciting, all that more competitive. There are going to be great story lines, and the view was everybody understands that this is the starting point and we’re going to evolve.
Q. Gary and Don, could you take me through your homework process, especially in terms of having a team with players from other European countries and the 23?and?under team, polling players, polling fans on this concept, why you think it will be viable?
GARY BETTMAN: Well, Don can speak to polling players, although the feedback I’ve heard has been positive. We actually polled the fans, and of all the alternatives for teams seven and eight, this solution was overwhelmingly the most positive, like 70 to 80 percent of the fans, depending on whether or not the poll was in Canada or the U.S. People are intrigued by this. There are going to be great story lines, but most importantly these seventh and eighth teams are going to be incredibly competitive.
DON FEHR: From our standpoint I think there are a number of things. I agree with what Gary just said. But when we looked at it initially, the question is how do we get as many players from as many different countries in the game as possible who have the skill and ability obviously to be there because we want the very best against the very best. How do we get greater potential recognition in audiences across more countries, how do we create a tournament which puts a stamp out there that this is something unique and different and sets the stage for what’s to come.
Q. Anze, obviously like the rest of us you’ve looked at the potential rosters for the European All?Star Team. Can you give us your thoughts on how good or how talented you think that team could be?
ANZE KOPITAR: Well, I think the countries that I guess were left out or are potential to be eligible to make Team Europe, I think we have a lot of good players from Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, you name it. I think it’s going to be competitive.
I think to start it might feel a little bit weird just because you’re bringing everybody together, but I guess one similar thing would be in golf when they bring together the Ryder Cup team, Team Europe. I think we can kind of draw on that maybe, and like I said before, the guys are always professional, and we’re competitors, and it will be a hard tournament.
Q. Patrice and Patrick, with you guys wanting to play at the Olympics, as well, can a World Cup of Hockey, I don’t want to say surpass, but could it replace the Olympics as a tournament that means that much to NHL players?
PATRICE BERGERON: Well, it’s definitely going to be something special, something that every ?? for myself as a Canadian, everyone would want to be a part of, and I don’t know if it can necessarily replace the Olympics. I had two great experiences in Sochi and Vancouver, and that was something that definitely I’ll never forget. I can’t really say that it’s going to replace it, but it’s definitely going to be something very special for us as players to be part of. Definitely it’s going to be competitive, and for fans it’s going to be something very exciting, as well.
PATRICK KANE: Yeah, I’d have to echo that. I agree. I think every time you get a chance to pull on your nation’s jersey, it’s just another opportunity for us to do that. Like Patrice said, I think we all enjoy playing in the Olympics, and that’s probably the biggest stage for any type of athletic event, and then you can add this World Cup, and that can be maybe the biggest stage for a hockey international tournament. I think you kind of get the best of both worlds.
Q. Patrick, you’ve grown up playing against Canada really as your chief rival, some of the biggest international games of your life have been against Canada. Put yourself in the shoes of the under?23 kid now who will share a dressing room with that Canadian kid and the American kid, and further if your team should get to play the U?23 team, what if they beat you?
PATRICK KANE: Well, if I was a couple years younger and playing for that team and they put me next to Jonathan Toews in the dressing room, I might just get up and leave and go back home.
No, I think it’s exciting. I played with Canadian kids growing up my whole life, and those are some of my best friends and teammates as a kid playing hockey, so I think you can kind of be a little bit similar to that. If they beat you, they beat you. I think you look at hockey these days, it’s a young man’s game, more than ever now, teenagers are coming into the league and playing right away, and you can see the talent and the skill level getting better and better.
I think we all like watching young players play the game. I know myself, I like watching the world juniors just to see who’s the next up and coming guys. I think the fans will enjoy that, too.
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