PHOENIX (AP) — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sat next to the former Arizona Coyotes owner in a downtown Phoenix hotel meeting room, trying to put a positive spin on the funeral for a franchise.
Late Friday afternoon, Bettman will sit next to the new Coyotes owner in Salt Lake City to bask in the excitement of the league’s newest city and a fan base that had been itching for another team to join the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
One day, two drastically different news conferences for the same hockey team.
“If you look back from the perspective over the last three decades, the NHL support for hockey in Arizona has been unwavering, to say the least,” Bettman said Friday in Phoenix. “And for anybody who’s been on that journey with us, there have been countless times when we could have made another decision and we didn’t. And so I hope everybody understands that this is a place that we believe hockey works.”
Man who won primary election while charged with murder convicted on lesser charge
Democrats seek to seize control of deadlocked Michigan House in special elections
Beijing universities open campuses for winter vacation tours
House Speaker Mike Johnson risks job to deliver aid to Ukraine
Leverkusen moves 10 points clear atop Bundesliga
Set to win presidential election, Putin vows to achieve national goals
Messi sidelined for Argentina friendlies with injury
Republican Wisconsin Senate candidate says he doesn't oppose elderly people voting
Chinese shuttlers into all five finals at Badminton Asia Championships
The NBA playoffs are finally here. And as LeBron James says, 'it's a sprint now'
Democrats seek to seize control of deadlocked Michigan House in special elections