Winnipeg, Jets get bouquets from Bettman

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/04/2015 (3848 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday there was no place he’d rather be.

Bettman arrived in Winnipeg late in the afternoon and attended Game 3 of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series between the Winnipeg Jets and Anaheim Ducks at the MTS Centre.

It was the first NHL playoff game here in almost 19 years.

“I’m here just to witness what I think will be a wonderful, emotional and exciting evening,” Bettman said prior to the game. “I know this is a night almost 19 years in the making and you can feel the energy in the city. It’s palpable.

“What you’ll find particularly interesting — as I’ve travelled the league the last week, the question I’ve had most frequently was from the NHL family: ‘Are you going to Winnipeg on Monday?’ because everybody knows this is going to be a special night.”

Rather than be the story on his visit, Bettman was quick to turn his attention and toss bouquets to the Jets ownership and the team’s fans.

“We don’t get to tonight without Mark Chipman and David Thomson and the great fans here in Winnipeg,” Bettman said. “I and (deputy commissioner) Bill Daly and (senior vice-president, chief legal officer) David Zimmerman, who are here with me… we’re here because we want to be.”

Bettman was asked what has stood out for him since the 2011 relocation.

“What stands out isn’t something that’s an epiphany,” he said. “The fact is this has always been a market we knew was passionate about hockey. The team, when it left, was a victim of circumstances. The government agreement was over, there was no prospect of any building. There was nobody that wanted to own the team here.

“That’s why I opened by saying without Mark Chipman, David Thomson and this building and the great fans who wanted a team all those years and have been waiting 19 years for this playoff game, that’s what brought it back together.

“That’s why when the circumstances presented themselves, coupled with a system that makes a team competitive if it’s being well-run, and obviously this team is being well-run, when the opportunity presented itself for us to come back, it wasn’t an issue.

“In fact, it was a great opportunity, which we’re thrilled we took.”

‘It was a great opportunity, which we’re thrilled we took’

Bettman was asked to provide an update on the ongoing season-ticket drive in Las Vegas but that update didn’t include any ticket count.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“I know there’s been a lot of speculation about it,” he said. “What I’m hearing is that the season-ticket drive has gone and is going extraordinarily well. When we get to the board meeting in June I will report to the board as to where things stand, based on the expressions of interest. And we’ll figure out then, what, if anything, we want to do.”

Bettman said it’s likely prospective owner Bill Foley has talked to Chipman about ticket sales and the like.

“Obviously the time frames are a little different, because here it took 20 minutes and everybody knew a team was coming,” Bettman said. “What they’re doing in Las Vegas to gauge interest is to ask people to commit and give a deposit on a franchise that doesn’t exist.

“I think in terms of introducing a team to a market, whether it’s an introduction or reintroduction, I don’t know anybody could have done it better than the Winnipeg Jets did here.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca