Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, said that he had nothing new to add to the discussion of the Flames arena, but said that the team's competitiveness could be affected the longer they stay in the Saddledome.
The meeting comes a day after he met with officials and shareholders in Edmonton, where he made promises of some big events that could end up in the City of Champions.
“Draft. All-Star Game. We’re coming. But the discussion we’ve had is that we want the Ice District finished so we can show it off to the world in its completed state,” he said on Thursday.
The last time that Edmonton hosted the draft was in 1995 and the last All-Star Game was in 1989.
However, Bettman said he had nothing else to share on the proposal for a new arena for the Calgary Flames.
“I don’t have any formal announcements to make,” Bettman said. “I don’t have any news to break. I’m here on the third day of a western swing. There’s normally just one or two points during the season where I can get to Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary in three consecutive days.”
He said that he still talks with Flames ownership every now and then, but nothing has changed.
“There’s nothing going on. That’s been the case since the summer and I don’t foresee any change.”
In September of last year, Flames president Ken King announced that his organization was no longer looking to build a new arena for the team.
He said it’s because the franchise has been unable to hammer out a deal with the city because both sides have very different visions.
Bettman, who helped broker the deal for Rogers Place between the City of Edmonton and the team’s owner Daryl Katz, says he isn’t involved in any similar sort of discussion in Calgary.
“This isn’t the same situation.”
He also said that he relates with the owners’ position because he doesn’t see much point in pursuing a new arena or development because it doesn’t seem there is much prospect of anything happening.
“It’s clear that this building is the oldest building in the league. It’s clear that the team needs a new building. Calgary’s a great market, there are great fans here, but a building is as important a factor as anything else. The team’s competitive situation, financial stability is obviously being impacted with each season that they stay here.”
Bettman said that Calgary used to be a top 10 team that made money for the league, but now over the past few years, the NHL has been the one writing cheques.
“The cheques are getting bigger and that means the situation, financially, continues to deteriorate and that will affect, I suppose, the competitiveness of the organization.”
He said that the Flames have told him they are going to do the best they can for as long as they can in the Saddledome.
The Flames proposed two possible plans for a new arena for the team. The first proposal, dubbed CalgaryNEXT and planned for the West Village, was scuttled in June.
The second location was proposed in a parking lot just north of the Saddledome, but was cancelled when King found there was no headway being made in discussions with the city.
The Saddledone, built in 1983, is the oldest arena in the whole league.
(With files from CTV Edmonton)
