No event centre funding in provincial budget as Bettman visits Calgary

There was a lot of money flowing in Calgary's direction in Tuesday's pre-election budget, but one item missing from the list was funding for a new event centre. Despite Danielle Smith supporting the project, her government is not committing any cash at this point.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in Calgary Tuesday and said he has met the major players involved in negotiating the latest version of an arena deal.

Bettman said he met with Flames ownership, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, and Sonya Sharp, event centre chairman and councillor.

He said he also spoke with Smith about a new arena, on the phone, about three or four weeks ago.

At a press conference in Calgary, Bettman sounded more optimistic than he has in the past.

"What I'm hearing is the most constructive that I've heard in this entire process," he said. "Which now may be a decade long. But there's a lot of work to do, because things have gotten harder.

"With the passage of time, things have gotten more expensive. Interest rates are up. But I think everybody's focused on what needs to be done." Bettman didn't divulge the specifics of the discussions.

MAYOR'S STATEMENT

Wednesday afternoon, Gondek's office issued a statement.

"I appreciate commisioner Bettman taking the time to talk to those involved in the event centre negotiation process. I echo his comments that constructive dialogue is taking place with all partners focused on a positive outcome," the statement read.

Jyoti Gondek has been declared the next mayor of Calgary. (supplied)

"Calgary is a city that has always built through collaborative efforts such as this. We all agree that we are stronger together and have a unified goal of building a new event centre for the city."

At the Saddledome Tuesday night, the Flames dropped a 4-3 game to the league-leading Boston Bruins in overtime, despite outshooting the Bruins 57-20.