Once upon a time, if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was coming to Pittsburgh, it was because he was trying to work with local or state politicians to secure funding for a new arena to keep the Penguins solvent (and in Pittsburgh).
Almost 20 years after the power brokers in Harrisburg and Allegheny County figured out a way to finance the construction of the venue now known as PPG Paints Arena, Bettman’s trips to Pittsburgh are to simply watch one of the NHL’s model franchises.
“This has always been a franchise that the community has supported well,” Bettman said prior to Game 2 of a first-round playoff series between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. “Has great fans. It’s a great sports town. You have another event coming this week, I hear. There’s no doubt about how important sports are in Pittsburgh.
“Particularly hockey.”
The local hockey team happens to be in the process of being sold from Fenway Sports Group to the Hoffmann Family of Companies.
The entities have been discussing a sale since last summer and announced a formal agreement to the transaction in December. But the Byzantine process of the NHL doing a full review of the sale and the Hoffmanns’ viability as owners is still unfolding, according to Bettman.
“It is a work in progress,” Bettman said. “But it seems to be on track. These transactions — meaning franchise sales in major sports — are big deals in every sense of the word. You have to make sure the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed. But everything seems to be progressing.”
Final approval must be granted by the NHL’s Board of Governors. There is no set timetable for that formality.
“When you cover a sport, you want to know when the final whistle is going to blow,” Bettman said. “But the fact is, we’ve got to finish what has to be done. And everybody, I believe, is moving as expeditiously as possible.”
Though ownership has been stable for the Penguins over the past quarter century — be it the umbrellas of Fenway Sports Group or its predecessor, the Lemieux Group — the Penguins haven’t always enjoyed reliability under other entities over their 58-year history.
And would-be bids to purchase the team by the likes of William J. “Boots” Del Biaggio or Jim Balsillie in the 2000s created highly anxious moments.
Bettman suggested the Hoffmanns have displayed they will be trustworthy stewards but was brief on details.
“From every indication we’re getting — and there’s still work to be done in the approval process by the Board (of Governors) — but from everything we hear, they’re very excited and very committed,” Bettman said.
A handful of other topics were addressed by Bettman with a group of reporters prior to Game 2.
• There has been plenty of debate league-wide over goaltender interference this season, particularly among team managers, suggesting the NHL’s rules regarding that aspect of the game are not clear.
The Penguins have been frustrated, in particular, given they are 0 for 9 on coach’s challenges for goaltender interference during the regular season.
Bettman downplayed any significance.
“In the final analysis, you shouldn’t be challenging unless the call is clearly and conclusively wrong, one way or the other,” Bettman said. “Sometimes, strategically, you’re making the call to support your goaltender. Sometimes, you hope you’ll get the results you’ll want. … We’ve had a few video calls over the weekend, and they were all bang-on. Sometimes, what happens — and it’s no knock on what the broadcasters do — sometimes the Situation Room has a view that isn’t shown in real time, or sometimes not at all, and then we have to (post it on social media).
“But the Situation Room does a good job. We went through an exercise a year ago at the general managers’ meeting where I think we showed 54 examples of what were ‘controversial coach’s challenges.’ And the general managers as a group, I think, on 48 or 50 of them, agreed the right call had been made overwhelmingly. And three or four, where there was some disagreement, the room was pretty split. The rule of thumb should be, unless it’s conclusively wrong, you shouldn’t be challenging.
(Note: The “Situation Room” is a group of league officials who review games from the NHL’s offices in Toronto.)
“When you have a rooting interest or you are in the moment — either passionate or frustrated — you may challenge a call. But in the final analysis, overwhelmingly, they get it right. And remember, in the final analysis, it’s a judgment call. Other than when it comes to control of the puck, offside, in term of where the skate it, is a whole lot easier to do because it’s more black and white. It’s a fine line.”
• The NHL is interested in staging some sort of outdoor game at Penn State’s iconic Beaver Stadium in State College. But that appears to be more of a long-term endeavor.
“There’s been discussions over time,” Bettman said. “At some point, that is something we’re interested in pursuing. But the renovations there have put things, for a period of time, on hold. But I would envision, at some point, we will make our way out to Happy Valley.”
• A tentpole event in Pittsburgh, such as an outdoor game or an All-Star Game, remains a possibility.
“This is a great hockey market,” Bettman said. “It always has been. It’s nice to see the fan base so energized with the team back in the playoffs. The good news is — for us at a league level — is our tentpole events are in great demand. But coming back here is something we talk about on a regular basis.”