MANALAPAN, Fla. — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is confident as ever that the league is in a good place, with no plans to see it expand further in the immediate future.
“We’re not in an expansion mode right now,” said Bettman on Wednesday, after wrapping up the league’s annual GM meetings. “There continues to be a number of people, entities and cities expressing interest in having an NHL franchise where they don’t have one, places like Atlanta, like Houston, like Quebec City. But it’s not really something, at least right now, that’s anywhere close to the front burner for us.”
Rumors have swirled about the NHL exploring new cities that might support a team. Atlanta in particular is a popular projection, partly based on its history with the league. The Atlanta Flames were there from 1972 to 1980 before moving to Calgary, and the Thrashers lasted from 1999 to 2011, when the team relocated to Winnipeg.
Bettman said the league hasn’t studied whether Atlanta could sustain another club but, “to the extent that we’re getting expressions of interest from the general Atlanta region, it’s in locations for arenas that are different than where they’ve been.”
According to Bettman, the NHL’s playoff format is also staying the same. The league transitioned in 2013-14 from a classic 1-8 system to its current wild-card layout — where two teams from the same division play in the first round — and while Bettman acknowledged the method has its critics, he isn’t one of them.
“We think, and I think it is [agreed upon by] the general managers, that what we’ve got works really well,” Bettman said. “If you’ve been tracking it for the last month, there isn’t much difference [in who plays whom] between either format. This is working well, and we aren’t looking to make any changes.”
The league is also on track for the same previously predicted $1 million boost to the salary cap next season. Bettman said that’ll be the case unless the NHL Players’ Association — under new leadership with Marty Walsh stepping in this week — wants to discuss what a further increased cap would mean for their outstanding escrow.
When the most recent CBA was negotiated in 2020, the players owed owners more than $1 billion because of the clubs’ COVID-19 losses; Bettman said Wednesday there is approximately $100 million of escrow outstanding, and once it’s paid off, the cap could go up by around $4 million.
“One thing to keep in mind,” Bettman said, “is if we’re going to raise the cap and the escrow hasn’t been paid off, then we’re going to have to look at raising the escrow rates, which under the CBA extension in 2020 is locked into the last three years of the CBA term at 6%. So, if you’re going to raise the cap prematurely, then we’re going to have to look at the escrow percentage as well. The two are inextricably tied together.”
In other league updates, Bettman confirmed the Ottawa Senators‘ sale remains a “work in progress” with the first round of bidding complete. The second phase of the process — which could take just “a matter of weeks” — will include “winnowing down” the interested parties.
With the news on Tuesday that Diamond Sports Group — which owns regional broadcast networks for 12 NHL teams — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Bettman said the league has been assured all its regular-season games will be carried out as planned and that there are “a series of options” at the NHL’s disposal as backup to ensure coverage continues through the final stretch to the playoffs.
Gurriel was hurt in the sixth inning after he jumped awkwardly out of the way to avoid center fielder Blaze Alexander, who made a diving catch on a line drive by Rowdy Tellez for the third out of the inning.
Alexander was playing his first game in center field as a big leaguer.
Gurriel stayed on the ground for several minutes while medical staff attended to him. The 31-year-old eventually got up and walked to a cart before being driven off the field.
Additional tests confirmed the torn ACL.
Gurriel is batting .248 this season with 19 homers and 80 RBIs.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Ohio State climbed to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll on Tuesday, LSU and Miami moved into the top five, and Florida State jumped back into the rankings at the expense of Alabama, which plummeted to its lowest spot in 17 seasons.
The defending national champion Buckeyes received 55 of 66 first-place votes to move up two spots after their win over preseason No. 1Texas. Ohio State is at the top of a regular-season poll for the first time since November 2015.
The Longhorns dropped to No. 7 as the media voters shuffled the rankings following a topsy-turvy Labor Day weekend. It was only the second time — and first since 1972 — that two top-five teams lost in Week 1 and the first time that four top-10 teams lost.
Only three teams in the Top 25 are in the same spot they were in the preseason poll.
Penn State got seven first-place votes and remained No. 2. LSU, which received three first first-place votes, was followed by Georgia and Miami to round out the top five.
The biggest movers in the poll were Florida State and Alabama after the Seminoles’ 31-17 victory in their head-to-head matchup.
The Seminoles, who were 15 spots outside the Top 25 in the preseason, are now No. 14. The Crimson Tide fell all the way from No. 8 to No. 21 — their lowest ranking since Bama was No. 24 in the 2008 preseason poll. That was the second of Nick Saban’s 17 teams in Tuscaloosa.
It’s been quite a turnabout for Florida State. The Seminoles were No. 10 in the 2024 preseason, lost their first two games, finished 2-10 and weren’t ranked again until now.
Utah, at No. 25, joins Florida State as the only newcomers to this week’s poll. The Utes are ranked for the first time since last October, when they were at the front end of a seven-game losing streak.
Utah had received the second-most points, behind BYU, among teams outside the preseason Top 25, but the Utes got more credit for beatingUCLA on the road than the Cougars received for hammering FCS foe Portland State.
Boise State, which had been No. 25, received no votes following its 34-7 loss at South Florida. The Broncos had appeared in 14 straight polls.
Ohio State is the first team to take over the top spot in the first regular-season poll since Alabama in 2012. It was the biggest jump to No. 1 in the first regular-season poll since USC was promoted from No. 3 in 2008.
Texas’ fall was the biggest for a preseason No. 1 since Auburn dropped to No. 8 in the first regular-season poll of 1984.
LSU has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 3 in 2012, and Miami has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 5 in 2004.
South Carolina is in the top 10 in the regular season for the first time since it was No. 8 in December 2013.
No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma: This weekend’s game will be the first meeting since Oklahoma beat the Wolverines in the Orange Bowl to win the 1975 national championship. Wolverines freshman QB Bryce Underwood gets put to the test in his second start.
College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
While Dabo Swinney isn’t inflating LSU‘s grade for beating his team in Saturday’s season opener, Brian Kelly is ready to give the Clemson coach an incomplete for his evaluation.
Both coaches weighed in Tuesday on how LSU’s 17-10 win at Clemson should be viewed. After trailing 10-3 at halftime, LSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the second half and finished with significant edges in both total yards (354-261) and first downs (25-13).
LSU rose six spots to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll Tuesday, while Clemson dropped four spots to No. 8.
“It was a helluva game, down to the last play,” Swinney said in his weekly news conference. “Right out of the gate. It’s like getting the final exam [on] Day 1 of class. They made a 65; we made a 58. Neither one of us were great.”
Kelly had not won a season opener at LSU before Saturday, and the victory was his first with the Tigers against an AP top-5 opponent.
“I thought we dominated them in the second half, so he’s really a really good grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us,” Kelly said in his news conference when told about Swinney’s comment.
“Or he didn’t see the second half, which, that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”
Kelly added that LSU is moving on to this week’s game against Louisiana Tech.
“Clemson is a darn good football team,” Kelly said. “That’s a top-notch team, and they’re going to be a team in the hunt for [the] playoff picture. We hope we are, too. But it was only one game. So I don’t know if he’s a hard grader or an easy grader, but I like the way that we played in the second half.”