Gary Bettman takes a hard stance on NHL expansion

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Axel Williams
September 24, 2024 (8:11)

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Gary Bettman has a difficult job as the commissioner of the NHL and oftentimes, he is hated by the fans and the players due to what his job entails.

One of the hard decisions he has to make centers around potentially expanding the league to more teams. Over the last month or so, there have been discussions about having more teams. In fact, the rumors have suggested that Atlanta and Houston would be the two choices for expansion. Some reports even suggested that these two cities would be officially granted a franchise soon.

However, that is absolutely not the case, as made evident by Bettman in a recent statement. While speaking to reporters, Bettman claimed that any reports about immediate expansion are false. The owners are simply meeting to decide which two cities deserve to be at the top of their list. But expansion is still a ways away.

«We're not going through an expansion process. Other than updating the board in October of the places that expressed interest, nothing else is gonna be done. Everything else was either speculation or had no basis.»

This is probably good news in the eyes of a lot of fans. 34 teams seems like complete overkill when you consider how now other professional league in North America has that many franchises. The NHL has a lot of work to do before they can consider expanding that much. Even 32 teams feels like a stretch.

Do you believe that the NHL should expand? Or is 32 teams more than enough right now? Let us know in the poll down below and stay tuned to Hockey Unplugged for the latest news and updates from around the hockey world. We will continue to keep you informed on your favorite players and teams.

Source: Daily Hive
Bettman shuts down "false" rumours of NHL expansion