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DETROIT — Gary Bettman made his annual appearance at the Stanley Cup final to declare the state of the NHL is nothing but a day filled with sunshine.
The league may rank behind poker and women's college gymnastics in U.S. television ratings but Bettman can be counted on to declare the past season saw record attendance and revenue and, by the way, our TV ratings are just fine.
Which is just what he did a couple of hours before the first game of the Cup final on Saturday but, to be fair, it is his job to play spinmeister.
So it was announced the league hit 21 million fans in attendance for the first time in its history. It will also pull in a record $2.5-billion (all figures U.S. currency) in annual revenue. Of course, the fact most of this is due to the rise of the Canadian dollar is not something Bettman likes to discuss. After all, how does it look that six Canadian-based franchises as a group are better at spinning money than the 24 in the U.S.?
As for that day filled with sunshine, hockey fans had better get used to it. Hockey in June, which has been with us for two decades, is not going anywhere.
There was a chance the season could have ended before June for the first time in almost 20 years. If the NHL had started the final last Thursday, three days after the Detroit Red Wings won the Western Conference, the final could have ended before June if there was a sweep.
Instead, the NHL opted for a leisurely five-day break until Saturday. Now, if the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Wings go the full seven games, the final will end on June 7. That is earlier than recent years but still far later than necessary.
Not that Bettman is apologizing for it. At least not in a serious way.
"I'm sorry if we're not hurtling headlong in a rush to get this over with," he said. The commissioner also suggested your agent was more concerned about his vacation.
"I don't think [the playoff tournament] is interminable," the noted hockey aficionado said. "I like being here. I like going to games. I feel void in my life when the season is over and I don't get to go on vacation."
Nevertheless, wishing the playoffs could be wrapped up by the May long weekends in both Canada and the U.S. is not "hurtling headlong" into summer.
Bettman mentioned building availability and travel as the reasons for dragging the playoffs out. He did not mention the chief culprit — U.S. television.
The NHL's American carriers, NBC and Versus, want as many weekend afternoon games as possible. Hockey Night in Canada, which favours Saturday night games, is often told to settle for leftovers.
As a result, there are always two-day breaks in playoff series to set up Saturday or Sunday games. Teams will play Monday and Wednesday, for example, then sit idle until Saturday.
The afternoon games are also a burden on hockey fans. As the weather gets better in the spring, they have to make a choice between doing something in the sun or going inside to sit in front of the TV.
At least all of the games in the Cup final will be in the evening. But by the time it started on Saturday night, the Red Wings had not played in five days and the Penguins were idle for six. That, too, does not make for scintillating hockey.
Then, after they play on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, the teams will sit until Saturday. But the networks will get three Saturday games if the final goes seven.
In Detroit, there was also the issue of the series going head-to-head on opening night against the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, who are in a conference final. Despite all the idle time, Bettman said this was also unavoidable even after discussions with the NBA.
"There was nothing anybody could do because it's beyond each of our controls," he said. "These commitments are made a year or so in advance."
There was not a lot of news in the rest of the items up for discussion.
Bettman declined to give any details on the next outdoor game, although it looks like the New York Rangers will play the Boston Bruins at Yankee Stadium, probably on New Year's Day.
There was also a veiled question about the Toronto Maple Leafs and their plodding search for a general manager. Brian Burke was told by Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli that he will not let him out of the last year of his contract, but Burke remains the favourite to take the job. The prevailing theory is that by refusing to sign a contract extension with the Ducks, Burke can join the Leafs a year from now or, even better, force Samueli to throw up his hands and tell Burke to take the Leaf job.
"If there is tampering going on, and there are no secrets in this world, we will get to the bottom of it," Bettman said of the possibility of any hanky-panky in Toronto. "I'm not a fan of tampering and when it happens it gets punished severely."
Finally, Bettman said Samueli's difficulties with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has filed a civil suit against him and others for alleged irregularities with stock options, is not a concern.
"I am not going to fret about something that may or may not be substantiated at the end of the day," Bettman said.
