Bekanntmachungen » process in as much detail as possible," Schuerh

Despite a recent trip to Seattle, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says expansion is not currently on the horizon for the league. In a one-hour interview with TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Friday, Bettman discussed a variety of topics, including expansion, outdoor games and changes to the NHL draft. When asked about his recently reported trip to Seattle with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Bettman said the visit simply coincided with being on the west coast for a playoff game in Anaheim. "We had a few hours to kill, we were in the neighborhood, so I figured Id go to Seattle to find out what the building story was," Bettman told LeBrun. "We werent there campaigning, we werent asking for anything, and thats been misreported. Based on the level of interest were getting from lots of people in Seattle and a fair amount of uncertainty and confusion about the building, we decided Lets go find out for ourselves what the story is with the building. And theres no prospect of a building right now." Investor Chris Hansen currently holds the rights with the city of Seattle to build a new arena, however Hansen will not move ahead with the building process until he has secured an NBA franchise. Hansen is not pursuing an NHL team for the arena, but would like to have an NHL team as a tenant of the arena under another owner. "The sense I get is he doesnt want to build a building just to have a tenant," Bettman said. "And since he seems to have things tied up with the city for the next three years, give or take, theres no certainty about a building." Bettmans takeaway from the Seattle tour; that "the possibility of a new arena is at best uncertain." Bettman said he is also aware of the arena being built in Quebec City, as well as the plans for an MGM Arena in Las Vegas, however expansion for his league currently remains off the table. "Things are popping up, but were not in an expansion process. Could we get to one at some point? Maybe. But right now were not focused on going through an expansion process." While the league may not be expanding franchises, expanding fan bases through outdoor games will continue. The commissioner acknowledged that though the number of outdoor games will drop from the record six played last season, the league will play more than one outdoor game in 2014-15. Bettman explained that the elevated number of games this past season stemmed from various circumstances. "This year we used those games in a variety of ways. Part of it was promoting us going into the Olympics, part of it was promoting it coming out. And doing it in New York [around the Super Bowl] with two games...we had to do lots of stuff. Our people did an extraordinary job, but we really taxed things to the limit. But also, interestingly enough, the Olympic break let us set up for more games. So, itll be more than one and less than six next season." As the league continues its tradition of adding excitement with outdoor games, the discussion of adding more excitement to the draft has also come up. "The GMs have asked us whether or not more teams should be eligible for the lottery result moving up more teams and whether or not the odds should be adjusted a little bit. Thats something were looking at," Bettman said. Bettman told LeBrun it would be premature to say if the adjustments would be made in time for the 2015 Draft, but said changes are being contemplated. "We havent finished a proposal thats been circulated... I think if were going to make an adjustment, itll be that more picks are selected by the lottery and we might smooth out the odds a little. But again, thats not something were at yet." The current NHL draft process gives every non-playoff team a chance at the first overall selection, with percentages declining from 25 percent. The 2014 NHL Draft will take place on June 27-28 in Philadelphia. 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Stuck in a rut since coming off the disabled list, Chavez hit the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning for a run-scoring single, sending the Diamondbacks to another walk-off victory, 4-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- The head of the committee that developed Major League Baseballs plan to expand instant replay says he is optimistic the system will be in place this season, even though owners and unions for players and umpires have yet to approve. Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz said that because of the complexities, he expects the system will need three years of use to resolve problems that develop. The plan would give managers the right to challenge most calls except balls and strikes, with one challenge allowed in the first six innings and two from the seventh inning on. A successful challenge would not count against the limits. Schuerholz said he was uncertain whether owners would vote on the proposal during Thursdays meeting. Owners always could vote later by telephone. Schuerholz expects the umpires and players union to go along with the plan. "Theres been a great deal of dialogue," he said, "and our anticipation is that both of our partners will be willing and ready to go forward." The new executive director of the players association, Tony Clark, also sounded optimistic about expansion of video review. "Its been a challenge to try to navigate how best we do this without disrupting the game itself," Clark said in an interview with The Associates Press. Our guys are very concerned with making sure the game stays the same." Speaking Wednesday at the hotel where the owners were attending a quarterly meeting, Schuerholz said the replay expansion should enhance the sport. "We are in uncharted waters," he said. "But bbehind all of this and buttressing all of this we should remember that in the doing of this, managers will be given an opportunity that theyve never had in the history of the game, and that is to challenge a play and perhaps have it reversed, and perhaps have that reversal benefit their team, and win a game that might win a division that might get them into a playoff.dddddddddddd And who knows from there?" Schuerholz has been joined on the replay committee by former managers Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, both current MLB executives. Scheurholz agreed with Clark that there will be adjustments after the system is put in place. "We feel like weve worked through this process in as much detail as possible," Schuerholz said. "We realize the further we get in, the complexities involved. And thats whats taken time. There will probably be complexities that show themselves that we might not have dealt with. But as I keep telling everyone, this is a three-year rollout. ... This is uncharted territory for us -- and for the industry and for the managers and for the replay officials and for the umpires. For everyone." Clark said he knows that "there are going to be challenges, and that despite wanting to fix everything so that it works perfectly from day one, that we may have to adjust some things as we go on." It also was uncertain whether the owners would vote this week on a proposal to ban home-plate collisions. That rule also would be subject to approval by the players union if it is to be implemented this season. MLB can implement it unilaterally in 2015. ' ' '