Unless those at the National Hockey League have a warped sense of humor — it’s true commissioner Gary Bettman rarely comes off as a bowl of cherries — the league’s Board of Governors will meet in Las Vegas on the morning of June 22 and officially award the city and owner Foley an expansion franchise.

Later that evening, the league will host its annual awards show at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Would the NHL really arrive here in such an official capacity, vote on expansion and deny Las Vegas a team?

If so, I imagine Bettman would desire a police escort to the airport for his Never Return Here Flight to anywhere.

-Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. More from Graney on youth hockey in Vegas.