from John Shannon of Sportsnet,

So Phase Three of the NHL’s expansion process has now begun for Las Vegas and Quebec City.

What does that really mean? Quite frankly, not as much as the title would indicate. As Bill Daly told The Associated Press last week, “It does not necessarily constitute the end of the process.”

Maybe, just maybe, we are not really close to a decision.

Some are saying that we probably shouldn’t get our hopes up for a while, which means there won’t be an announcement in the next three weeks that both cities — or either city, or neither city — will join the exclusive NHL club.

Phase Three means the two cities now have to file their last formal submissions by early September, after which the process becomes more interactive between the bidders and the League.

continued