from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

The economic desperation of Gary Bettman is apparent as the commissioner fights, against so many odds, to find a way to complete this National Hockey League season.

And the good fight, really, is the most serious of Bettman’s time in office. It’s about maintaining what’s left of the NHL as we know it and what it might look like when the smoke of the coronavirus eventually clears.

Should the NHL find a way to complete this season, it will do so in empty arenas, costing the league and its teams somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 million US in lost gate revenues. Bettman can’t fight that. That will be mandated for him.

What he can battle — and is — despite restrictions in so many places, is getting the regular season and playoffs finished, in some way, thus saving the league another $500 million in lost revenue that will come from network television and sponsorship.

continued plus topics like this,,,

Why does it matter where the games are played, if they are in fact played in four different markets? We just want games, we don’t care where they are played. If there are no fans in the building, we’re all going to be watching on television. So lighting and camera angles aside, what does it matter which cities become hosts, unless you’re concerned about the hotel industry?