Prior to the start of Thursday's Los Angeles Kings-San Jose Sharks game, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman held his annual start-of-the-year "state of the game" speech and media Q and A session. NHL.com's Dan Rosen provides a transcript thereof:

On how much of the League's success last season comes from having the Stanley Cup champions in the second largest media market in the United States:

"Market size, particularly when you're dealing with major media markets, has an impact in terms of gathering attention. But I got asked that question when I did the media avail before the Stanley Cup Final started and it's frankly more important what's taking place on the ice. You can have the biggest markets in the world, but if the game isn't exciting, compelling and competitive it's not going to generate a lot of interest. The Kings, for example, had a magical, spectacular run in last year's playoffs, and I think that was as important, if not more, than it was taking place with a team based in Los Angeles.

"It's interesting, we talk about competitiveness and competitive balance, and you see it. As the season starts most of the prognostications I'm seeing are all over the place as to who is going to make the playoffs and who is going to win the Cup. Nobody knows, but there aren't a whole lot of teams that are out of the conversation. That's one of the things we think is paramount about our system."

The Q and A continues at extensive length...