from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News,

At one point in Gary Bettman’s pre-season address to the media Monday afternoon, it became very clear that the NHL commissioner was intent on making a point. Boy, did he ever. He was asked about the logistics and back room efforts that go into putting on the season and whether there is more weight put on economics or getting the season finished.

And part of Bettman’s response went like this: “When you ask about the economics, let me make something really clear. We’re coming back to play this season because we think it’s important for the game, because our fans and our players want us to. And it may give those who are in isolation or where there are curfews a sense of normalcy and something to do. It would be cheaper for us to shut the doors and not play. We’re going to run through more money, or to say it differently lose more money, at the club level and league level by playing than by not playing. Our owners unanimously are OK with that.”

On the surface, golly gee, that would just about make Bettman and the owners serious candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, wouldn’t it? But when you drill down a little, well, you probably don’t need a sizeable chunk of salt to go with that, but it would be a good idea to have a box of Sifto on hand.

Yes, the NHL is going to lose money this season by playing. There is no disputing that. And yes, it would have saved them money if they had shuttered this season, particularly if they would have been able to invoke portions of the collective bargaining agreement that would have saved them from paying the players the approximately $2.5 billion in salaries this season. And that was an idea the league did pursue, until it realized that there was almost no way it was going to be able to do that, particularly with all the other sports having played and their completed their seasons during the pandemic.

To shut down while all the other leagues played would have put the NHL seriously behind them in terms of exposure and fan engagement. It also would have extended for another year its national television contract with NBC, thereby depriving it of putting its property up for auction after this season.

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