The 2005-06 season has been extremely well chronicled and reviewed and re-reviewed and examined and re-examined. You have every stat, you have probably asked me every conceivable question, and I'm sure I'll get some more today, and that's okay. But in short, my summary of our current state is that things are good. Our vital signs are strong, and we have tremendous optimism about the future of our game.

I often get asked whether or not I'm surprised that we came back as strongly as we did as a league; I am not. My view is that this season was about re-engaging our fans, and the success that we enjoyed in that undertaking is a credit to our clubs, to our players and most importantly, to our fans.

Now that we are focused on looking forward, we are also looking at ways that we can do that job even better.

We're going to continue to market the players. You saw this in our playoff ad campaign, and we're going to be doing more of that in conjunction with the joint marketing committee that we have with the Players' Association. That committee had a huge role in creating better access for the print and broadcast media for the past season. And in keeping with that spirit of cooperation, we're going to maintain the unprecedented access that we created and we're going to see what else we can do to make it even better.

In 2006-07, we're going to give our broadcasters the best schedule they have ever had, and we're going to continue to explore ways to improve our broadcasts. We are absolutely committed to retaining the game's vibrancy, the Competition Committee will meet over the summer, and we will continue to work with the players to do whatever is best for the game and for the entertainment of our fans.

We will continue to explore new ways that our fans can enjoy our content, including through new technologies and digital media. And we made some pretty important strides in that regard this past season.

In addition to our agreement with Sirius for satellite radio coverage, we signed for this season and beyond, a ten-year agreement with XM Radio and that gives us a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week NHL channel and does an outstanding job of keeping our fans connected to the game.

We recently signed a deal with Apple that allows our fans to download 15-minute podcasts of highlights from each game of the Final. Traffic on nhl.com is up significantly over the 2003-04 playoffs, and we're continuing to expand our wireless offerings in both the U.S. and Canada.

We saw extremely strong ratings in Canada and we are delighted with the treatment we are receiving from OLN in its first season as our national cable rightsholder in the United States. In addition to the saturation coverage OLN provided in the regular season and particularly during the first three rounds of the playoffs, Comcast streamed NHL games for the first time and offered Video on Demand, providing more and more ways for our fans to connect, and on the TV front, we're looking forward to the terrific coverage that NBC gives us when they pick up with Game 3 of the Final.

Now that we finally have the right foundation on TV, now that we have 30 healthy or certainly healthier franchises, we've learned that you don't need to spend all the way to the cap's upper limit to succeed, and we think that is positive because a lot has been made about market size and the teams that have reached this Final. If these playoffs demonstrate anything, it's that market size has become irrelevant.

The hockey played by the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers is fast, entertaining and exciting, and we are delighted to have these two teams competing for the Cup.

This year four smaller market clubs made it to the Conference Finals. Next year it could be four larger market clubs.

We have, in effect, leveled the ice, leveled the playing surface for all of our clubs, and that's the way we believe it should be. It's about the hockey; it's not about the markets. It's not even about what you spend on players, because in the range that we've created with our Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team doesn't have to spend to the cap to be competitive. If you look at the teams that are in there, as long as you're in the range, you can be competitive.

So all in all, it's been a strong year for us. We're looking forward to the future. We're looking forward to tonight's game, and to a terrific series. And I'll be happy to take your questions.

Q. You talked about the cap, do you have an idea what the figure roughly could be, or is that going to take until the end of June?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Well, it will probably take until the end of June to give you an answer with certainty. It will be somewhere in the 40s. My guess is somewhere in the 43 to 44 million dollar range. But, you know, I can't give you a number that you can exactly hold me to, but it's in that range.

Q. Mr. Bettman, the NHL is achieving great success in some of its regional markets in the U.S., but nationally, it isn't achieving the ratings and the widespread national interest in the U.S. that you would have hoped for when you expanded into the south so many years ago. So today, what is your realistic vision for success across the United States?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: You know, it's a fascinating question, because a year ago at this time, the pundits suggested that we were going to be out of business, and that has not been the case.

We set an all-time attendance record this year. Our local ratings are up overall in the U.S. markets. So the issue that people point to if they are looking to take a shot at us is how we are doing on national television. This year we changed partners. On the cable side, we gave up some distribution in order to get better coverage. That's a trade that I would make again if I had to, or had to make that choice again, because we love the way OLN is covering us.

We love the fact that with the increased coverage, particularly in the first three rounds of the playoffs with the six-hours-a-night, wall-to-wall coverage, we, in effect, started getting traction, and I think over time, you're going to see the build. And the best evidence of that is when we started with OLN last summer they were in 64 million homes and as we sit here tonight, they are in 70 million homes. It will continue to grow.

You know, nobody was suggesting that under our past television relationship everything was wonderful. We needed a partner who was going to treat us with greater importance than we were getting. That's what we're getting with OLN, and it will grow. I just think people need to be patient. We demonstrated over the last couple of years that when you are patient, you can bring the right business results to what takes place in the league, and we think over time, this will have turned out to be an opportune moment for us to go in the direction that we went in.

Q. Can you give us an update on the St. Louis Blues sale?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: You know, transactions that go into the hundreds of millions of dollars range don't happen overnight.

David Checketts and his partners met with the executive committee on Friday, and if everything continues as it appears to be, it will be on the agenda for the June 21st Board of Governors meeting for the Board's consideration.

Q. The 3 to 6 million dollar increase in the cap that you are talking about, is this a result of increased revenues or is it a result of miscalculation of the previous cap?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: The previous cap wasn't miscalculated; it was a negotiated number. It is predominately an increase in revenues. I mean, the cap was lower than it should have been this year based on what the revenues turned out to be, but nobody had any idea what the revenues were going to turn out to be because nobody had ever been in the situation that we were in.

But revenues will be at an all-time high for this league. So even compared to 2003-04, these revenues will be higher.

Q. Where do you see your U.S. television package ending up eventually? Are you going to drag OLN to a position of prominence so you might actually get it in your hotel room? Are you going to use it as a springboard to a national over-the-air network? Where do you see all this ending up?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: We see the relationship with OLN as a long-term relationship that will continue to grow. The viewership will continue to increase. They had a lot to do in a short period of time. Institutional carriage is something that we and they have identified as a priority, so we are hopeful for next season that institutional coverage will increase, as well as the number of homes to which it's available.

They are in 70 million homes right now. People tend to have a short memory. When ESPN started, when other cable channels started -- you know, when we went to Sportsnet in Canada with our national rights, when we signed that deal, the coverage was zero, and we worked to create another carrier of importance for sports in Canada. This is very similar to that. That worked out pretty well, and we think this will, too.

Q. But some of us are old enough to remember SportsChannel.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: But that's a little unfair because SportsChannel was in 6 million homes at its peak. Let's not lose sight of the fact that OLN is in 70 million homes.

Q. At this point, do you anticipate the free agency period starting July 1 as has been the case in the past, or might there be a delay?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: My guess is there won't be a delay. My guess is that it will start on time. You know, that could change, but I doubt it. I think as things stand today, based on the discussions we've had with Ted and the PA, it will probably start on time.

Q. In the Oilers' Game 5 against Anaheim, Chris Pronger cleared the puck out at the end of the game, ending up being a five-on-three; you talked about the Competition Committee; that particular rule, how do you look at it, and do you think it will be looked at and possibly changed?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: I think it will be looked at as all rules will be, to see how it worked. Personally, I don't have a problem with the rule. The fact is, the emphasis is on offense, and if you're stopping play at a critical juncture and the method is by putting the puck into the stands, I don't have a problem with the penalty. Don't do it. And if it means a mistake puts you down a man or an extra man, so be it.

This is a game of mistakes. The emphasis is on offense. In fact, I suggested to Colie, like the rule change made that you can't change your line, you can't change your players on the ice when you ice the puck. I'd like to also see it be considered when the goaltender freezes the puck.

I don't have any problem with that rule. It's been enforced. And I also like the fact that it's not discretionary. People say, well, it should be whether the intent to shoot it out was there. At that stage of the game, the last thing we want to do is get into intent. You put the puck in the stands from your own end, it's a penalty. I don't have a problem with that at all.

Having said that, the Competition Committee will take a look at it.

Q. After Vancouver, is that it for the NHL in the Olympics? And going back to 1987 when the Oilers and the Flyers played and went to May 31st, at that point most people didn't think about June hockey and now, with an Olympic year it's different, should the schedule start earlier, even late September? I know the NFL is a problem, but end of June, you talk about numbers and weather the later you go.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Actually, we would be done in June single digits if it wasn't for the Olympics. So that cost us at least two weeks. You know, a lot of people think we start too early as it is and they want us to start in November. Can't do both. My own view is if we get done in June single digits, we're doing okay, and that's with an early October start.

With respect to the Olympics, we're committed with the Players' Association, assuming all of the logistics are worked out through Vancouver, but beyond that, we'll have to take a look to see what makes sense. Is the Olympics the right format for us and the right forum and venue for us, or are we better off doing the World Cup on a regular basis? And that's something we'll take a look at, but we don't have to do right now.

Q. Is there a World Cup in 2008?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: There isn't a World Cup scheduled for 2008 right now. Although there are a variety of discussions going on about World Cups and World Championships and the like. It could be some, all, a combination or nothing.

Q. The thing that worries me is a ruling you made with regard to Boston and the assistant GM. When Pat Quinn was working for two teams, he got expelled from the game. And we're going to have a guy, who is an assistant GM, going to be the GM of another team and yet sitting with the draft group of the first team. I have a problem with integrity in that sort of thing. Can you explain why you did it and your reasoning, because obviously you don't.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Well, no, I don't have a problem with it. I actually didn't do it. The parties reached an agreement to settle what the appropriate compensation was under the circumstances in order to release an executive from his contract.

Conflicts exist when they are not disclosed. Everybody knows what the rules are. Everybody understands what's going on. Basically Mr. Chiarelli is not now working for Boston as we speak. There are limited things that he can do to assist the club, and he will be working for Ottawa until the time comes as part of their agreement that he's free to go.

Is this an ideal world in terms of how these things operate? No, but the parties conducted themselves appropriately under these circumstances as we now find ourselves and they are moving forward. I don't think it should be an issue for either club.

Q. Another one, what's the state of the gambling investigation?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: It continues. It was slowed down dramatically because there were certain people who could not be interviewed until we got approval from the authorities in New Jersey. With respect to a number of those people, New Jersey recently said that contact could be made, and Bob Cleary's work continues. He wants to make sure that when he's done, that everybody will be comfortable with what he determines did or did not happen.

Q. What's Tocchet's status at the moment?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Nothing's changed. He actually technically took a leave of absence, at his request.

Q. What about the issue of the compensation for executives changing teams, the Flyers getting a second-rounder for Dean Lombardi?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: That's something that has troubled me on two fronts: One, we have a procedure in terms of the way you're supposed to do these things or not. It hasn't always been adhered to by the clubs and tends to cause a problem when it is not adhered to.

Two, the issue is whether or not it's a good idea at all.

I don't have a problem with clubs holding their personnel to their contracts if they choose to. This issue of what happens when you open the door a little and the problem it causes, this is an issue that I will probably address with the Board of Governors on June 21st.

Q. Doesn't sound like you like the compensation --

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: There are two issues: One is whether or not it's a good idea to begin this process at all and hold somebody back. But having said that, I also think if you have somebody under contract and you've made a long-term commitment to them and them to you, there's nothing wrong with holding someone to their contract.

Q. I just was curious, now that the sport is as popular as ever in Canada but making more financial sense with the dollar change and the C.B.A., I know this might be a little ways down the road, but would you ever look at the possibility of teams coming back to Canada?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Well, since we're not looking to relocate any franchises, and we, therefore, don't appear to have any clubs to move because the clubs that were having issues are now either healthy or getting healthier, you're asking me whether or not we're going to expand any time soon, and that's not something that's on anybody's radar screen right now. Everybody has been critical enough of our expansion over the last couple of years. I'm not sure I could endure the level of wrath in the short term again. So we're not looking to expand.

I do agree with your observation that the ability of, say, a Winnipeg, with the right building and ownership to be able to survive, not just survive, but be competitive under the new system isn't something that -- we haven't investigated it -- but isn't something I would rule out. This is a whole new world in terms of the economics and ability to compete. I don't want to get anybody's hopes up because we are not planning on going anywhere and we're not planning on expanding.

Q. Can you update us on the Penguins' situation? I think they are in a position now where they can seek out other owners, their lease is up a year from now, and if you can describe what role the League plays in the process going forward, if they are, in fact, out lobbying for other owners?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Well, the franchise is for sale and that's a process that they are conducting in terms of the current owners seeking to sell.

Anybody who buys that franchise buys it subject to the agreement with the Isle of Capri and what that agreement says is if the Isle of Capri gets the slots license, the Isle of Capri will build the building and the team agrees that it will stay.

So the only issue is whether or not the Isle of Capri is successful in its efforts to get the slots license, if they are, the team is there; if not, there is a question as to whether or not there is another building possibility in Pittsburgh. If there's no prospect of a new building, this is a team that's going to have to move.

Q. As a follow-up then, what's the time frame for the Isle of Capri, and does it work in conjunction with the end of their lease?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: The Isle of Capri determination we are told will be made in November-ish, certainly by the end of the year, and there's more than enough time for the club to deal with either a relocation bid or what have you in time for the 2007-08 season.

Q. Back to the schedule and tying that into TV, talking about OLN and 70 million homes and how the numbers are right now, does it make sense for rivalry games, switching the eight divisional games in the conference and picking games, like the Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver to come east and play Ottawa and Montreal a bit more, take away a game from Anaheim -- like if you're going to make a schedule that will be television friendly, is there talk of that or are you committed to this schedule for next year?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: We're going to use this schedule again next year. What we've found both in the research is overwhelmingly, the fans embraced the schedule we had this year, with the increased divisional play.

I think in five out of the six divisions, attendance was higher for the divisional games than it was for the intra-conference non-divisional and inter-conference games. So both in terms of attendance and fan opinion, this was very well received.

I'm not sure I followed your suggested modification. If we are going to make a change in the scheduling format, we need a better format than we've been able to come up with yet. So if you have one, I'll be happy to see it and evaluate it and see if it makes any sense.

Q. I'll drop it on your desk.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Please do. You can e-mail it to me. You can fax it to me. You can whisper it in my ear.

Q. As you understand, sportswriters have been known to patronize legal casinos and pull slot machine handles and push buttons, but are you at all queasy with a gambling investigation and survival of one of your franchises being directly linked to the granting of a specific slots license in Pittsburgh?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: First of all, the arrangement in Pittsburgh would simply be that funds from the license would be used to construct the building.

Secondly, we're not talking about a sports book; as among racetracks, bingo parlors, casinos of all types, online Internet gambling, poker rooms and the like, there's no shortage of gambling. The issue is sports betting, and for us, most importantly, the issue as it alludes to the investigation is sports betting on hockey.

Isle of Capri does not have any sports book, and if it were to the contrary, there would be a whole different set of issues. But from our standpoint, the type of gambling, slot gambling isn't an issue; it's really a sourcing of the money.

Q. Are you going to make any money off the NBC deal this year?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Don't know yet. We'll have to see when the final accounting is done and all of the sales are tallied up.

I've seen them (NBC) quoted as saying that they anticipate being profitable this year, which means we may make some money.

Q. Well, does your profit tie to the ratings? Because I was reading a projection that you are going to have the lowest ratings in the history of television.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Really?

Q. Yeah.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Who was the prognosticator?

Q. I think it was the Toronto Star. I'm not sure but think it was. He said that you'll have the lowest ratings, not just of sports but of all network television in history.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: Well, obviously that's someone who is not optimistic about the viewership of our game. Time will tell.

I'm not going to comment on somebody's opinion which is likely to be uninformed.

Q. But that was your rebound question to my original question. I was just saying, if it was that low, if there are no ratings, do you make money? Is it tied to the ratings?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: It's tied to the sales of advertising.

Q. There's something you said earlier about how you mentioned to Colin Campbell about possibly seeing the rule where teams could be prevented from changing if the goalie freezes the puck; any other tinkering you can see this year?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: I want the Competition Committee to thoroughly analyze what was done and make sure that they are comfortable.

I think from our standpoint, we like what we saw this year. We really can't lose sight of the fact that the rule changes were a package, and if you start knit-picking any one or two, you may disrupt how the package as a whole works.

But, you know, do we have a discussion about whether or not we'll use five shooters in the shootout as opposed to three; those are the types of things. But on balance, particularly with respect to the standard of interference hooking and holding, we like what we saw. We think it all worked together well.

Q. You said that with the new cap and maybe all 30 teams having a chance to get to the Final, in theory it sounds like a good idea that every team does have a chance, but when it comes down to it, cities like Edmonton and Calgary, it's hard to sell that to the masses who don't follow the sport. How do you rectify that?

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: I don't think that people decide to tune in or not because of which -- the population of the markets that are playing. If there's an interesting or intriguing story, if a team has not won the championship in 50 years, that becomes a compelling story.

But it's about what takes place on the ice. It's about the entertainment value that we're providing in these games of the Final. You know, if big markets are playing and more people are watching in those markets because they are interested in what's going on in their city, that's inevitable. But frankly, I think it's more important to all of our fans that they know that whatever team they root for, they have a shot.

I'm delighted with the two teams that are here, and the ratings will be what the ratings will be. And the buildings will be sold out in both cities, and in the Triangle and Edmonton, people are thrilled and excited and that's I think the best that a sports league can give its fans.

Q. But it's not catering to the teams, to the market where the teams are, it's catering to the ones that aren't involved.

COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN: I think the most important thing we do to cater to our fans is to put the best product on the ice. These teams, based on the way they are playing, should demonstrate that.

Enjoy the series, and thank you.