nchise. That continued Tuesday when the commissioner reiterated the league has no official e

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Gary Bettman has always been careful not to get fans hopes up in cities that want an NHL franchise. That continued Tuesday when the commissioner reiterated the league has no official expansion plans in the offing. It wont happen for the 2014-15 season and maybe not even in 2015-16, but that hasnt stopped the calls from pouring in. "Were getting lots of expressions of interest, and no decisions have been made to do anything other than listen," Bettman said after the leagues board of governors meeting wrapped up. We havent embarked on a formal expansion process, but when people want to talk to us, we listen." If the NHL listens and decides to move forward with expanding at some point in the near future, Quebec City, Seattle and Toronto figure to be the front-runners. But Bettman insisted theres no ranking of potential cities and that no decision has been made to expand. Thats despite uneven conferences right now -- 16 teams in the East and 14 in the West -- that deputy commissioner Bill Daly conceded was a bit of misalignment. Getting up to 32 would make for four divisions of eight teams each and solve the disparity in playoff odds. It seems like a natural move, especially considering the expansion fees the NHL could get. But Bettman said a few things must be looked at before considering a place. "When theres an expression of interest, you look at three factors predominately, show-stoppers so to speak," he said. "You want to understand the market and can it support NHL hockey? Would it be a good addition to the league? Two, youve got to have an arena and three, and perhaps most important, it comes down to ownership." Ownership is one of the keys to the NHLs success in the big picture. Bettman was quick to point to negative attention around the Phoenix Coyotes and how theyve been sold along with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils within the past six months. "My my, how far weve come since the summer, when all the articles and speculation were about all these franchises that were supposedly in trouble, which we never believed were," Bettman said. "The franchises have never been stronger. So we went from relocation in your view and distress to now we should be expanding. Everybody needs to slow down. We dont operate like that. Everything in due course. If, in fact, theres a due course to pursue." The city of Markham, Ontario, recently struck down plans to build an NHL-ready arena as the league made it clear it should not happen with the hopes of getting a team. An arena is being built in Quebec City, and one could be on the way in Seattle to lure an NBA team, as well. "I clearly have acknowledged that the Pacific Northwest has a strong interest in hockey," Daly said of the Seattle expansion possibility. As of now everything is just a possibility. But just drawing interest isnt a bad thing. "The fact is there are lots of expressions of interest from lots of different places and thats great, its gratifying," Bettman said. "It shows the business and the game are healthy because there is so much interest and people want to be a part of the game and invest in the game." Custom Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . A lovely summer day in England with abundant sunshine and minimal wind allowed him to attack Royal Liverpool. Brayden Point Jersey . Blown save in the ninth inning? No problem. http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Mikhail-Sergachev-Jersey/ . Tristan Jackson returned a missed field goal 129 yards early in the fourth quarter as the Roughriders beat the B.C. Vincent Lecavalier Jersey . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Martin St. Louis Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. NEW YORK - The NHL has suspended Los Angeles Kings forward Jordan Nolan has been suspended for one game for punching an unsuspecting opponent. The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joennsuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum.dddddddddddd Joensuus arms were tied up by a linesman and the scrum was dissipating when Nolan threw his punch. Nolan was assessed a double-minor penalty for roughing on the play. He will forfeit US$3,589.74 in salary. 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