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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman shares the sports world’s amazement at the Vegas Golden Knights‘ ability to reach the Stanley Cup Final in their first year of existence.

But if the league adds another team in Seattle in the near future Seth DeValve Jersey , Bettman expects it to have every opportunity to accomplish the same feat under the same favorable expansion terms given to Vegas.

The commissioner also acknowledged that the Emerald City could secure that expansion team within the year.

The Golden Knights are hosting the Washington Capitals after winning the Western Conference in an inaugural season that ”quite simply astonished the sporting world,” Bettman said in his usual state-of-the-league remarks before the Final opened on Monday night.

Sour grapes were understandable among the fans of other NHL teams after Vegas’ incredible ascent to the top of a league with 12 other teams that have never won the Stanley Cup and seven more that haven’t won it in the last 20 years.

The Golden Knights cleverly built this winner with an undeniably generous expansion draft that allowed them to select the likes of franchise goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and many other proven NHL players. Yet Bettman said he has received ”no pushback whatsoever” about the favorable expansion draft from the league’s other 30 owners

”I think people (around hockey) are excited,” Bettman said. ”I think it’s gotten their attention.”

Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly both confirmed the NHL plans to keep the same rules on the next expansion draft. If it happens within the next two years, as increasingly expected, Vegas won’t have to lose any of its players, Daly added.

The vote on adding a Seattle franchise won’t happen in June when the board of governors meets during the league’s annual awards show in Las Vegas, Bettman said. But the board will get an update on Seattle’s plans, and a formal vote could happen later this year, perhaps at meetings in September or December.

”There is a lot of due diligence that has to be done Micah Hyde Jersey , a lot of interaction with the prospective ownership group,” Bettman said of the group headed by billionaire investment banker David Bonderman. ”We think we’re on target, and depending on how everything goes, it wouldn’t surprise me that there is a possibility that in the fall, early winter at the latest, that this could be addressed by the board. But we’re not there yet, and there is still work to be done.”

Seattle hopes to be ready to become the NHL’s 32nd franchise in 2020, pending a $600 million renovation of Key Arena. But after the energizing effect of the Golden Knights on this hockey season, the league’s appetite for expansion – and the likely $650 million fee that will be split among the league’s other owners – has been whetted.

The NHL also has talked about adding a franchise in Houston Emmanuel Sanders Jersey , the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. or Canada without a team. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has showed interest in joining the league, but a bid likely is years away.

”I don’t think at this point in time there’s interest in filing for an expansion franchise,” Daly said. ”I think they’re relatively new NBA owners. They’re getting their feet under them in terms of operating that franchise, knowing that that means. At some point in time, we’ll have a discussion with them about whether there’s an NHL team to pursue.”

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More Stanley Cup coverage:

The Colorado Avalanche players were supposed to be cleaning out their lockers this weekend, talking about their return to the playoffs and speaking optimistically of next season.

At least that was the assumption when their first-round series with the Predators, the NHL’s top seed, shifted to Nashville for Game 5 on Friday.

The Predators took a 3-1 series lead into their home game and were expected to close out Colorado, but the Avalanche proved to be a tough out by rallying in the final five minutes to win 2-1 and send the series to Denver for Game 6 on Sunday night.

“We’ve got a series again going home Golden Tate III Jersey , and it’s going to be exciting,” Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog said after the win Friday.

Landeskog scored the equalizer with 4:11 left and Sven Andrighetto won it with an odd-man rush with 1:28 remaining. The late rally was made possible by the play of Andrew Hammond, the Avalanche’s No. 3 goaltender who was thrust into the spotlight after injuries to Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier.

Hammond made a career-high 44 saves and outplayed Nashville’s Vezina Trophy favorite, Pekka Rinne, in stunning the Predators.

It was the first time in four tries Nashville has failed to win a game with a chance to end the series dating to last year. But don’t expect the President’s Trophy winners to hang their heads.

“We can’t be depressed in here and sit and stew,” Colton Sissons told The Tennessean after Friday’s game. “We’ve got to move on and be professionals. We’ve been here before and we’ll be ready for Game 6, that’s for sure.”

Nashville still leads the series 3-2 and has already won a game on the road. It was that Game 4 victory that had everyone thinking Game 5 was a formality, but the gritty Avalanche proved to be resilient.

Colorado has made it a series despite mounting injuries. Varlamov’s season ended before the start of the playoffs with a lower-body injury, top defenseman Erik Johnson was lost to a knee injury with a week left in the season and Bernier went down in the second period of Game 4.

Defenseman Samuel Girard Devin Funchess Jersey , acquired from Nashville in November as part of the three-team deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa, missed the games in Denver with an upper-body injury but returned for Game 5.

Still, the Avalanche have pressed on, are playing loose hockey and have the Predators’ attention.

“It’s hockey,” Predators forward Austin Watson told The Tennessean. “There’s another team out there. I don’t know if you guys see that. They’re playing pretty well.”

Nashville will get back forward Ryan Hartman after he served a one-game suspension for his hit on Colorado center Carl Soderberg in Game 4. His return will bolster an already deep lineup that has scored 17 goals in the five-game series.

But Colorado has shown it won’t go away. The Avalanche scored the first goal in the first three games and their three losses were close. Another close game in the third period Sunday could play in their favor.

“I’ve said it all year long, haven’t I? This is a special group,” Landeskog said. “It’s too early to have the season end. We have way too much hockey in us left, and way too much fight. We’re not going to let this go easy. So we keep working.”
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