Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

Commissioner Gary Bettman recently was named Sports Executive of Year and the NHL was named Sports League of the Year at the 2014 Sports Business Awards. USA TODAY Sports hockey columnist Kevin Allen recently sat down with Bettman to talk with him about where the NHL is at on various issues:

Q. You visited Seattle recently. Does this mean you are starting to think about expansion?

A: There is a lot of interest being expressed by people in Seattle. Before we even thought about seriously entertaining the interest, we were getting lots of stories about the building prospects and what the issues were. I was on the west coast, on my way to Minnesota, so I figured I would stop in and see the mayor and county executive and see what the story is. The story is that there is nothing going on right now. … It was said that we had no interest in Key (Arena). That's not what we said. What we said is we wouldn't have any interest in Key without knowing whether a new building is coming. Key is not a permanent solution. If someone wanted to play there on an interim basis, it is something we would look at, but we have no interest in going into Key in its current condition because it is not a hockey building. So we learned first-hand what was, and more importantly, what wasn't happening.

Q. Brendan Shanahan's persona was a major part of the NHL's player safety department. What happens now that he has gone to the Toronto Maple Leafs?

A: In addition to the fact that Brendan is a terrific person with a great personality and a great way of dealing with people and a great knowledge and connection to the game, he put in place a system and processes that can continue his work. Stephane (Quintal) is doing that now, on an interim basis, and then we will see who we want to continue the work. As good as Brendan was at handling supplemental discipline, his legacy will be that we began to change the culture of the game and he put in the processes and systems to plug into that work.

Q. Will you keep the structure of that job the same?

A: That will be this summer's project. But the needs of the job won't be quite identical because Brendan was cutting new ground. It took somebody with his unique attributes to do it. I'm not sure anybody else could have done that job at all or as well as he did in the first instance.

Q. Any progress toward deciding if the NHL will be back at the Olympics in 2018?

A: None whatsoever. I said leaving Sochi, we were coming out of the Olympics totally focused on the conclusion of our season and the playoffs. We haven't given the Olympics any thought whatsoever. … We didn't get a deal to anyone's satisfaction until six or eight months (before Sochi). If, and this is a big if, we are not going to go, I think that decision should be made sooner rather than later in fairness to all of the governing bodies. But I'm not saying we are not going.

Q. Any progress toward finalizing plans for resuming the World Cup tournament?

A: We are still in discussions with the Players' Association, and it is something that we hope to get a resolution with the Players' Association in the very near future. That would be my hope.

Q. Do you know yet how much the Canadian dollar's loss of value will affect next season's salary cap?

A: We don't have any more information than we had when I issued the very preliminary projections (of the cap rising from $64.3 million to $71 million). When you figure out what percentage of our revenue is in Canadian dollars — which isn't 40%, but rather a lot less ... then divide it out, it is going to be a million or two (less). It's still going to be somewhere in the high sixties or 70-ish."

Q. Now that we've played a season with 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 in the West, what do you think of the unbalanced set-up?

A: The fact that they were unbalanced was a non-factor, which is what we thought all along. I think what we got out of the realignment and the new playoff system is incredible playoffs and for the most part a lot less travel. We have seen great hockey.

Q. The six outdoor games were a huge success for the NHL this season. What will be your general approach to them moving forward?

A: We won't have as many as six. Last year was unique for a variety of reasons, but mostly because we were trying to do unique things going into and coming out of the Olympics to promote the game. It was a season like no other. Obviously, we will do more than one game. We are still having internal discussions about what the right mix is. I'm hoping in the not-so-distant future, I will be in position to offer a calendar of events. We are not there yet.

Q. Your thoughts about the Phoenix Coyotes attendance (a little less than 14,000 a game) under new ownership?

A: Their attendance was fine. Their ticket policies were a lot more stringent than ours. It's clear when you look at the business, look at the fan engagement, the trajectory is going in the right direction. It's not like turning on a light switch. After all the years of uncertainty, it wasn't going to come back like snapping your fingers. The fact is they are doing the right things and it's building nicely.

Q. You used to talk about your desire to have 30 healthy franchises. Do you feel like you have that?

A: The league is as strong as it has ever been. The game is the most competitive it has ever been. Fan engagement, in terms of numbers and methodology, TV, internet, all digital platforms, social media ... we are on historic numbers on everything. We set a record on attendance, and even without the 350,000 people (who attended outdoor games). If you took each of the outdoor games and said it was a sellout in the home building, we still set a record.