PITTSBURGH _ The NHL hasn’t given up hope on holding an outdoor game on Parliament Hill in December, 2017.

But if it’s going to happen it has to make dollars and sense.

Speaking after their formal state of the union address to kick off the Stanley Cup final, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly both expressed an interest in the outdoor game in Ottawa Monday but they noted holding it on Parliament Hill could be difficult and that’s not the only option.

“It’s a complicated issue,” Bettman told Postmedia. “One of the options is particularly complicated.”

Would you like to do it though?

“It’s complicated. We’d have to know more. It’s complicated and expensive,” Bettman added. “We’ve been exploring it and doing some homework on it.”

If Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk has his way, the city of Ottawa would celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the NHL with a Heritage Classic on Parliament Hill. There’s no question the league believes an outdoor game here makes sense but they aren’t sure if Parliament Hill is workable.

While there is temporary seating owned by Evenko that could be used to set up the site, it’s costly and there’s also the logistical problems of trying to host that many people on the Hill. You'd have to think it would have to be 30,000-to-40,000 to make any sense.

The other possibility is TD Place but Daly noted there are other sites as well.

“There are number of possibilities in Ottawa,” said Daly. “If it doesn’t happen on Parliament Hill it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not doing an outdoor game in Ottawa, right? As I said, there are other possibilities.

“Believe or not there may be more than one but there might be No. 1 and No. 1A (TD Place).”

Daly said Ottawa is getting heavy consideration and he noted the league could give the city an answer by September.

“One of the reasons we’re considering Ottawa is because it makes sense,” said Daly. “I think Gary has publicly said, ‘We’d like to do it if we could.’ That continues to be our mindset. We’d certainly like to make something work in Ottawa.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch