NASHVILLE — Just after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made his big announcement of the day — confirming that the 2017 All-Star Game would be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles — he added another announcement, that the NHL would send $200,000 on behalf of its member clubs to assist Denna Laing in her recovery and rehabilitation.
Laing, a player for the Boston Pride, suffered a significant spinal injury on Dec. 31 as part of the Winter Classic events at Gillette Stadium.
“The hockey family is always supportive in times of need, in times when there are issues and problems, and we thought it important to step up — as did Ticketmaster and Honda — to show her and her family support in a very challenging time for her,’’ Bettman said.
In addition to that donation, Bettman said that Honda and Ticketmaster, two of the NHL’s partners, will donate a Honda Odyssey, set up to meet the needs that Laing will now have.
Laing’s mother and sisters are attending the All-Star Game on Sunday as guests of the NHL.
Different skill set
It wasn’t Patrice Bergeron’s best night in the Skills Competition.
He finished last in the Accuracy Shooting competition (23.362 seconds), with John Tavares winning in 12.294. But Bergeron made up for it by going 2 for 2 in the Shootout.
“There’s not much I can really say there. It didn’t go according to plan,’’ Bergeron laughingly said of the Accuracy event.
“It’s one of those things when you get on a groove, things are going well, but then the opposite is true as well. You miss a few, then you start thinking too much.’’
The highlight of the night was the Breakaway Challenge. Montreal’s P.K. Subban came out on top after his breakaway featured a vintage Jaromir Jagr mullet, helmet, and a Jagr No.?68 Panthers jersey.
San Jose’s Brent Burns, who featured his kid and Joe Pavelski’s kid in his first go-round, donned a Chewbacca mask for his finale in a “Star Wars’’ homage.
John Scott, who has been mired in controversy since the then-Coyotes enforcer was voted in as a captain by the fans, got a standing ovation from those in the stands and on the ice when he was announced for the Hardest Shot competition. Scott finished in the middle of eight competitors with a best effort of 95.9 miles per hour.
Nashville’s Shea Weber won the competition with a shot registering 108.1 m.p.h., shy of Zdeno Chara’s record of 108.8.
Fighting words
In his afternoon conference, Bettman was asked repeatedly about the Scott situation, and about the player alleging in a Players Tribune article that he was discouraged from coming to the All-Star Game by someone from the league.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about that subject,’’ Bettman said. “When John Scott won the popular vote, we announced him as the captain.
“There were a number of discussions with him with either NHL personnel or Coyotes personnel about whether or not he wanted to come. This was a campaign that was created. Maybe it was aimed at the league, maybe it was aimed at the All-Star Game, maybe it was aimed at John Scott. But he had a decision to make: Did he want to be here?
“Once he decided — taking everything into account — that he wanted to be here, it was a closed issue from our standpoint. He was welcome to come and we welcomed him here.’’
Bettman declined to address the specific accusation that a league employee asked whether this was something Scott’s children would be proud of.
The commissioner said he was not sure if there would be any discussions about changing the fan voting system that led to Scott’s selection.
Expanding horizons
There was little news on expansion. Bettman said that the executive committee, which is ultimately charged with making a recommendation on expansion, met two weeks ago, with discussions continuing on the possibility of putting franchises in Las Vegas or Quebec City or both.
“The process is continuing,’’ Bettman said. “We’re not ready to make a recommendation. That’s something that will be done over the next few months. That recommendation can be no expansion, one team, or two teams. So the process is ongoing.’’
He said he did not have a date for when the process would be completed and that “the executive committee is doing this in a very orderly and businesslike way.’’
Though Bettman had said previously that the earliest possible time for expansion would be the 2017-18 season, he left it open that it could happen after that. Any expansion team would get at least a full year from the decision being made before it would start playing.
Among the issues to be determined are the expansion draft, as well as alignment, given the already imbalanced leagues and the geographic realities of Las Vegas and Quebec City.
Asked about the possibility of Seattle, Bettman said that is not on the league’s radar.
Balancing the books
Bettman downplayed concerns about the continued fall of the Canadian dollar and its impact on the salary cap. The Canadian dollar is down to 72 cents to the US dollar. “I think it’s safe to say that if the Canadian dollar goes down vis-à-vis the US dollar, the numbers get a little softer [because NHL revenues are calculated in US dollars],’’ he said. “When you’re dealing with a cap over $70 million, whether or not you’re a million dollars more or less or a couple of million dollars more or less, I don’t think it’s all that material,’’ Bettman added. “That seems to be an optimistic view, given that many teams continue to spend to the cap.’’ . . . The new NHL.com and NHL.tv are set to launch Sunday night and Monday, with better video quality among the improvements . . . Part of the reason for heading to LA for the 2017 All-Star Game is that it will be the 50th anniversary of the Kings franchise at the same time that the NHL is celebrating its 100th anniversary . . . There was no update on whether the NHL will participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, with issues to be worked out with the IIHF, including the responsibility for expenses, such as transportation and insurance.
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin @globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amaliebenjamin.
