FanHouse GaryBettman

Confirming what has already been known for several months, the NHL made it official Wednesday afternoon with a press conference at Fenway Park, announcing the 2010 Winter Classic between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins to be played at the historic ballpark.

It's the NHL's fourth outdoor hockey game (and third Winter Classic) and it will somewhat of a carbon copy of last year's game at Wrigley Field in Chicago; Original Six team that has recently returned to relevance after a number of down years hosting the game in a classic baseball stadium. Hopefully this time around we avoid the awkwardness that was "take me out to the hockey game."

While the National Hockey League continues to fight for what they feel is right for the Phoenix Coyotes, it appears they have some friends in high places.

Commissioner Gary Bettman isn't going into this fight alone. Filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Monday included statements from the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball.

There was a time when my favorite sport was, without hesitation, baseball. Recently, however, my interest in the game has been lost. Not because of a steroid scandal or the incompetence of Bud Selig, but mostly because the team I grew up cheering for, the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been a Major League Baseball team in name only and is currently working on its 17th consecutive losing season with no end in sight.

You might argue that makes me a fair-weather fan, but I disagree. My interest is so low that if, by some perfect storm -- like the rest of the National League halting operations and disbanding from the league -- the Pirates actually won something, I still probably wouldn't care as much as I should. I just don't care about baseball anymore, but I certainly don't begrudge those who still do. It's still a great game, even if my interest is at an all-time low.

"All we are saying is give peace a chance." – John Lennon.

"All we are saying is give hockey a chance." – Gary Bettman.

We tried, Gary. And thanks largely to you, it's just not working.

Your grand plan was for hockey to take over the U.S., which since the Civil War has included the South. Sorry, but most people down here would vote to secede from the Union again if hockey ever becomes our national pastime.

I've been hearing how fabulous the NHL playoffs have been, and how they could pave the way for hockey's resurgence. So I went to a shopping mall here in Orlando and asked the first 100 people I saw about the Ovechkin-Crosby showdown.

It has become quite clear that the NHL intends to keep the struggling Phoenix Coyotes where they are. Unless the bankruptcy court decides in favor of a bid from Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie, there is little chance the franchise will relocate.

This sentiment was made even stronger Friday, when league deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to The Canadian Press.

The Phoenix Coyotes are in limbo. With a hearing Thursday in front of a bankruptcy court judge looming, the NHL appears dead-set against allowing the agreed-to sale of the team to Jim Balsillie stand.

Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Arizona Tuesday, and the league will represent the team at the Thursday hearing. Word now is that the league is working with Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to put together a bid for the team.

After defeating the Rangers, 5-3, in Game 6 Sunday afternoon, the two teams will play a Game 7 in Washington on Tuesday night. When that game gets played, the New York Rangers want to make sure that there isn't a repeat of the incident that occurred on Friday night in Washington that resulted in a one-game suspension for John Tortorella.

Just minutes before the puck dropped Sunday on Game 6, Rangers GM Glen Sather issued a letter to Gary Bettman providing additional details about what happened on Friday night, supplemented with a number of accusations that the Capitals organization failed to provide enough security to protect Tortorella and the rest of the Rangers players from the fans sitting behind the visiting bench.

Full text of the letter follows after the jump.

The Detroit Red Wings begin their title defense on Thursday night against the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets. If you live in the greater Detroit area, and have a couple hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you can still find seats in Joe Louis Arena. There are so many seats available, in fact, that the Red Wings actually reached out to their opponent's fan club in an effort to fill the building. What the heck is going on in Hockeytown?

For about three years now, tin foil hat wearing, conspiracy theorist hockey fans have been living under the delusion that the Penguins have commissioner Gary Bettman, and the league's officials, in their back pockets. It's all part of a diabolical scheme designed to push the Penguins into the postseason, or so I've read.

It doesn't appear that anyone is immune to the economic times we are currently facing. Even the NFL has felt it, with commissioner Roger Goodell taking a pay cut.

It makes sense, then, that a league that isn't getting the kind of revenue the NFL is would also feel some pain. Commissioner Gary Bettman (right) and the NHL haven't had to do anything drastic yet, but it appears the league and its general managers are preparing for the possibility of some serious challenges over the next few years.