Report: NHL won't vote on expansion at Board of Governors

It looks like the wait for the final decision on NHL expansion is going to continue.

Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Monday that the matter of adding new teams to the NHL will not be voted on  at the up-coming Board of Governors meeting, Dan Rosen of NHL.com reported:

“Commissioner Bettman has said repeatedly if the League decides to expand, the new team or teams will not start playing before the 2017-18 season. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the 2017-18 season is still a possibility for any new team, even though the vote on expansion will not take place in December.

 "I wouldn't rule it out," Daly said. "If we get to that stage, I think we're obviously going to be consulting with the applicants with respect to their progression, planning and their ability to get up and running as quickly as that. But last time we expanded as a League, the Board made the decision in June of 1997 and I think the Nashville Predators were playing the following season [1998-99]. That's certainly one example of a team that came online within 15 months."”

There was some speculation that the Board of Governors meeting, taking place  in Pebble Beach, California December 7-8, would be a time that new teams’ proposals would be voted on. Potential ownership groups from Las Vegas and Quebec City made proposals back in September, but there has been little progress on making a decision on the teams since then.