Seattle mayor, Gary Bettman meet to discuss expansion

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan have met, she said in a news release Tuesday, as the city continues to move forward on landing an expansion team.

Durkan also tweeted about the meeting, ahead of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., this week and then took a good-natured stab at starting a regional hockey rivalry, closing her tweet with, "Ready for us @Canucks?"

Bettman announced last month that the league's Board of Governors has agreed to consider an expansion application from Seattle, which has awarded a bid to redevelop the city's KeyArena in a project. The redevelopment is expected to be concluded by 2020 with a goal of having an NHL team for the 2020-21 season.

In Tuesday's release, Durkan said: “Bringing the NHL to the new Seattle Center Arena is an opportunity of a lifetime for Seattle. There’s no doubt that Seattle is the best sports town in the country with passionate hockey fans. I’m looking forward to working with the ownership group and the NHL to bring a team — and the Stanley Cup — back to Seattle. We will continue to protect taxpayers and seize great opportunities.”

Bettman also has authorized an ownership group to conduct a season-ticket drive in Seattle — reportedly to begin next month — and set the league's expansion fee for a potential 32nd team at $650 million.