NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman enjoyed the 70-degree weather in Pittsburgh Friday, but he's just as glad to see the weather reports calling for colder temperatures Saturday night.
Bettman, in an interview with Andrew Fillipponi on 93.7 The Fan Friday afternoon, said he was confident Saturday's Stadium Series game between the Penguins and Flyers won't be significantly impacted by the unseasonable weather Pittsburgh has seen this week. Current forecasts call for temperatures in the low-40s by the time the teams hit the ice at 8 p.m.
"It'll be fun, and what the weather is, because it's unpredictable, is one of the great intriguing parts of putting on these games," Bettman said in the interview.
Bettman went on to say the event is sold out, and pushed back against the idea that the NHL may have oversaturated the market with an increase in the number of outdoor games over recent years. This is the fourth outdoor game the NHL has staged this season, after putting on three last year.
The league has not announced its outdoor schedule for 2017-18, but Bettman said there will probably be more than two.
"Our fans ultimately can't get enough of them," Bettman told Fillipponi. "They provide unique memories and a way to celebrate the sport."
He confirmed the Penguins will return to an outdoor rink no later than 2019, when they will once again face the Flyers, this time in Philadelphia.
"I think it would be only fair, in this rivalry, to do a home and home at some point," Bettman said, though he did not confirm a venue or date for the return game.
The two teams have been rumored to potentially play at Penn State's Beaver Stadium, but Bettman said a number of logistical problems _ including the number of hotel rooms in the area _ have prevented that from coming to fruition as of yet. The Maple Leafs and Red Wings played at Michigan Stadium in 2014.
"Having everybody travel in, there were some logistic concerns," Bettman said. "I wouldn't rule it out for the future."
