Mayor Perez meets with NHL Commissioner

Hartford (WTNH) - Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez met this morning with National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman at the NHL Headquarters in Manhattan. He was there to update the Commissioner on the status of Hartford’s plans for a new arena in the city.

Mayor Perez, along with Andy Bessette, Chief Administrative Officer of the Travelers Insurance Company (who is leading a task force on private sector support for a new arena) and Oz Griebel, CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, discussed with Commissioner Bettman the potential for including an NHL franchise in future plans for the development of a new Hartford arena.

“Today’s meeting with Commissioner Bettman was an excellent opportunity to let him know that Hartford remains interested in bringing the NHL back to Connecticut’s Capital City. We had a very good discussion and the Commissioner was generous with his time and thoughts about what was necessary for an NHL franchise to succeed,” Mayor Perez stated.

Perez goes on to state how he plans to keep the momentum going in Hartford’s renaissance. "We must be prepared in the next three to five years to implement a redevelopment plan for a new multi-use arena facility that serves the entire state not only as a world class venue for concerts, family shows and UCONN Basketball, but also as a potential home for a major league sports franchise," Mayor Perez said. "In light of these difficult financial times, this effort will take a considerable amount of work and partnership between the city, state and corporate community to bring the plans for the development of a new facility to reality, but the benefits have the potential to be exponential."

The city retained HOK Sport to develop a feasibility plan for the development of a new arena facility. The preliminary report identified the present site of the XL Center as the most viable location for a new facility.