It’s been a point of contention among many close to the expansion process since the beginning; who exactly will make the announcement when the league officially awards Las Vegas the 31st franchise in the NHL?

All along here at SinBin.vegas we assumed it would be Gary Bettman and the league to surprise us one morning and make it official, but when we were apprised on the timeline of events that has to occur to seal the deal, it started to look like the announcement would fall into The Creator’s lap as approving the contract is the final step.

Well, we’ve now confirmed it will indeed be Gary Bettman and the NHL, probably with The Creator in attendance, that will make the announcement, and it will most likely occur in New York.

The team assembled in Las Vegas presented the league office with a press release which will be sent out upon The Creator’s agreement to the final expansion contract. Bettman’s minions responded by telling the Las Vegas team the press release is fine and dandy, but it is not to be sent out until the NHL has released its version first.

This will obviously be a huge moment for the NHL as it’s the first time the league will have expanded since 2000. However, it can be argued the league’s expansion to Vegas has a much larger historical significance to the city of Las Vegas than it does to the NHL. So, it would have made sense for The Creator to have set up a massive announcement in front of T-Mobile Arena with Gary Bettman and/or Bill Daly in attendance.

That may still happen, but it won’t come with the big surprise it would have been had it happened first.