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NHL commissioner, Rockets owner discuss potential for team in Houston

"I would love to bring an NHL team here," Fertitta told a Houston Fox TV affiliate in October. "It's just got to make sense. It'd be hard to fathom that we can't support an NHL team here (in Houston)."
Jan 17, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; General overall view of  Discovery Green and the downtown Houston skyline and the Marriott Marquis hot. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and new Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta met at league offices in New York to discuss the potential for a hockey team in Houston, USA TODAY Sports confirmed. The Athletic first reported the meeting.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told USA TODAY Sports that the meeting was not dissimilar to meetings the league engages in regularly, and that it "does not change or alter anything related to expansion or relocation." Daly emphasized that the NHL has no plans to expand.

“If Houston were to express an interest in having an NHL franchise, under the right circumstances, it's something we might want to consider," Bettman told The Athletic, but he noted, "we're not relocating any clubs right now."

Fertitta, a restaurant and casino billionaire, purchased the Rockets for $2.2 billion in September and has previously expressed interest in an NHL team in Houston.

“I would love to bring an NHL team here,” Fertitta told a Houston Fox TV affiliate in October. “It's just got to make sense. It'd be hard to fathom that we can't support an NHL team here (in Houston)."

Several cities share their basketball arenas with hockey teams, such as the Washington Capitals and Wizards and the Chicago Blackhawks and Bulls. Houston's Toyota Center is considered hockey-ready — having served as the former home of the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League.

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