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Bettman responds to Columbus mayor’s letter about NHL All-Star game

Chicago Blackhawks v Los Angeles Kings

at Staples Center on January 19, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.

Harry How

Columbus was supposed to hold the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend, but the lockout cancelled that.

Now, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman is curious as to when the NHL will bring the extravaganza to the Nationwide Arena.

Coleman wrote a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman earlier this month, and Bettman has responded.

I got a very nice letter from the mayor of Columbus, which I’ve responded to,” Bettman told the Puck-Rakers Blog of The Columbus Dispatch.

“Because we don’t know about Olympic participation (in 2014) yet, and as I think you all know in an Olympic year we don’t have an All-Star game, we’ve got a whole host of factors that we have to look at. We know we owe Columbus a game, but we’re not yet in a position to say what the timeline is.

“My hope is in the next couple of months, as our long-term calendar becomes a bit clearer, we’ll be able to address that more specifically.”

The Puck-Rakers blog also published a copy of Bettman’s letter to the Columbus mayor.

In the meantime, the Columbus Blue Jackets have suddenly began to surge.

Their five-game winning streak may have ended earlier this week against Vancouver, but the Blue Jackets are doing their best Chicago Blackhawks impersonation, securing at least a point in each of their last nine games.