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Report: Bartoszek (a.k.a. the Tukwila guy) invited to speak with NHL

Seattle

The man who still hopes to build an arena in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila may not have submitted a bid for an NHL expansion team, but he did reportedly get an invite to chat with the league in New York.

That’s according to the Seattle Times, which was told by an NHL source that “the league invited (Ray) Bartoszek to its New York offices for a chat Tuesday.”

The NHL said yesterday in a release that it will “focus exclusively on the two expansion applications” it did receive from Las Vegas and Quebec City.

But if Bartoszek did indeed get invited to New York, that may not be entirely accurate. The NHL has made it no secret that it’s “very intrigued by the Pacific Northwest.”

Many are wondering now if Seattle’s best chance of getting an NHL team is via relocation.

The Times also reported that Bartoszek had been scouring “Seattle and elsewhere in recent months seeking additional investors” for his project. However, “those courted wanted to know how a billion-dollar pledge toward hockey and an arena would prove profitable and they weren’t satisfied with the answers.”

According to King 5, Bartoszek is “still actively engaged in trying to make his arena project a reality.”