HARTFORD: City Officials Meet With NHL Chief

Mayor Eddie A. Perez and business leaders met Wednesday with National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman in Manhattan to discuss nascent plans for a new arena in the city, Perez said in a press release.

Also at the meeting were Andy Bessette, chief administrative officer of the Travelers Property Casualty Corp., and R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel, head of the MetroHartford Alliance.

City and state officials have long agreed that major league hockey would need a new arena to replace the city-owned XL Center to entice it to Hartford. In the press release, Perez said that the meeting was a good chance for him to tell Bettman that Hartford still wants an NHL team. But he noted that "difficult financial times" mean that it would take "a considerable amount of work" to make an arena a reality.

HARTFORD: City Officials Meet With NHL Chief....