Gary Bettman says Pat Foley 'didn't have his facts straight'

Gary Bettman doesn’t agree with Pat Foley’s complaints about the NHL’s scheduling of its playoff games.

Speaking at a meeting with sports editors on Friday, the NHL commissioner said that the Chicago Blackhawks’ play-by-play man’s comments were “off the mark” and that Foley “didn't have his facts straight.”

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Here’s Foley during Game 4 of Blackhawks/St. Louis Blues Thursday night before he was cut off by NBCSN:

Bettman even has an ally in Mike Milbury on this topic!

From the Chicago Tribune:

Bettman said the starting times need to be staggered to accommodate a national TV audience during the playoffs. He noted that it wasn't so long ago that many playoff games were not broadcast nationally.

“We do it (set starting times) in collaboration with the clubs," said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. "The clubs buy into the overall goals. They know it's not ideal.”

Start times will get better beginning in Round 2 for obvious reasons, so with up to four games a night during Round 1, the NHL and NBC are trying to get as many eyeballs on each game that they can, as our pal Sean Gentille of Sporting News wrote:

The answer is pretty simple, though: It serves people who want to catch the relevant parts of several games each night. Risking overtime and a post-midnight ET finish isn't any dumber than increasing the odds that multiple games end at the same time. People should have the option, once one game is finished, to flip to the conclusion of another one.

On the East Coast, Chicago-St. Louis had an 9:30 broadcast start because Anaheim and Nashville's started at 8:00. That is good. That, during the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, is how it should always work.

Foley will be happy to know that Saturday’s Game 5 is a 7 p.m. local time start in Chicago.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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