NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman appeared on the Pat McAfee show on Wednesday afternoon on ESPN. McAfee used to play in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts, but he loves to cover the NHL, especially when it comes to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Apr 24, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to the media before game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Utah Mammoth and the Vegas Golden Knights at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
McAfee is a huge Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby fan as well. The second-round of the playoffs is currently being aired on the networks of ESPN, ABC, TNT, TBS, and TruTV. Well, the NHL Draft Lottery was on Tuesday night and it was aired on ESPN. Bettman spoke about the first-round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on McAfee’s show.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Makes Stanley Cup Playoffs Announcement on Pat McAfee’s Show
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Apr 21, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman talks to the media prior to a game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins in game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Bettman talked about on McAfee’s show about how many people tuned into watch the first-round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. He said, “In the USA round one of the NHL Playoffs was the most watched ever.. This is all about how good the hockey is.” Only one of the series that went to a Game 7 was the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many people were also interested in series like the Philadelphia Flyers vs the Penguins in the battle of Pennsylvania.
Many people were eyed on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers vs the Anaheim Ducks. The other two eye popping series were the Dallas Stars vs the Minnesota Wild and the Buffalo Sabres vs the Boston Bruins. It will also be interesting to see how the rest of the second-round and the NHL postseason will go in terms of viewership here.
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