Coyotes auction hears from NHL's Bettman

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman denied Friday that the hockey league knew all along it was going to submit a bid for the Phoenix Coyotes before rejecting Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie as a potential owner.

Bettman was speaking before a judge in Phoenix on the second and final day of a court-supervised auction for the team.

Judge Redfield T. Baum indicated Friday that he likely won't issue a decision any time soon on whether the NHL or Balsille gets to purchase the team. Before Bettman stepped down from the witness stand, the judge advised the Balsillie group — known as PSE Sports & Entertainment — to reconsider the Sept. 21 deadline it set for its bid to be accepted, saying he might not be able to write out his decision by then.

"PSE says they need a break before they decide if they will alter their bid," Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek said on Twitter from the courtroom. "Expect them to drop the deadline for Baum."

Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, has offered $242.5 million US for the team, contingent on relocating it to Hamilton.

The NHL, which objects to Balsillie's desire to move the Coyotes, has countered with a bid of $140 million amid claims that Balsillie is ineligible to participate in the bidding process because the league's board of governors rejected his application for ownership.