Bettman in Winnipeg for NHL Announcement

The NHL looks like it's coming back to Winnipeg, with all sorts of hockey brass and media in town for a news conference.

A news conference in Winnipeg, to be attended by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and representatives of True North Sports and Entertainment, is scheduled for this morning at 11 a.m. local time (12 p.m. EST, 9 a.m. PST), and, unless it's a cruel practical joke (which, knowing Gary Bettman, is entirely possible), all signs point to the return of the National Hockey League to Winnipeg. True North, the ownership group seeking to bring a team to the Manitoba capital, has been in marathon talks with Atlanta Spirit, owner of the Atlanta Thrashers, to buy the money-losing franchise. Reports have put the price tag at about $170 million. If the Thrashers come to Winnipeg, it will mark the end of a 15-year drought since the Jets left to become the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996.