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Bettman calls report suggesting owner discontent a “fabrication”

Gary Bettman and Ed Snider

On Saturday, Flyers owner Ed Snider called a report in the Philadelphia Daily News “erroneous.”

On Sunday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called it a “fabrication.”

According to the report, which relied on anonymous sources, Snider had “soured” on the NHL’s lockout strategy and was pushing behind the scenes to resolve it.

“It was a fabrication,” said Bettman in an exclusive interview with the Winnipeg Free Press. “Ed Snider is the one who told me about the article when he found out about it and he was terribly upset. He’s in Europe and it was his idea to put out a statement. Anyone who doubts the resolve of ownership is either uninformed or (being) intentionally misleading.”

The reporter, Frank Seravalli, stands by his story.

Regardless of the report’s accuracy or inaccuracy, calling it a “fabrication” won’t garner Bettman much support in the media, which is traditionally protective of its brethren and has been quick to defend Seravalli.