Gary Bettman's primary motive for expanding the National Hockey League after taking over as

commissioner in 1993 was selling the game to more Americans, which really meant tapping into

U.S. corporate money. The NHL has added six teams during his tenure, and the league has grown

in popularity and revenue.

Overall, the master plan has worked. Evidence can be found in the salary cap, which is

tethered directly to revenue. Many were predicting a $6 million decrease for this season after

the economy tanked, but the cap actually increased by about $2 million. Another indicator that

hockey had made inroads, albeit slowly, is the NHL draft.

USA Hockey reports a record high 11 Americans were selected in the first round, one more

than in 2007 and 2006. Twenty-one were picked in the first two rounds, matching the high set

in 2007, and 59 over the seven rounds.

Not all came from hockey hotbeds. Several were from Arizona, California, Florida and

Nevada. In 2009, Texas and Alabama were represented. A year earlier, they came from southern

states such as Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Oklahoma.

USA Hockey doesn't use birthplace as its criteria for Americans but where players were

trained. It doesn't include kids like Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, who was born in Texas

before getting serious about hockey in Calgary.

The Sabres didn't say which two forwards they wanted before both signed elsewhere on

the first day of free agency, but two others available on Day Two who could have helped were

Matthew Lombardi and Christopher Higgins.

Lombardi, 28, landed with Nashville on a three-year deal worth $10.5 million, which was

within reason even though he scored 20 goals in a season only once in his career. Since

2006-07, he averaged 45 points and was plus-25. Jochen Hecht, 33, averaged 44 points over the

same span, also was plus-25 and will make $3.5 million this season.

Higgins, 27, is coming off a terrible year in which he had nine goals and 17 points for the

Rangers and Flames, two teams that missed the playoffs. He had only 12 goals the year before

in an injury-plagued season with the Canadiens, but that was after he averaged 24 goals over

three straight seasons.

The former Yale star was worth the one-year deal for $1.6 million he signed with the

Panthers. Higgins is effective on the power play, so long as he has the right players around

him. In 2007-08, when he had 27 goals, he had 12 tallies and 25 points with the extra man.

The Islanders appear to have the inside track over the Devils on winger Ilya

Kovalchuk, a free agent who has generated a limited amount of interest.

Kovalchuk has tremendous talent, but most teams aren't willing to make cap room for his

salary. He turned down offers from Atlanta that included a 12-year proposal for $101 million

and a seven-year deal worth $70 million.

The Islanders had more than $20 million in cap space while the Devils had less than $5

million. The Kings backed out last week. New York was talking about a 10-year deal worth $100

million, confirming owner Charles Wang didn't learn from the Alexei Yashin disaster.

Sheldon Souray has defensive shortcomings, but the Sabres could regret not plucking

him off waivers. His $5.4 million salary cap figure is high, but he's making $4.5 million in

actual money for the next two seasons.

Two years ago, he had 23 goals and 53 points from the blue line. He has overcome injuries,

including a broken hand he suffered last season in a fight. The Sabres could use a 6-4, 230-

pound, three-time all-star who's tough and can hammer the puck from the point.

It will be worth remembering if he has a comeback season.