RALEIGH — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will host a press conference regarding future NHL All-Star Games in Raleigh on Thursday, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Rutherford would not confirm that the Hurricanes had actually been awarded the 2011 All-Star Game, and noted that the league had opened up the application process for the next three All-Star Games.

But the Hurricanes had bid for the 2011 All-Star Game in January. The application was hand-delivered to league officials by Rutherford while the Hurricanes were in Manhattan to play the New York Rangers in late January.

League officials were in town to make a site visit in March.

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