The NHL hasn’t given the Las Vegas ticket drive a deadline, nor is it ready to make any conclusions just yet on the merits of it.

As for the next step in the process?

"We're not there yet," commissioner Gary Bettman told ESPN.com Wednesday. "The ticket drive continues, and when they conclude that, [when] they're done, then we'll have a discussion and see where things stand. But no decisions have been made. And until the drive concludes, I'm not sure anybody can make any judgments. And when I say judgments, I mean the viability of Las Vegas supporting a major league team."

The ticket drive had procured around 7,000 deposits by Feb. 24. Foley said recently to ESPN.com's Scott Burnside that he was still optimistic that they'd hit the 10,000 mark by the end of March, and that they were still tapping into the local business community and specifically the legal and development community, reaching out to people who had expressed interest before the drive formally began.

He also pointed out that this number is independent of interest from the casino industry because the ownership group felt it was important to show the league that there was significant interest from the local fan base in Las Vegas, which would include individuals and those representing small businesses, etc.

While there is no official deadline, it goes without saying that if this ticket drive is still going in September, there's an obvious issue. So there should be an end game here, either way, within the next month or two.