PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- The NHL's board of governors approved the sale of the Nashville Predators and changed the scheduling format Thursday night to allow every team to face each other at least once every season.

Paul Kelly, the new executive director of the NHL Players Association, also addressed the league's owners during a late-afternoon session to open the board's two-day meeting at an elite resort on the Northern California coast.

The NHL voted to go back to the scheduling format used before the 2004-05 lockout, most notably decreasing the current slate of eight games against every team's divisional opponents. Starting next season, teams will play just 24 total games against its four divisional foes, 40 against the rest of the conference and 18 against the other conference.

"The sense of the board was we heard the concerns raised by some of the fans, and this was an attempt to be responsive to the concerns of our fans," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

After the lockout, the NHL returned with a determination to spark intradivisional rivalries with a top-heavy new schedule of eight games, but both players and fans grew to dislike the schedule's monotony and the reduced chances to see the other conference's biggest stars.

Kelly even said the players would entertain the notion of an 84-game season -- allowing every team to play a home-and-home series against one division in the other conference each year -- if owners agreed to reduce the number of preseason games. Bettman said the owners could be open to the notion, but it hasn't been formally proposed yet.

The NHL also rubber-stamped the sale of the Predators to a group led by David Freeman. Outgoing owner Craig Leipold attended the meeting, and Freeman could formally close the sale by Monday.

Flyers put on notice after Cote suspended 3 games

The Flyers' latest on-ice incident apparently was the last straw for the NHL.

Philadelphia forward Riley Cote was suspended for three games by the NHL on Monday, the fifth Flyers player disciplined by the league this season for illegal hits. In the same swoop, the league warned the Flyers that future incidents would warrant potentially stiffer penalties, sources told ESPN.com.

"I talked to [NHL commissioner Gary Bettman] today," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren was quoted as saying in the Philadelphia Daily News. "He thinks, like I do, that these [incidents] are different coincidences, different situations, that have to be viewed differently, but the question was raised about ramifications if it happens again.

"So, obviously, we're under watch."

The NHL's threat of severe discipline could include a fine, suspension of coaches, or a combination of both, sources told ESPN.com.

Cote was given a match penalty for a head shot that sent Dallas forward Matt Niskanen into the boards in the third period of the Stars' 4-1 win over the Flyers on Saturday night.

Forward Scott Hartnell was suspended two games last week for checking Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Alberts in the head.

In the preseason, Steve Downie was hit with a 20-game ban after a high hit to the head of Ottawa's Dean McAmmond.

Jesse Boulerice was dealt the longest single-season punishment in league history when he earned a 25-game suspension for hitting Vancouver's Ryan Kesler across the face with his stick.

Randy Jones was given a two-game suspension after he sent Boston's Patrice Bergeron face-first into the boards on Oct. 27. Bergeron hasn't returned to action since he broke his nose and sustained a concussion as a result of the hit.

Cote leads the Flyers in penalty minutes with 61.