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Failed expansion teams you wanted to see.


Davidellias

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So I recently discovered there was a failed NHL expansion team called the Hampton Roads Rhinos. As a Virginia native I really thought it would be cool to actually have a major league team in Virginia and not just a D.C. team in NorVA.

What are the expansion teams you wish could have been given admittance in to the big 4?

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This was before I was born, but it's too bad that the Cleveland Barons weren't admitted into the NHL from the AHL in the early-50's. I heard that they had a pretty good team. Maybe that would have changed the face of hockey and expansion for the better, and you wouldn't have had some of the bad expansion decisions in the 60's and 70's (like the Oakland Seals and KC Scouts).

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This was before I was born, but it's too bad that the Cleveland Barons weren't admitted into the NHL from the AHL in the early-50's. I heard that they had a pretty good team. Maybe that would have changed the face of hockey and expansion for the better, and you wouldn't have had some of the bad expansion decisions in the 60's and 70's (like the Oakland Seals and KC Scouts).

Not likely. The NHL's 1960s and 1970s expansion push was contextualized by the league's rivalry or potential rivalry with other leagues. The Kings and Seals were added in 1967 to cripple the Western Hockey League, which appeared to be positioning itself as a rival major league. The Scouts were added during the NHL's war with the WHA-in which both leagues were trying to snap up all the markets and arenas that they could find.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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This was before I was born, but it's too bad that the Cleveland Barons weren't admitted into the NHL from the AHL in the early-50's. I heard that they had a pretty good team. Maybe that would have changed the face of hockey and expansion for the better, and you wouldn't have had some of the bad expansion decisions in the 60's and 70's (like the Oakland Seals and KC Scouts).

Not likely. The NHL's 1960s and 1970s expansion push was contextualized by the league's rivalry or potential rivalry with other leagues. The Kings and Seals were added in 1967 to cripple the Western Hockey League, which appeared to be positioning itself as a rival major league. The Scouts were added during the NHL's war with the WHA-in which both leagues were trying to snap up all the markets and arenas that they could find.

If the Barons work out, though, you have to figure that the NHL might have expanded again before 1967, which is going to change some of the future dynamic of franchise awarding.

And, the Seals weren't added to cripple the WHL as much as to satisfy CBS, who wanted two West Coast teams as part of the new TV Deal with the NHL.

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This was before I was born, but it's too bad that the Cleveland Barons weren't admitted into the NHL from the AHL in the early-50's. I heard that they had a pretty good team. Maybe that would have changed the face of hockey and expansion for the better, and you wouldn't have had some of the bad expansion decisions in the 60's and 70's (like the Oakland Seals and KC Scouts).

Not likely. The NHL's 1960s and 1970s expansion push was contextualized by the league's rivalry or potential rivalry with other leagues. The Kings and Seals were added in 1967 to cripple the Western Hockey League, which appeared to be positioning itself as a rival major league. The Scouts were added during the NHL's war with the WHA-in which both leagues were trying to snap up all the markets and arenas that they could find.

If the Barons work out, though, you have to figure that the NHL might have expanded again before 1967, which is going to change some of the future dynamic of franchise awarding.

And, the Seals weren't added to cripple the WHL as much as to satisfy CBS, who wanted two West Coast teams as part of the new TV Deal with the NHL.

I doubt it. The NHL Cabal was historically reluctant to expand before 1967, and I doubt one more team would have prompted a major shift in their thinking. Besides Pittsburgh is out as a market in the late 1950s because there's no arena, and Philly didn't even have an AHL team.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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Also, in 1974, the city of Schenectady NY was going to construction a geodetic domed arena to house an ABA team called the Tri-City Comets. The financing failed due to typical upstate NY politics: the mayor's choices of architects and construction company were not what the city council wanted, so the idea died....

This arena would also have housed teams in the WHA, AHL, and MISL...but what if only exists.

tumblr_nulnnz7RCV1r5jqq2o1_250.jpg

Oh what could have been....

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Orlando Sunrays

OrlandoSunRays.jpeg

What might come as a shock to exactly zero of you is that this logo was designed by the same firm that did the Magic's original logo. All this has me wondering is what that full lettering font would've looked like and if the SunRays would've used the hilariously illegible number font the Magic used as well.

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Orlando Sunrays

OrlandoSunRays.jpeg

What might come as a shock to exactly zero of you is that this logo was designed by the same firm that did the Magic's original logo. All this has me wondering is what that full lettering font would've looked like and if the SunRays would've used the hilariously illegible number font the Magic used as well.

And the baseball that was used in the Major League movie series.

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Why are the Zephyrs on this list? Was there an attempt to use that name for an expansion club before the Rockies were awarded?

YES! They were one of the groups trying to get the expansion team that turned out to be the Rockies

tumblr_nulnnz7RCV1r5jqq2o1_250.jpg

Oh what could have been....

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