Report: NHL Expanding league, Adding 4 Teams by 2017

[sportstar1212]

If one team has to move back to the West, then it should be Detroit since they were just fine there prior to the realignment. Columbus needs to establish a stronger fan base and playing more games in their own time zone helps that. Detroit is one of the most strongly supported teams in the league and they can afford to play games in other time zones because plenty of people will still watch. I also hate how the realignment got rid of the Chicago-Detroit rivalry, which was one of the best in the league.

[kewp80]

If one team has to move back to the West, then it should be Detroit since they were just fine there prior to the realignment. Columbus needs to establish a stronger fan base and playing more games in their own time zone helps that. Detroit is one of the most strongly supported teams in the league and they can afford to play games in other time zones because plenty of people will still watch. I also hate how the realignment got rid of the Chicago-Detroit rivalry, which was one of the best in the league.

And the Blues-Wings rivalry. Loved watching those two late in the season or in the playoffs.

[The_Admiral]

#6 is absolutely correct about Houston. Only place I've ever been where it's worse is New Orleans, and nobody ever said putting a hockey team there was a good idea, either.

You ever been to St. Louis in July/August? Don't go there then. In fact, don't go there ever.

[DarkJourney]

I was wrong about Houston. Not NHL worthy. Let's go back to 1990 and help the NHL do this right. Anybody seen Doc Brown.

[FiddySicks]

#6 is absolutely correct about Houston. Only place I've ever been where it's worse is New Orleans, and nobody ever said putting a hockey team there was a good idea, either.

You ever been to St. Louis in July/August? Don't go there then. In fact, don't go there ever.

Oh yeah, my dad is from St. Louis. Last time I was there it was July and it was downright MISERABLE. It doesn't have quite the same coastal humidity issue as Houston or New Orleans, though. At least from what I can remember.

[The_Admiral]

I've been in both St. Louis and Orlando in the dog days of summer. St. Louis was worse.

[The_Admiral]

I was wrong about Houston. Not NHL worthy. Let's go back to 1990 and help the NHL do this right. Anybody seen Doc Brown.

This is interesting, from the archives of the Hamilton Spectator:

http://www.bringthenhltohamilton.com/flights_of_fancy7.html

I didn't know the Buss family wanted to stick a team in Anaheim. I know someone talked Green or the Gunds out of moving the North Stars there, though. I wonder if the Lakers would have moved to Anaheim if ownership had gotten an NHL counterpart. Karmanos and Rutherford had a bid for Tampa Bay but wanted to play out of St. Petersburg instead of Tampa. I wish they had gotten the Lightning so that those Michigan dickweeds would have left the Whalers alone. Finally, lol at the Barry Ackerley-led Seattle group WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT.

I also like this image, where Hamilton did as much right as it could to get a team (I don't get the lack of "hockey management"; wouldn't anyone cross that bridge when they come to it?) but Anaheim has a "big-league image." Also, the Kokusai Green group has nothing for "background of owners," a chilling portrait of things to come.

[dbadefense1990]

If one team has to move back to the West, then it should be Detroit since they were just fine there prior to the realignment. Columbus needs to establish a stronger fan base and playing more games in their own time zone helps that. Detroit is one of the most strongly supported teams in the league and they can afford to play games in other time zones because plenty of people will still watch. I also hate how the realignment got rid of the Chicago-Detroit rivalry, which was one of the best in the league.

That moving-west team should be Detroit, but it probably won't be. Since many of their road games prior to the 2013 realignment would begin at around 10:30-11pm local time (including playoff games if they were on primetime in the Pacific zone), possibly the only people who'd be able to stay up until 1-2am to watch games are people without families and kids, and those who don't have to work the next day at 8-9am. It was one of the most proponent arguments made to move the Red Wings to the East in the 1st place.

And I don't know exactly about the Detroit-Chicago rivalry being such a "historical" rivalry as it is a "modern-day" one. Each team's battles with the Blues were more formidable rivalries than the Wings-'Hawks, up until the recent past.

[TorinK92]

Considering the Red Wings were promised a move east for years while the Jackets where a surprise "Whey! let's make the conferences imbalanced!" team, I think Columbus would be the one to move back, not that it would be the most practical per se.

The two teams, along with Nashville, all should be in the eastern conference in their own right. But when you're in a league with half your teams west of Kentucky, you're sort of handicapped unless you want to put all four said expansion teams in the west.

I mean you have potentially good markets out there like Seattle and Portland, and easy name-throwers like Vegas, Houston, Kansas City, and Milwaukee, making the west not a bad place for potential relocation/expansion. But at the very least, Quebec City really shouldn't be anywhere but first on the list. The Hamilton/Markham isn't a bad idea also IMO. And then you have Hartford, another name-thrower which will easily struggle but could potentially become more successful than Vegas, Houston, and KC combined. (I'm banking on cult followings, like we've seen hints of already on the boards, for Hartford)

And I don't know exactly about the Detroit-Chicago rivalry being such a "historical" rivalry as it is a "modern-day" one. Each team's battles with the Blues were more formidable rivalries than the Wings-'Hawks, up until the recent past.

Ah yes, the unwritten rule: If it hasn't been a rivalry for at least 20 years, it is most definitely not a rivalry.

When you consider the fact that they've played each other in more regular season games than any two other teams, then you have the fact that they were owned by two rival brothers in the '50s, their renowned penchant for fighting in the grand old Norris division, that they had met in 8 semifinals or finals by 1966 (including 4 straight SF matches in the '60s), and that 7 out of the top 10 hockey attendances in Chicago have been between the two teams, I think you could absolutely call it a "historical" rivalry.

[DarkJourney]

I was wrong about Houston. Not NHL worthy. Let's go back to 1990 and help the NHL do this right. Anybody seen Doc Brown.

This is interesting, from the archives of the Hamilton Spectator:

http://www.bringthenhltohamilton.com/flights_of_fancy7.html

I didn't know the Buss family wanted to stick a team in Anaheim. I know someone talked Green or the Gunds out of moving the North Stars there, though. I wonder if the Lakers would have moved to Anaheim if ownership had gotten an NHL counterpart. Karmanos and Rutherford had a bid for Tampa Bay but wanted to play out of St. Petersburg instead of Tampa. I wish they had gotten the Lightning so that those Michigan dickweeds would have left the Whalers alone. Finally, lol at the Barry Ackerley-led Seattle group WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT.

I also like this image, where Hamilton did as much right as it could to get a team (I don't get the lack of "hockey management"; wouldn't anyone cross that bridge when they come to it?) but Anaheim has a "big-league image." Also, the Kokusai Green group has nothing for "background of owners," a chilling portrait of things to come.

Good read. I like how Don Cherry said the NHL didn't want another Canadian team but the league turned around and gave Ottawa a team. Pretty obvious to anyone that the Leafs and Sabres nixed the Hamilton bid. The L.A. Stars almost happened but I think the NHL and Jailbird Bruce McNall were negotiating with Disney to start up the Mighty Ducks.

[DustDevil61]

As far as outside the box- what about Salt Lake City? Over a million, support the Jazz no matter how terrible they are.

Waltere's got a point in that SLC and Portland would have some difficulty in supporting an NHL team, because an NHL team in either city would pretty much be going head-to-head with the Jazz and Blazers throughout the year. I believe the fact that these markets are already occupied by NBA teams is the biggest roadblock to the NHL coming to either city.

However, considering both cities are MLS hotbeds, MLS stadia hold about the same as an NBA/NHL crowd, and that there is some overlapping of the MLS and NBA seasons, it might not be as far-fetched as one would think. Would potentially filling 3 20k-ish arenas (if the hypothetical Portland Rosebuds and Utah Golden Eagles hypothetically got their own separate arenas) stretch the market thin? Possibly. Would a possibly over-saturated Portland and/or Salt Lake be a better fit for the NHL than Las Vegas? You bet.

[The_Admiral]

I'm not sure whether the Delta Center fits a full bowl for hockey. Pretty sure there are lots of missing sections and obstructed views. The Grizzlies play over in another building, which leads me to think something's not ideal (or that they're just not enough of a draw for what the rent would be). Salt Lake City seems like it would be good for the NHL in theory, but I worry about overextending the market when there's only one other team in town playing at the same time in the same arena with a cultish devotion from years of competitive play. It's nothing I'm particularly jonesing for.

[DarkJourney]

Here was the Arena Football & Ice Skating set up at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. You can pretty much tell what the hockey configuration would look like. Not good.

[monkeypower]

What about where the 02 Olympics were played and where the Grizzlies play? Or is that too far away from Salt Lake to be a reasonable option?

EDIT: Looked it up. Maverik (actually spelled that way) Center in West Valley City which is a suburb of SLC. According to Wikipedia it holds 10,100 for hockey.

[BBTV]

.

[Foxxtrot44]

What about where the 02 Olympics were played and where the Grizzlies play? Or is that too far away from Salt Lake to be a reasonable option?

EDIT: Looked it up. Maverik (actually spelled that way) Center in West Valley City which is a suburb of SLC. According to Wikipedia it holds 10,100 for hockey.

Maverik Center (blame Wyoming) would likely be a suitable home for a Salt Lake hockey team. The arena is designed to be scalable, so the Golden Eagles would likely play at Energy Solutions for a season. The arena is in the entertainment district of West Valley and sits on bus rapid transit and light rail lines, not to mention it's right off the freeway. There has been significant investment in the west side of the valley in recent years and WVC has been one of the biggest beneficiaries. The commercial district that now surrounds Maverik is actually pretty great.

That said, if an investor came along and wanted to build a new stadium, I would wager it would not be on the west side.

[monkeypower]

I was wrong about Houston. Not NHL worthy. Let's go back to 1990 and help the NHL do this right. Anybody seen Doc Brown.

This is interesting, from the archives of the Hamilton Spectator:

http://www.bringthenhltohamilton.com/flights_of_fancy7.html

I didn't know the Buss family wanted to stick a team in Anaheim. I know someone talked Green or the Gunds out of moving the North Stars there, though. I wonder if the Lakers would have moved to Anaheim if ownership had gotten an NHL counterpart. Karmanos and Rutherford had a bid for Tampa Bay but wanted to play out of St. Petersburg instead of Tampa. I wish they had gotten the Lightning so that those Michigan dickweeds would have left the Whalers alone. Finally, lol at the Barry Ackerley-led Seattle group WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT.

I also like this image, where Hamilton did as much right as it could to get a team (I don't get the lack of "hockey management"; wouldn't anyone cross that bridge when they come to it?) but Anaheim has a "big-league image." Also, the Kokusai Green group has nothing for "background of owners," a chilling portrait of things to come.

Good read. I like how Don Cherry said the NHL didn't want another Canadian team but the league turned around and gave Ottawa a team. Pretty obvious to anyone that the Leafs and Sabres nixed the Hamilton bid. The L.A. Stars almost happened but I think the NHL and Jailbird Bruce McNall were negotiating with Disney to start up the Mighty Ducks.

If we're still talking about these 1990 expansion bids, the Mighty Ducks movie wouldn't come out for another two years after. So unless the Mighty Ducks movie was conceived by Bettman to make Disney have a team, the Anaheim 1990 bid and the eventual Ducks aren't connected.

Anyways the Mighty Ducks were a rush job just to start. They didn't get all the usual time that an expansion team gets before they need to start. So I don't think Disney was planning on owning an NHL team back in 1990.

[Cosmic]

I was wrong about Houston. Not NHL worthy. Let's go back to 1990 and help the NHL do this right. Anybody seen Doc Brown.

This is interesting, from the archives of the Hamilton Spectator:

http://www.bringthenhltohamilton.com/flights_of_fancy7.html

I didn't know the Buss family wanted to stick a team in Anaheim. I know someone talked Green or the Gunds out of moving the North Stars there, though. I wonder if the Lakers would have moved to Anaheim if ownership had gotten an NHL counterpart. Karmanos and Rutherford had a bid for Tampa Bay but wanted to play out of St. Petersburg instead of Tampa. I wish they had gotten the Lightning so that those Michigan dickweeds would have left the Whalers alone. Finally, lol at the Barry Ackerley-led Seattle group WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT.

I also like this image, where Hamilton did as much right as it could to get a team (I don't get the lack of "hockey management"; wouldn't anyone cross that bridge when they come to it?) but Anaheim has a "big-league image." Also, the Kokusai Green group has nothing for "background of owners," a chilling portrait of things to come.

Good read. I like how Don Cherry said the NHL didn't want another Canadian team but the league turned around and gave Ottawa a team. Pretty obvious to anyone that the Leafs and Sabres nixed the Hamilton bid. The L.A. Stars almost happened but I think the NHL and Jailbird Bruce McNall were negotiating with Disney to start up the Mighty Ducks.

If we're still talking about these 1990 expansion bids, the Mighty Ducks movie wouldn't come out for another two years after. So unless the Mighty Ducks movie was conceived by Bettman to make Disney have a team, the Anaheim 1990 bid and the eventual Ducks aren't connected.

Anyways the Mighty Ducks were a rush job just to start. They didn't get all the usual time that an expansion team gets before they need to start. So I don't think Disney was planning on owning an NHL team back in 1990.

I don't think it was Disney back then... the Anaheim bid doesn't have "majority owner" or "financial background". I wonder if there was another group that fell through at the last minute? The Disney team was announced less than a year before they took the ice. The Pond must have been under construction for some time before that.... was it just going to be used for concerts? The Wikipedia article offers nothing about the construction of the arena.

[monkeypower]

I was wrong about Houston. Not NHL worthy. Let's go back to 1990 and help the NHL do this right. Anybody seen Doc Brown.

This is interesting, from the archives of the Hamilton Spectator:

http://www.bringthenhltohamilton.com/flights_of_fancy7.html

I didn't know the Buss family wanted to stick a team in Anaheim. I know someone talked Green or the Gunds out of moving the North Stars there, though. I wonder if the Lakers would have moved to Anaheim if ownership had gotten an NHL counterpart. Karmanos and Rutherford had a bid for Tampa Bay but wanted to play out of St. Petersburg instead of Tampa. I wish they had gotten the Lightning so that those Michigan dickweeds would have left the Whalers alone. Finally, lol at the Barry Ackerley-led Seattle group WE KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT.

I also like this image, where Hamilton did as much right as it could to get a team (I don't get the lack of "hockey management"; wouldn't anyone cross that bridge when they come to it?) but Anaheim has a "big-league image." Also, the Kokusai Green group has nothing for "background of owners," a chilling portrait of things to come.

Good read. I like how Don Cherry said the NHL didn't want another Canadian team but the league turned around and gave Ottawa a team. Pretty obvious to anyone that the Leafs and Sabres nixed the Hamilton bid. The L.A. Stars almost happened but I think the NHL and Jailbird Bruce McNall were negotiating with Disney to start up the Mighty Ducks.

If we're still talking about these 1990 expansion bids, the Mighty Ducks movie wouldn't come out for another two years after. So unless the Mighty Ducks movie was conceived by Bettman to make Disney have a team, the Anaheim 1990 bid and the eventual Ducks aren't connected.

Anyways the Mighty Ducks were a rush job just to start. They didn't get all the usual time that an expansion team gets before they need to start. So I don't think Disney was planning on owning an NHL team back in 1990.

I don't think it was Disney back then... the Anaheim bid doesn't have "majority owner" or "financial background". I wonder if there was another group that fell through at the last minute? The Disney team was announced less than a year before they took the ice. The Pond must have been under construction for some time before that.... was it just going to be used for concerts? The Wikipedia article offers nothing about the construction of the arena.

That's what I was trying to say. Jerry Buss' 1990 bid and the actual Ducks team a couple years later aren't the same team. I read DarkJourney's post like he was saying the reason that the 1990 Anaheim bid wasn't chosen, was that the NHL was already talking to Disney about a team for later years. I was saying that the District 5 peewee Mighty Ducks hadn't been invented yet back in 1990, so I doubt Disney had any thought of owning an NHL team.

[The_Admiral]

How does the guy who owned the L.A. Lakers not qualify as "financial background" but Peter Karmanos and the Yakuza both do? I'm beginning to suspect the Hamilton Spectator didn't spectate many NBA games.