Skies Slowly Clearing for Seattle-based NHL Franchise
There’s been plenty of buzz about NHL relocation and expansion over the past year. Season ticket deposits are being taken in Las Vegas for a non-existing franchise, Quebec City is about to open a new arena (with Metallica opening the building this August), and there’s been progress in building a new, and much needed arena in Seattle in order to secure a professional sports franchise. Whether the talent pool of the league can handle an additional two teams is a different discussion for a different time, but the fee to bring a team in to the NHL’s sandbox is about $500 million. At one point there was talk of adding four franchises (which is ludicrous), but two would be manageable.
The logical franchise to move to Las Vegas or Seattle has always been Arizona. But now that the Coyotes ownership finally seems settled, who would be the next team that might need to hire a moving company? The franchise to keep an eye on is the Florida Panthers. The attendance at Panthers games can be downright pitiful. The new ownership stopped the free ticket giveaways to get butts in the seats (so it wouldn’t look like those photos) to reward the fans who pay money to see them play. There’s an imbalance between the Eastern and Western Conferences, and one team moving West would balance the conferences.
Quebec has been pining for an NHL franchise since the Nordqiues become the Colorado Avalanche after the 1994-95 season. They finally built the new arena required (which is also part of the price of admission to be in the NHL), so now it’s a matter of giving the building a regular tenant. Seattle has been starving for an indoor pro sports team since the NBA’s Sonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder after the 2007-08 NBA Season. And Las Vegas is itching to get a professional sports franchise period. If it was me running the league, this is how the league could look in a few years:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Pacific Division – Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Seattle
-All of the teams make sense geographically. The Coyotes would be the odd team out and move to the…
Central Division – Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg, Nashville, Arizona
-Other than Arizona joining the division, everything else remains the same
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division – Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit, Quebec City, Columbus
-First they would need to rename this division the “Northeast Division”. With Florida heading West, it doesn’t make sense to keep Tampa Bay in this division with no other franchises nearby. Columbus gets swapped in to balance out the Eastern Conference divisions.
Metropolitan Division – NY Rangers, NY Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Carolina, Tampa Bay
-Everything remains the same except the addition of Tampa Bay and gets reunited with Washington and Carolina. This division should be renamed the “Atlantic Division”
Latest posts by Adam Bernard (see all)
- The NHL’s Naughty & Nice List Heading in to Christmas 2015 - December 24, 2015
- Steven Stamkos’ Future in Tampa Is Stormy - December 17, 2015
- Projected 2016 NHL All-Star Game Squads - November 22, 2015
