Yah but isn't that Brooklyn arena new / their new home? Or just temporary? I was under the impression Seattle's arena cannot actually accommodate a hockey rink because of how it was built but maybe I misunderstood.
Brooklyn is going to be the Islanders' full-time home at 14,500 seats. That's only allowed because they're the Islanders and a.) the NHL doesn't want to lose them in that market and b.) they have an owner who is fiercely loyal to the market and is okay with operating within the NHL's financial system and accepting that he's not going to have a Golden Goose. I don't think some previous teams that were on the block would be allowed to play in an arena that small...but Winnipeg set a type of precedence and the situation in Long Island just wasn't one where any party wanted the team to leave. It's clear that the NHL values quality of arena over size of arena right now. Sorry, Hamilton.
KeyArena's NHL configuration is basically going to be as bad as Brooklyn's is, it's just a far worse arena with more seats for the hockey configuration. The difference here is that KeyArena would be a temporary arena, a temporary arena that the NHL has already said publically would be suitable as a temporary arena.
Quebec is getting a team. If it's the Coyotes or an expansion team remains to be seen, but their arena is being built as we speak. With the owners likely wanting expansion and the Coyotes floating face first in the duck pond like some sort of lame duck
it will happen. The question that really matters here, in my mind, is Toronto 2 or Seattle or both. If it's just QC and Toronto 2 I'm going to be pissed...but I think Phoenix will solve the issue and make it a round 3. Considering Quebec is further along with the arena building and has what appears to be an ownership group set up I do think the Coyotes would move to Quebec before Seattle (Toronto isn't an option here since they'd have nowhere to play...the Leafs aren't going to let them play in the ACC and Ricoh Coliseum is about 7,000 seats too small to be a temporary venue...oh, and it's also owned by MLSE...Toronto 2 happens when that arena opens and not a second before).
The thing holding Seattle back right now is that their focus is clearly on the NBA right now...they have the interested parties, reportedly, in owning a NHL team and the folks wanting to build the arena and bring the Super Sonics 'back' very vocally want to share the arena with a NHL franchise...but the NHL isn't going there before the NBA goes there...and the Kings move to Seattle is going to take some time to get approved. By the time all the kinks are finished there and the arena does get approval (it's in the environmental impact study stage right now) Quebec could just be too far ahead of the process to catch up.
At the end of the day I think all three of Seattle, Quebec, and Toronto 2 will wind up with teams. The entire league wants the cash cow that would be Toronto 2, Winnipeg's short-term success bodes extremely well for the league accepting the larger Quebec back, and Seattle is obviously an attractive market for the NHL for numerous reasons.
Gotta love it. Ovy meets Benny Hill.
