Confirmed with Link: Expansion

[RussellmaniaKW]

Arizona has really shown that hockey in the desert is a fantastic idea.

So glad the NHL is pursuing this

not all markets are the same, even if they have similarities. Arizona has more problems than just geographic location. From what I understand a big problem they have is the location of the arena relative to the city, but despite that they still have pretty decent attendance for a fringe team. They've also had lots of ownership problems that have nothing to do with being in a desert.

 

[EspOrrsito]

Las Vegas!
The NHL has been slowly turning me off over the last few years and the possibility of putting a team in the modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah is sickening....IMO....

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I really hope a bid comes in from KC

IMO the city is far different then economic wasteland that lost Kings + Scouts and would be potential Predator like success. It does have various levels of hockey history

Vegas for Pacific
KC for Central

Leaves Portland/Seattle as option for Yotes down line (Allen only wants team if it is cheap and Seattle still has no arena commitment)

 

[PrisonMike]

Seattle and Quebec City have my votes . It will probably be Vegas and a second Toronto team.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

not all markets are the same, even if they have similarities. Arizona has more problems than just geographic location. From what I understand a big problem they have is the location of the arena relative to the city, but despite that they still have pretty decent attendance for a fringe team. They've also had lots of ownership problems that have nothing to do with being in a desert.

So the Vegas team means they can leave AZ and still have a team 3 hours away. People who like hockey in Scottsdale will be just as likely to watch their team from wherever they transplayed play 3.5 hrs away (in Vegas) as they will to drive an hour to see them in Glendale.



I could easily be hating on expansion though from a hockey perspective but this 3 on 3 overtime gives me hope that we might get 4 on 4 sometime in the next decade to make the sport less dull (I don't watch regular season non-Bruin games on tv anymore product isn't good enough.) Expansion is the only way to pull it off you'll need to get a team in Quebec, Hartford, another in Toronto NHLPA will demand at least 36 teams to accept 4 on 4.

 

[Ten Thousand Hours]

The NHL should probably contract by a couple of teams, not expand. This would just dilute the talent.

Is there really a talent shortage in the league? You don't think you'd be saying that no matter what? If there were 16 teams and we were all accustomed to guys like Lucic being 4th liners, people would probably complain if we had to go to 30 and move those guys up to open up spots for the Paille's of the world.

 

[Sheppy]

I think it's also underrated how many Canadians who support Canadian NHL teams will look at Vegas and book trips to Vegas around when their favorite NHL team is playing there. When they consider the cost of tickets/parking/beer/food in Canadian NHL rinks vs. going to Vegas, walking from their hotel to the arena, paying much less for the same seat, and after 2.5 - 3 hours still being able to go out and hit the town, could be a good revenue generator for the team and the community.

Absolutely agree. I know I can fly to Vegas and spend 3-4 nights from Yellowknife cheaper than I can fly to Calgary and stay 3-4 nights, and like you said, it's much cheaper down there. I've been to Vegas a few times and the strip is such a prime location for it. The amount of traffic around that arena will pull people in. Think about it, you're at the casino, win a few hundred bucks... "Sweet, might go catch a hockey game" - Nothing wrong with that, i'll probably be one of those guys.

I'll be at the first Bruins game in that arena if they indeed get a team, which i'd almost bet my house on it that they will.

 

[VanIsle]

Vegas gets a team
Quebec gets the Nordiques back
Phoenix moves to Seattle

Detroit or Columbus back to the West, everything is even again.

 

[Sheppy]

Yotes were doing decent in Phoenix ,, Move to Glendale killed all momentum the Yotes has built up and moved team away from fanbase and civilization

Vegas team will be playing in heart of Vegas within walking distance of most hotels

Not at all comparable

It's pretty much walking distance of all the hotels on the strip to be honest. We did the walk from the Luxor which is at the bottom to the Wynn which is pretty much at the top, not a bad walk at all. I'm pumped that there will likely be a team in Vegas, it's just another thing for someone to do there.

 

[BruinDust]

Vegas gets a team
Quebec gets the Nordiques back
Phoenix moves to Seattle

Detroit or Columbus back to the West, everything is even again.

To me this is the best case scenario. The Coyotes experiment needs to end, I know Bettman doesn't agree but the rest of the hockey world sees the writing on the wall.

Leave Columbus where they are at and let divisional rivalries with Pittsburgh and Philly grow.

I'd move Detroit back to the west in a second. Rekindled the rivalries with Chicago and St. Louis. I never liked having just one Original Six team in the west. They never should of been allowed to leave. Sadly with the pull Mr. Illitch has with the league I never see them going back west. They basically begged the league for decades to move to the eastern conference.

One other expansion wrinkle, if QC did get a team they joining the Atlantic no question. League would likely want to keep Florida and TB in the same division. Would this mean a Boston move to the Metro Div.?

 

[Ratty]

The question of watering the product down will inevitably arise during this discussion by the League. I remember that scare tactic during the first expansion when the league doubled by adding former WHA teams. But, lo and behold, they discovered that there were some pretty damn good players playing in the United States.

Then the next big wave of expansion teams arrived and folks said the same thing "Not enough talent to go around". Then, lo and behold, they discovered that there was talent in Russia, Sweden and other parts of Europe.

Bettman, in his presser in Vegas, said most teams have four good lines and three solid defense pairs. I'm not so sure about that when you look at teams like Florida and Glendale. This time there may be an argument against watering the product down. That is, of course, unless there's undiscovered talent in China, Korea, Japan, Australia, etc. of which none of us is aware.

 

[FribbleLine]

I just don't get Vegas.

How much of the fan-base will be locals and how committed to a team will they be?

Is the arena going to be half filled with the visiting teams fans who came in droves for a trip to Vegas?

It just seems like a crappy place to put an NHL team.

 

[BruinDust]

I just don't get Vegas.

How much of the fan-base will be locals and how committed to a team will they be?

Is the arena going to be half filled with the visiting teams fans who came in droves for a trip to Vegas?

It just seems like a crappy place to put an NHL team.

At face value I would agree.

But at the end of the day a lot of the chances of success are dependent on the on-ice product.

Arizona has been a failure but what success have they had outside of a fluke to the West final in 2012. They miss the playoffs more often than not, when is the last time Arizona has been considered as contender? How about never.

Atlanta moved to Winnipeg after one playoff appearance in their history. Not saying it's the only reason they moved but being a bottom-feeder for the better part of a decade sure didn't help their cause.

Bettman made a good point in his presser today. The local residents of Las Vegas are looking for something to rally the community around like a professional major league sports team. If they can build a good on-ice product and do it fairly quickly, then they have a chance.

If they go a decade before having a playoff game then I think the chances of success are remote.

 

[jaymez33]

should expand to Vegas and Seattle and move Arizona or Florida to Quebec

 

[Pia8988]

Can't wait to see the Bruins when they come to Vegas.

 

[Mynameismark*]

I think it's also underrated how many Canadians who support Canadian NHL teams will look at Vegas and book trips to Vegas around when their favorite NHL team is playing there. When they consider the cost of tickets/parking/beer/food in Canadian NHL rinks vs. going to Vegas, walking from their hotel to the arena, paying much less for the same seat, and after 2.5 - 3 hours still being able to go out and hit the town, could be a good revenue generator for the team and the community.

But you can also do this in Montreal and NYC. The still going out and about part. Closing hours are a very loosely defined 3am.

Anyway, Vegas doesnt have the fanbase. They know nothing about Hockey, and if that was a Vegas crowd I saw at the award show tonight I want no part.

 

[crimsonace]

Likely going to be Vegas & Seattle, but I wouldn't be shocked to see a relocation (ARI/FLA -> QC?).

Problem is, the league is going to have to shell out a small fortune to either Detroit or Columbus to get them to agree to go back to the West if a western team moves east.

I'd like to see the revival of the Nordiques - great, passionate fans in a very small market. Winnipeg is working as a small market. QC would certainly seem to be a good one, too.

 

[crimsonace]

But you can also do this in Montreal and NYC. The still going out and about part. Closing hours are a very loosely defined 3am.

Anyway, Vegas doesnt have the fanbase. They know nothing about Hockey, and if that was a Vegas crowd I saw at the award show tonight I want no part.

One thing about Vegas - they've been shunned by every major league because of gambling. They'll embrace a major league sport, and it's also one of the cheapest cities in the U.S. to fly into. I can see the locals embracing the NHL because it's *their* team. I thought Raleigh would be a sheer disaster (and yes, their attendance hasn't been good of late as the team has been terrible), but it's been mildly successful at the gate. Nashville has a pretty solid fanbase for a city that had almost zero hockey history other than some failed minor league teams. Oklahoma City would've been a great market (their CHL team was drawing 9K/game) had the NBA not beaten the NHL there.

Atlanta was a failure because Atlanta has terrible support for all of its teams. The Braves' attendance was laughably awful throughout their 15-year run of success, the Hawks & Falcons haven't really brought in big crowds, either. The Thrashers' death knell was a group that was *only* interested in the NBA buying the arena and both teams and deciding to get rid of the hockey team to focus their time/energy/$$ on the Hawks.

 

[crimsonace]

The question of watering the product down will inevitably arise during this discussion by the League. I remember that scare tactic during the first expansion when the league doubled by adding former WHA teams. But, lo and behold, they discovered that there were some pretty damn good players playing in the United States.

The first expansion was 5 years before the WHA was conceived (1967-68 - 6 to 12 teams). The league added 6 more teams between 1970-74 to get to 18 (then 17 after the Cleveland Barons folded). The 1979 WHA expansion was only 4 teams - EDM/HFD/WIN/QUE. The WHA had a big impact in discovering European and American players. The Whalers & Jets had a ton of Swedish players on their rosters.

Bettman, in his presser in Vegas, said most teams have four good lines and three solid defense pairs. I'm not so sure about that when you look at teams like Florida and Glendale. This time there may be an argument against watering the product down. That is, of course, unless there's undiscovered talent in China, Korea, Japan, Australia, etc. of which none of us is aware.

I've watched Asia League games. It's safe to say there's not a lot of talent in those countries that we're not aware of. It's probably SPHL level. Hockey is simply not a part of the culture in East Asia - baseball & soccer (and to a lesser degree, basketball) rule the roost in Korea & Japan, and the NBA is huge in China. The best Asian players/teams are Japanese, but they're far behind the Europeans in skill/depth. However, there *is* a lot of talent in hockey - a lot of the "next tier" talent that would normally have been in the AHL is playing in Russia, but the KHL's struggles certainly could provide for enough players to come back over and stock two NHL teams, and there are some pretty good AHL players who would get a shot. I'm not really worried about talent dilution - there's not a lot of dilution when you're going from 30 to 32 teams - that's adding 4 goalies, 12 defensemen and 24 forward to a league to provide 64 goalies instead of 60, 192 defensemen instead of 180, and 384 forwards instead of 360.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

More teams, more players, more mistakes, more goals. Sounds like the 1980s

 

[ashnathan]

I think its silly if Toronto has 2 teams. Toronto Maple Laughs

Seriously though, Seattle would be cool and Quebec city. Habs could have their French rivals that beat them up and Boston can have an instant rival in Seattle.

 

[ODAAT]

Money grab when there are plenty of teams who are barely staying afloat and should be relocated

 

[Fenian24]

What could possibly go wrong with young male millionaires in Vegas?

Seguin is already demanding a trade to Vegas as soon as they enter the league.

 

[Flannelman]

only 90 minutes after Bettman announcement:

http://www.tsn.ca/quebecor-says-it-will-apply-for-nhl-franchise-1.317084

 

[Man Rocket]

only 90 minutes after Bettman announcement:

http://www.tsn.ca/quebecor-says-it-will-apply-for-nhl-franchise-1.317084

I hope its Quebec and Seattle, no Vegas. I would root for Quebec hard against the Habs

I assume it will be 9 forwards, 5 D, 1 G again?

Bergeron
Krejci
Lucic
Marchand
Eriksson
Smith
Spooner
Pastrnak
Connolly

Chara
Hamilton
Krug
Seidenberg
McQuaid

Rask

What is the cutoff in order to be protected? Morrow has 15 games would we need to protect him or is he safe?