Rockets owner hasn’t given up on dream of Houston NHL team (mod: Houston thread)

[Barclay Donaldson]

Houston could get an NHL team without the involvement of Fertitta.

Here's how.

A potential owner could make a temporary arrangement for the team to play at Minute Maid Park, with the roof closed. This would be done until the owner gets a new arena built for the team.

NHL teams playing home games in indoor stadiums designed for baseball and/or football is nothing new. The Lightning played in what is now Tropicana Field for a few seasons in the 1990s. A few years back a Heritage Classic was also held at BC Place in Vancouver, where weather prevented the game from being played with the roof open.

And before you say Houston doesn't need another arena, I will stop you right there. Numerous major markets have multiple NHL/NBA sized indoor arenas. Even in markets which only have one team in each league. These markets with multiple arenas are Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Phoenix, and the Twin Cities.

Lot of issues with this. But first, I need to get the drugs that you're doing if you actually think that even one ounce of what you just posted is feasible in any way whatsoever.

No NHL team is going to play all of their games outdoors, even as a temporary solution. Tampa played at a small indoor arena called the Expo Center, not on a wide-open baseball field with poor sight-lines and the massive infrastructural issues that face every winter classic and stadium series. Houston is one of the most humid cities in the country to top it all off. So if you think there is precedence you are very wrong.

Houston doesn't need another arena. Bay Area is a massive metro area, San José Shark's SAP Center is 33 miles away from Golden State Warrior's Oracle Arena. NYC metro population is over triple Houston's, and LA metro population is over double Houston's, so they can both easily support a second arena. Miami is an argument against Houston having two arenas considering their issues with multiple arenas dating back over 2 decades. If you knew anything about what was going on in Pheonix, there have been many attempts to get the Suns and Coyotes to arena share since the market is not capable of having more than one arena. For the Twin Cities, it's one each for St. Paul and Minneapolis. The city of Houston would not give public money to build an arena, and there is no interest from a buyer to even buy the team let alone build a brand new arena built entirely with private money in a market that already has an arena that is built to handle hosting everything already.

One could think that Houston could get a NHL team without the involvement of Fertitta. That is until you put more than 2 seconds of thought into it, then everything just falls apart.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

NHL is wasting it's time in Florida. The Panthers moving is inevitable. Just move them please. Quebec, Houston................

Florida's youth hockey participation has jumped over many traditional hockey markets. It has undoubtedly increased the visibility of the sport in a massive market since their inception. They haven't had an owner who been as financially invested as Viola in their 25 year history, the vast majority of which they have been atrocious due to poor ownership. The franchise actually is being taken seriously for the first time in their history and you think that the NHL is wasting their time there? And to top it off, you think that the proper solution would be to relocate it either to a city where there is no interested or capable ownership, or a market which would be by far the smallest in the league and the second smallest in North American pro sports? Either a market where the team can't go, or another small-time Canadian market, that like Winnipeg will need a long playoff run to break even each year. That's crazy.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Lot of issues with this. But first, I need to get the drugs that you're doing if you actually think that even one ounce of what you just posted is feasible in any way whatsoever.

No NHL team is going to play all of their games outdoors, even as a temporary solution. Tampa played at a small indoor arena called the Expo Center, not on a wide-open baseball field with poor sight-lines and the massive infrastructural issues that face every winter classic and stadium series. Houston is one of the most humid cities in the country to top it all off. So if you think there is precedence you are very wrong.

Houston doesn't need another arena. Bay Area is a massive metro area, San José Shark's SAP Center is 33 miles away from Golden State Warrior's Oracle Arena. NYC metro population is over triple Houston's, and LA metro population is over double Houston's, so they can both easily support a second arena. Miami is an argument against Houston having two arenas considering their issues with multiple arenas dating back over 2 decades. If you knew anything about what was going on in Pheonix, there have been many attempts to get the Suns and Coyotes to arena share since the market is not capable of having more than one arena. For the Twin Cities, it's one each for St. Paul and Minneapolis. The city of Houston would not give public money to build an arena, and there is no interest from a buyer to even buy the team let alone build a brand new arena built entirely with private money in a market that already has an arena that is built to handle hosting everything already.

One could think that Houston could get a NHL team without the involvement of Fertitta. That is until you put more than 2 seconds of thought into it, then everything just falls apart.

I never said the Houston NHL team would play all its games outdoors. You seem to forget MMP has a retractable roof.

And I have never done a single recreational drug in my life. I actually oppose the legalization of marijuana, for one. But I'm straying too far off-topic.

And Houston also has another retractable roof stadium, NRG Stadium.

And from what you have been saying in response to my posts, you are starting to come across as a bully. I take bullying very seriously. I let someone who was nominally my friend treat me like shit nearly a decade ago (and he was SIX YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME). I was wrong for that. That drove me to take bullying seriously. You need to cool your jets, because I do not take this kind of stuff lightly.

 

[Bluesguru]

Florida's youth hockey participation has jumped over many traditional hockey markets. It has undoubtedly increased the visibility of the sport in a massive market since their inception. They haven't had an owner who been as financially invested as Viola in their 25 year history, the vast majority of which they have been atrocious due to poor ownership. The franchise actually is being taken seriously for the first time in their history and you think that the NHL is wasting their time there? And to top it off, you think that the proper solution would be to relocate it either to a city where there is no interested or capable ownership, or a market which would be by far the smallest in the league and the second smallest in North American pro sports? Either a market where the team can't go, or another small-time Canadian market, that like Winnipeg will need a long playoff run to break even each year. That's crazy.

They don't draw well at all. Empty seats are massive and so visible when you're watching a game. Not good IMO.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

I never said the Houston NHL team would play all its games outdoors. You seem to forget MMP has a retractable roof.

And I have never done a single recreational drug in my life. I actually oppose the legalization of marijuana, for one. But I'm straying too far off-topic.

And Houston also has another retractable roof stadium, NRG Stadium.

And from what you have been saying in response to my posts, you are starting to come across as a bully. I take bullying very seriously. I let someone who was nominally my friend treat me like shit nearly a decade ago (and he was SIX YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME). I was wrong for that. That drove me to take bullying seriously. You need to cool your jets, because I do not take this kind of stuff lightly.

Retractable roof or not, those two places are incapable of hosting hockey with any regularity, even on a temporary basis while an arena is being constructed (which I showed was an extremely unlikely solution). A retractable roof isn't going to change the fact that they are playing in a baseball stadium, or just as laughably a football stadium in one of the most humid cities in the United States. You actually think that closing the roof is going to make them more capable of keeping ice? That's laughable. It's a struggle to get ice going in colder climates for one time events like the Winter Classic! The average temperature for the city during the season is in the 50s and 60s, and closing the roof isn't going to suddenly make the stadium capable of hosting hockey more capably.

It's not bullying to point out when someone says something that is outlandishly irrational and post evidence of the contrary. If you don't like negative comments, don't put out outlandishly irrational posts. I don't discriminate or target anybody. Only people making wild claims. If that means you get your posts mentioned more, then that is on you. Helpful tip: when someone points out inadequacies in your assertions, defend them with logic and stuff you can back up. Making an empty threat like saying that you beat up bullies doesn't defend what you said.

 

[Lt Frank Drebin]

There is no owner available in Houston at the present time.

Wouldn’t Fertitta own the team?

 

[Aero 75]

Houston could get an NHL team without the involvement of Fertitta.

Here's how.

A potential owner could make a temporary arrangement for the team to play at Minute Maid Park, with the roof closed. This would be done until the owner gets a new arena built for the team.

NHL teams playing home games in indoor stadiums designed for baseball and/or football is nothing new. The Lightning played in what is now Tropicana Field for a few seasons in the 1990s. A few years back a Heritage Classic was also held at BC Place in Vancouver, where weather prevented the game from being played with the roof open.

And before you say Houston doesn't need another arena, I will stop you right there. Numerous major markets have multiple NHL/NBA sized indoor arenas. Even in markets which only have one team in each league. These markets with multiple arenas are Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Phoenix, and the Twin Cities.

Fertitta is out of the picture for good with the issues he is currently facing. Not that he was ever going to bring an NHL team to Houston anyway. Who knows if he is even able to hold on to the Rockets, although I could really care less if he does or doesn't. As long as Fertitta controls Toyota Center, no NHL in Houston.

As far as playing games in Minute Maid Park, doesn't it take the NHL a couple of weeks to set up the rinks for the Winter Classic and Stadium Series games. How could you possibly share a stadium with an MLB team with both seasons going at the same time. Maybe a better idea would have been to use the shell of the gutted Astrodome for a hockey arena, but that has its own set of serious issues, and doesn't have much of a chance of happening either.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

They don't draw well at all. Empty seats are massive and so visible when you're watching a game. Not good IMO.

That's not a sound argument. Watch any Ottawa, Detroit, or New Jersey game. Over half of the lower bowl is empty. None of those three teams are going to be sold or relocated anytime soon, nor should they. Florida averages more than 1,000 fans per game than one of the better NHL teams in the New York Islanders and the Ottawa Senators as well. Watch any Penguins game if you think the poor teams are the only ones guilty of it. Pittsburgh Penguins have their lower bowl filled well under 75% until the third period when people begin filling in from the nosebleeds. And they are a perennial cup contender.

Florida for most of their existence has been an afterthought in the market because of horrific ownership. They have a new owner who immediately brought in a star coach, good GM, and a star goalie on a big contract. They're going in the right direction. It's not nearly enough for Viola or us to see results on the finance sheet after one season after +20 years of absolute obscurity in the market because of how the team was previously run. Carolina had empty seats galore until their new owner Dundon had time to right the ship after +10 years of previous ownership sitting with their thumb up their ass, and he started attracting fans again. Empty seats is hardly a reason to relocate a team.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Fertitta is out of the picture for good with the issues he is currently facing. Not that he was ever going to bring an NHL team to Houston anyway. Who knows if he is even able to hold on to the Rockets, although I could really care less if he does or doesn't. As long as Fertitta controls Toyota Center, no NHL in Houston.

As far as playing games in Minute Maid Park, doesn't it take the NHL a couple of weeks to set up the rinks for the Winter Classic and Stadium Series games. How could you possibly share a stadium with an MLB team with both seasons going at the same time. Maybe a better idea would have been to use the shell of the gutted Astrodome for a hockey arena, but that has its own set of serious issues, and doesn't have much of a chance of happening either.

Well, perhaps you're right.

Fertitta will probably sell the Rockets and the arena to someone much wealthier and with the resources to apply for an NHL expansion bid.

If the NHL does not realign its Western Conference into three divisions based on time zone restrictions, I could see Houston and another Central time market getting the next two Western expansion teams. For the second team, it could either be Milwaukee or Kansas City. Both have arenas that can readily host NHL teams. I feel that if Milwaukee enters the NHL, it will be under the ownership of Haris Turer and his group, and the Admirals name would be carried over from the AHL. The NHL team would likely claim the history of the minor league Admirals as its own, which probably wouldn't be recognized by the NHL. Turer would sell his AHL franchise to its NHL affiliate, the Preds, who would relocate the team to Memphis most likely.

As far as Eastern expansion goes, the only markets I could see are Indianapolis to the Metro and Quebec to the Atlantic. AFAIK, Indy is the westernmost major market in the Eastern Time Zone, and they're close to Columbus so that could be a good rivalry.

 

[TheLegend]

Well, perhaps you're right.

Fertitta will probably sell the Rockets and the arena to someone much wealthier and with the resources to apply for an NHL expansion bid.

If the NHL does not realign its Western Conference into three divisions based on time zone restrictions, I could see Houston and another Central time market getting the next two Western expansion teams. For the second team, it could either be Milwaukee or Kansas City. Both have arenas that can readily host NHL teams. I feel that if Milwaukee enters the NHL, it will be under the ownership of Haris Turer and his group, and the Admirals name would be carried over from the AHL. The NHL team would likely claim the history of the minor league Admirals as its own, which probably wouldn't be recognized by the NHL. Turer would sell his AHL franchise to its NHL affiliate, the Preds, who would relocate the team to Memphis most likely.

As far as Eastern expansion goes, the only markets I could see are Indianapolis to the Metro and Quebec to the Atlantic. AFAIK, Indy is the westernmost major market in the Eastern Time Zone, and they're close to Columbus so that could be a good rivalry.

Well there's only 400 people on the entire planet wealthier that Tillman Fertitta as of today. Most are not in North America and quite a few already own an NHL and/or NBA franchise.

Real Time Billionaires


Even with the wealth Fertitta has there is speculation as to how he should have bought the Rockets in the first place.

Was Tilman Fertitta financially prepared to purchase the Rockets?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Well, perhaps you're right.

Fertitta will probably sell the Rockets and the arena to someone much wealthier and with the resources to apply for an NHL expansion bid.

If the NHL does not realign its Western Conference into three divisions based on time zone restrictions, I could see Houston and another Central time market getting the next two Western expansion teams. For the second team, it could either be Milwaukee or Kansas City. Both have arenas that can readily host NHL teams. I feel that if Milwaukee enters the NHL, it will be under the ownership of Haris Turer and his group, and the Admirals name would be carried over from the AHL. The NHL team would likely claim the history of the minor league Admirals as its own, which probably wouldn't be recognized by the NHL. Turer would sell his AHL franchise to its NHL affiliate, the Preds, who would relocate the team to Memphis most likely.

As far as Eastern expansion goes, the only markets I could see are Indianapolis to the Metro and Quebec to the Atlantic. AFAIK, Indy is the westernmost major market in the Eastern Time Zone, and they're close to Columbus so that could be a good rivalry.

Lots of issues with this. Again.

Fertitta is not going to sell the Rockets and the arena. He can't sell the arena because he doesn't own it. Although with you past inaccurate posts it's not really a surprise you put it regardless. He won't sell the Rockets because he just bought the team for $2.2 billion in 2017. He's not going to turn around and sell the team, especially to someone else so they can add a hockey team. He's one of the 500 richest people in the world. If he can't afford a NBA and NHL team in Houston, no one else is going to be able to step up and do it.

The NHL is on record as saying they are done with expansion. They are not going to 36 teams. So all this speculation as to where they would go is nonsense. The only semi-realistic one is Québec City. Kansas City was never going to get a NHL team, it's common knowledge that the Lemieux and Bettman used the Sprint Center as leverage against Pittsburgh to built them a brand new stadium with public money and the team was never going to relocate. Indianapolis is laughable, they don't even have an arena capable of hosting a NHL team.

 

[TheLegend]

^^^^^

I would suggest the NHL is done with expansion..... for now.

It’s going to take some time for things to get ramped back up to where they were up to the end of the last calendar year. They still have to get Seattle online.

It will be some time before it will ever happen. But I would never preclude that they won’t ever go beyond 32 teams.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Well, perhaps you're right.

Fertitta will probably sell the Rockets and the arena to someone much wealthier and with the resources to apply for an NHL expansion bid.

If the NHL does not realign its Western Conference into three divisions based on time zone restrictions, I could see Houston and another Central time market getting the next two Western expansion teams. For the second team, it could either be Milwaukee or Kansas City. Both have arenas that can readily host NHL teams. I feel that if Milwaukee enters the NHL, it will be under the ownership of Haris Turer and his group, and the Admirals name would be carried over from the AHL. The NHL team would likely claim the history of the minor league Admirals as its own, which probably wouldn't be recognized by the NHL. Turer would sell his AHL franchise to its NHL affiliate, the Preds, who would relocate the team to Memphis most likely.

As far as Eastern expansion goes, the only markets I could see are Indianapolis to the Metro and Quebec to the Atlantic. AFAIK, Indy is the westernmost major market in the Eastern Time Zone, and they're close to Columbus so that could be a good rivalry.

Milwaukee isn't big enough to support both the NBA and NHL the Jackets,Hawks,Blues,Red Wings and Wild already cover a most of the Midwest. Milwaukee would probably only be able to draw from some of Wisconsin which isn't enough to justify putting a NHL team there.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

I had a thought.

Tilman Fertitta should purchase the Stars. He'd keep most home games in Dallas, but 10 home games would be played in Houston, which would not only be permissible as he would own the team, but it would also give Houstonians easier access to NHL hockey 10 days a season without having to drive all the way to Dallas.

As part of this proposal, the NHL team would take the name of Texas Stars, while the AHL team called the Texas Stars changes its name to the Austin Ice Bats, reviving the name of an old lower-level minor hockey team which was named after the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that resides under Congress Avenue Bridge. (The team plays in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park. And also, bats, like the Mexican free-tailed ones, do a lot for us. Mexican free-tailed bats are among the species of the only flying mammal that consumes tons of insect pests, curbing both potential damage to crops and the spread of certain diseases.)

 

[Ernie]

I had a thought.

Tilman Fertitta should purchase the Stars. He'd keep most home games in Dallas, but 10 home games would be played in Houston, which would not only be permissible as he would own the team, but it would also give Houstonians easier access to NHL hockey 10 days a season without having to drive all the way to Dallas.

As part of this proposal, the NHL team would take the name of Texas Stars, while the AHL team called the Texas Stars changes its name to the Austin Ice Bats, reviving the name of an old lower-level minor hockey team which was named after the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that resides under Congress Avenue Bridge. (The team plays in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park. And also, bats, like the Mexican free-tailed ones, do a lot for us. Mexican free-tailed bats are among the species of the only flying mammal that consumes tons of insect pests, curbing both potential damage to crops and the spread of certain diseases.)

From the NHL's perspective, it makes more sense to leave the Houston market for future expansions or relocations instead of allowing one team to occupy both.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

I had a thought.

Tilman Fertitta should purchase the Stars. He'd keep most home games in Dallas, but 10 home games would be played in Houston, which would not only be permissible as he would own the team, but it would also give Houstonians easier access to NHL hockey 10 days a season without having to drive all the way to Dallas.

As part of this proposal, the NHL team would take the name of Texas Stars, while the AHL team called the Texas Stars changes its name to the Austin Ice Bats, reviving the name of an old lower-level minor hockey team which was named after the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that resides under Congress Avenue Bridge. (The team plays in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park. And also, bats, like the Mexican free-tailed ones, do a lot for us. Mexican free-tailed bats are among the species of the only flying mammal that consumes tons of insect pests, curbing both potential damage to crops and the spread of certain diseases.)

Leaving aside how it is an absolute garbage idea to not only split between cities, but between 2 cities that are direct rivals in every single sport, if he can't and won't pay the price for one of the lowest valued NHL franchises, he definitely can't afford the 12th highest valued Dallas Stars.

 

[Aero 75]

I had a thought.

Tilman Fertitta should purchase the Stars. He'd keep most home games in Dallas, but 10 home games would be played in Houston, which would not only be permissible as he would own the team, but it would also give Houstonians easier access to NHL hockey 10 days a season without having to drive all the way to Dallas.

As part of this proposal, the NHL team would take the name of Texas Stars, while the AHL team called the Texas Stars changes its name to the Austin Ice Bats, reviving the name of an old lower-level minor hockey team which was named after the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that resides under Congress Avenue Bridge. (The team plays in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park. And also, bats, like the Mexican free-tailed ones, do a lot for us. Mexican free-tailed bats are among the species of the only flying mammal that consumes tons of insect pests, curbing both potential damage to crops and the spread of certain diseases.)

Ugh, no. For one thing, Tom Gaglardi would never sell to someone like Tilman Fertitta, who is lucky to be owner of the Houston Rockets (cough). For another, why take home games away from a market like Dallas, which has done so much to promote the sport of hockey in the region, and award them to Houston, which has done absolutely nothing to promote the sport.
I did like the idea of rebranding the Texas Stars as the Austin Ice Bats.

 

[StreetHawk]

Lots of issues with this. Again.

Fertitta is not going to sell the Rockets and the arena. He can't sell the arena because he doesn't own it. Although with you past inaccurate posts it's not really a surprise you put it regardless. He won't sell the Rockets because he just bought the team for $2.2 billion in 2017. He's not going to turn around and sell the team, especially to someone else so they can add a hockey team. He's one of the 500 richest people in the world. If he can't afford a NBA and NHL team in Houston, no one else is going to be able to step up and do it.

The NHL is on record as saying they are done with expansion. They are not going to 36 teams. So all this speculation as to where they would go is nonsense. The only semi-realistic one is Québec City. Kansas City was never going to get a NHL team, it's common knowledge that the Lemieux and Bettman used the Sprint Center as leverage against Pittsburgh to built them a brand new stadium with public money and the team was never going to relocate. Indianapolis is laughable, they don't even have an arena capable of hosting a NHL team.

How many other cities can legitimately pay the $650 mill Seattle just dropped down?
Is an NhL team going to be worth that in Milwaukee, KC, Cleveland, etc?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

How many other cities can legitimately pay the $650 mill Seattle just dropped down?
Is an NhL team going to be worth that in Milwaukee, KC, Cleveland, etc?

No NHL ownership group would put a team in any of those cities you just mentioned. Milwaukee and Cleveland are cities that aren't big enough for both the NBA and NHL. Kansas City is already a small market that makes life difficult for the Royals and Lamar Hunt Jr. is the only person capable of buying a team and has said he won't.

A side benefit of the NHL making the price of teams so expensive is that the teams are stable and won't be forced to relocate from things like coronavirus. In order to buy a NHL team, an ownership needs to be supremely wealthy and equally dedicated. Not sure if it was Bettman and Daly's intended effect to stabilize NHL ownership, but it happened. That, and they don't need to expand. 32 is the magic number for North American pro sports. It solves all of the NHL's scheduling issues. They've already said they aren't expanding past that as it creates more problems than it solves.

 

[tarheelhockey]

A side benefit of the NHL making the price of teams so expensive is that the teams are stable and won't be forced to relocate from things like coronavirus. In order to buy a NHL team, an ownership needs to be supremely wealthy and equally dedicated. Not sure if it was Bettman and Daly's intended effect to stabilize NHL ownership, but it happened.

A point of reference for this principle in the NHL. Going back 100 years, the first franchises were incredibly cheap. When it became obvious how much money there was to be made, the price of an expansion franchise went up very quickly in a very short period of time. Similar to how it spiked very quickly over the past 20 years of this century.

The result was that the NHL ended up with a big-money class of owners (Charles Adams, James Norris, Madison Square Garden Corp.) playing in huge modern buildings, and a small-money class of owners (Frank Ahearn, Benny Leonard) paying rent in old outdated dumps. When the Depression hit, the small-money class was cleared out. That's how you end up with Ottawa and Pittsburgh failing as NHL markets.

When those small-money owners failed, the NHL experimented with relocation and finally chose to simply fold the franchises whose owners couldn't pay freight. This process repeated a few years later with the Maroons and Americans. What they ended up with was a league comprised entirely of wealthy tycoons, all playing in modern buildings. One could argue that the Original Six lasted longer than it should have, but at least we can say it was highly stable, well capitalized, and resistant to economic downturns.

That's pretty much the NHL today, as compared to 20-30 years ago. An owner is not going to go bankrupt overnight, not even the highly leveraged ones. In the event that one of them can't make ends meet, it will be a long-term issue with time to sort out the details -- and will very likely result in an even better capitalized owner taking over. Good recent example is Peter Karmanos' empire slowly fading over a decade, and his spending several years sorting things out before finally turning the keys over to a billionaire.

I doubt things feel very comfortable for the league right now, but the fundamentals are really strong. They have enormous cash reserves, lines of credit, billionaires and major corporations behind them. As bad as this crisis is, we're not even close to the point of destabilization.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I had a thought.

Tilman Fertitta should purchase the Stars. He'd keep most home games in Dallas, but 10 home games would be played in Houston, which would not only be permissible as he would own the team, but it would also give Houstonians easier access to NHL hockey 10 days a season without having to drive all the way to Dallas.

As part of this proposal, the NHL team would take the name of Texas Stars, while the AHL team called the Texas Stars changes its name to the Austin Ice Bats, reviving the name of an old lower-level minor hockey team which was named after the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that resides under Congress Avenue Bridge. (The team plays in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park. And also, bats, like the Mexican free-tailed ones, do a lot for us. Mexican free-tailed bats are among the species of the only flying mammal that consumes tons of insect pests, curbing both potential damage to crops and the spread of certain diseases.)

false:

if it wasn't for Norm Green, Z, Texas wouldn't have professional ie NHL hockey, nevermind the history of how the Texas Stars originally were a 'conditional franchise' upon acceptance and are under control of the Dallas franchise.....

2) WHO Owned the majority of the Houston Aeros...... Minnesota Sports, aka the Wild..... so it wasn't just Fertitta it goes back to Les Alexander cutting the Houston Comets, then the Aeros from the portfolio

 

[Jokerit 16]

Ottawa Senators to Houston.

 

[gstommylee]

Ottawa Senators to Houston.

That anti happening.

 

[Jokerit 16]

It should happen. More USA based teams. Houston is 4th biggest largest Market in USA without NHL team.

Ottawa owner is bad and team need a new arena

 

[TheLegend]

Problem is Fertitta would rather spend $650 million buying a steakhouse chain than an NHL franchise.