NHL Expansion to Vegas - Official

[gotbeer]

Four new NHL expansion teams? Vegas, Seattle, Toronto and Quebec by 2017: Report

 

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On Tuesday, Tony Gallagher and Howard Bloom chucked their meat and the flock went crazy. Gallagher said that NHL expansion to Las Vegas was a “done deal,â€� and then Bloom upped the anteby claiming that the NHL will add Vegas, Seattle, a second Toronto franchise and Quebec City by 2017, the 100th anniversary of the League.

 

 

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MGM Grand and AEG aren’t building a $375 million arena to house a Carrot Top repertoire. The NHL didn’t structure its realigned conferences with 16 in the East and 14 in the West to make things easier for Winnipeg. 

 

 

Vegas and Seattle sounds the most reasonable.  That would put  it at 16 vs 16, a perfect fit.

[HaloCory22]

NHL says its BS but probably will be the result eventually. Seattle should get a team before anyone. Would love to see the NHL up there.

[Thomas]

Yeah Seattle and <insert a Western market> made sense with the conferences being mismatched. 4 teams, two in the west and two in the east?!?!  Now what?

[Thomas]

NHL says its BS but probably will be the result eventually. Seattle should get a team before anyone. Would love to see the NHL up there.

 

Only problem is getting an arena in Seattle. The MOU requires a NBA team to be placed in Seattle (relocation or expansion) before the city will support an arena. They won't change it for a NHL team. The Honda Center being a good example of why.  

http://www.king5.com/story/local/2014/08/24/13404436/

[Tank]

but i like carrot top/

[HaloCory22]

but i like carrot top/

and you hate Meatloaf.

[Angel Oracle]

and you hate Meatloaf.

Cause one out of two ain't bad.

[halobob]

Seattle, Vegas, and Portland should all get teams...2 expansion and 1 relocation (Coyotes).

[nate]

Seattle, Vegas and Saskatoon makes sense too.  Portland is a really small market.

[Tank]

putting another team in a desert town is silly. you know which team was 30th in nhl attendance last year? phoenix. sure, they all bust out their plain white t's come playoff time, but they are MIA during the season, and they're not any kind of draw outside of their own building. having another desert team seems like a disastrous idea to me.

 

hamiton, ontario has been mentioned more times than i can remember over the last twenty-five years. maybe it's time to give them a serious look. i'd probably go to hamilton and seattle. 

[Schildog]

vegas and quebec. move a team from the east to the west. problem done.

[Punk]

Vegas is a huge gamble. I'd go with Seattle or even Houston.

[deepdrive]

Move the Arizona team to Nevada.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Lots of coverage in the media here. It helps a lot that an arena is actually under construction instead of just in the planning stages. We have had so many false alarms over the years about teams and arenas that I will believe it when I'm buying the jersey. That said, the NHL has been the most enthusiastic of the four major sports leagues when talking about putting a team here. The new arena is being built to NHL and NBA specifications, so it is clear what the end goal is.

 

Next needs to be a new home for Tarpy around Highway 215 and Charleston.

[halobob]

Vegas is a huge gamble. I'd go with Seattle or even Houston.

Vegas couldn't be more of a lock.  I know everytime the Ducks played there I would try to make a Vegas trip out of it as would many fans across the NHL.

[Punk]

Vegas couldn't be more of a lock.  I know everytime the Ducks played there I would try to make a Vegas trip out of it as would many fans across the NHL.

 

Trust me, I think it would be cool too. It would give me another reason to go to Vegas, but I just don't see it working out. I can see a basketball team there, but I don't know about another NHL team in the desert. 

[Tank]

i can't see an NBA team there. the opportunities for point shaving would be huge. not so in hockey (at least not as easily as basketball).

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Trust me, I think it would be cool too. It would give me another reason to go to Vegas, but I just don't see it working out. I can see a basketball team there, but I don't know about another NHL team in the desert. 

 

The key to it working may be if the NHL commits first. This city has never had a team of our own (just partial seasons from the Jazz and Athletics). The first team in will have a chance to build a following. Basketball will definitely work, hockey is more iffy but a pro team would greatly improve the chances, IMO.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

i can't see an NBA team there. the opportunities for point shaving would be huge. not so in hockey (at least not as easily as basketball).

 

Virtually every time there has been a point shaving scandal, it has been the Vegas sports books that have blown the whistle on it by reporting abnormal movement in betting lines. Without legal sports betting most of that stuff stays hidden. This city isn't the pariah that the professional sports leagues have made it out to be. As former Mayor Oscar Goodman once said, the pro sports leagues ought to thank God every day for Las Vegas.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Vegas Halo Fan

[Chimi]

What about Kansas City?  They already have an arena built there with the Sprint Center, they just need a team.

[gotbeer]

Lots of coverage in the media here. It helps a lot that an arena is actually under construction instead of just in the planning stages. We have had so many false alarms over the years about teams and arenas that I will believe it when I'm buying the jersey. That said, the NHL has been the most enthusiastic of the four major sports leagues when talking about putting a team here. The new arena is being built to NHL and NBA specifications, so it is clear what the end goal is.

 

Next needs to be a new home for Tarpy around Highway 215 and Charleston.

 

What is the ETA on the stadium completion?  

 

Also when talking about Vegas, it's nice that fans of the teams will jump and go visit.  But Clark County has over 2 million residents, based on 2010 numbers that I found, which would rank it 13th in the nation.  That being said, Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, is ranked 4th. 

 

But if you use UNLV as an example, that area is yearning for a pro team.  They were top 25 in the country in home attendance for something like the last 5 years.  

 

The Vegas hockey team will just need a solid owner.  And not one that bankrupted the team, and left it to die in the desert.  

[Angel Oracle]

Why do we need FOUR new teams?    Isn't two new teams enough?

[Vegas Halo Fan]

What is the ETA on the stadium completion?  

 

We're hearing 2016, not sure exactly when. Probably in time for the 2016-'17 season at least.

 

As far as ownership, Jerry Bruckheimer has long been known as having serious interest in owning a Las Vegas NHL club.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Vegas Halo Fan

[deepdrive]

Bettman says 1.4B for four franchises isn't enough. For once, I think the blow hard is right.

[halobob]

Why do we need FOUR new teams?    Isn't two new teams enough?

Agreed, no need to add 4 teams.  Now adding 2 and relocating 2 I am completely okay with.