NHL to announce opening of formal expansion process

twisted_steel2

Active member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
6,848
Reaction score
1
Location
Tennessee
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hoc ... on-process

The NHL is expected to announce that the league's board of governors has approved the opening of a formal expansion process,

C'mon Seattle!! :thirishdrinkers:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/m_drinnenberg/status/613763443712090112[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NHLtoSeattle/status/613762081389555713[/tweet]
 

Blitzer88

Active member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
12,820
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle, WA
So, who is bidding for Seattle then? Don't we need to throw down $500 mil to get an expansion team?
 
OP
OP
twisted_steel2

twisted_steel2

Active member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
6,848
Reaction score
1
Location
Tennessee
I'm assuming..... not word yet, but the Ray Bartoszek, Bill Russell, Fred Brown and Jerry Lee group.

If those guys are building an arena in Tukwila for the NHL, seems logical they will be going full speed at an expansion team.
 

CurryStopstheRuns

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
3,092
Reaction score
0
Blitzer88":3atrtaf3 said:
So, who is bidding for Seattle then? Don't we need to throw down $500 mil to get an expansion team?

You don't need anymore Seattle sports teams. Your stress level is already too high with football and baseball.
 

m0ng0

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Messages
4,376
Reaction score
868
Location
Vancouver, Wa
especially an expansion team that is going to suck for 5 years minimum :D
 
OP
OP
twisted_steel2

twisted_steel2

Active member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
6,848
Reaction score
1
Location
Tennessee
[tweet]https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/613807325531500544[/tweet]

"Ownership group", so someone representing Seattle has already expressed interest to NHL. Wonder who?
 

Blitzer88

Active member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
12,820
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle, WA
Vegas is a lock already according to all reports meaning that it is down to us and Quebec. Quebec has everything ready in terms of support and an arena. They only thing they have against them is the fact that they would be placed in the Eastern Conference and the NHL does not want to add another team to the east.
 
OP
OP
twisted_steel2

twisted_steel2

Active member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
6,848
Reaction score
1
Location
Tennessee
You never know with the NHL.

We know they want to be in the Seattle market, they've expressed that before. They know what kind of fans we have up here, they love this location! I have no doubt that team will be supported here, do you?

The arena... Tukwila will happen, that city wants it to happen, they're going to fast track it. Just watch. Ray Bartoszek will make this happen.



NHLtoSeattle just tweeted this:

graham ‏@grahamular 34 minutes ago
If you want @NHLtoSeattle, pay attention to the next month. You'll see who actually supports it, and who is just paying lip service.

Bill Bored ‏@twisted_steel 7 minutes ago
@grahamular @BringBackSonics @NHLtoSeattle Do we have any idea who (which ownership group) is representing Seattle in the bid for a team?

NHLtoSeattle ‏@NHLtoSeattle 7 minutes ago
@twisted_steel @grahamular @BringBackSonics I would not assume there will be only one for the Seattle area.




Maybe multiple groups??
 

Hasselbeck

New member
Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
11,397
Reaction score
3
Seattle would be a great hockey town.. and it will be nice to see a 2nd pro team finally added to the city.
 

CPHawk

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
4,855
Reaction score
921
Hasselbeck":28g2zmq0 said:
Seattle would be a great hockey town.. and it will be nice to see a 2nd pro team finally added to the city.
:D I see what you did there.
 

Tical21

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Messages
5,541
Reaction score
82
I know I'm Debbie Downer, but, first, I think Quebec has a leg up on us with the structure and automatic fan support in place. Secondly, I don't see us as a hugely successful hockey town. Unlike soccer, hockey isn't a yuppie or techy sport. I know the T-birds have had a faithful following, but I don't know that there are enough sports fans in this area intrigued enough by hockey to support it after the christening wears off.

However, if it gets the NBA here, I have both feet firmly on board. You know Chris Hansen is a very intrigued individual. He was on for a couple hours with Softy a few weeks ago, I might want to find the podcast and take a listen.
 

SmokinHawk

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
9,106
Reaction score
1,080
Location
Bellingham
Tical21":12tgdauk said:
I know I'm Debbie Downer, but, first, I think Quebec has a leg up on us with the structure and automatic fan support in place. Secondly, I don't see us as a hugely successful hockey town. Unlike soccer, hockey isn't a yuppie or techy sport. I know the T-birds have had a faithful following, but I don't know that there are enough sports fans in this area intrigued enough by hockey to support it after the christening wears off.

I have to disagree. NHL hockey would explode here. This area is ideal for so many reasons. Quebec City may have the hockey pedigree, but the Frenchies already have a team in Montreal. Expanding your franchise is about making money, and the NHL would make a killing here. If the choice is between here and Quebec City, we have it in the bag and the NHL would be stupefyingly dim to pass up an opportunity to reach a nearly untapped market full of very well paid tech sector workers.

Pretty much every sports fan I know would be all over this in perpetuity.
 

UK_Seahawk

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Messages
4,469
Reaction score
513
You would have thought the relative population sizes would be a in huge favour of Seattle. Something like 3.6m people versus 700k.
 

Sgt. Largent

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
25,560
Reaction score
7,610
UK_Seahawk":ytxpti90 said:
You would have thought the relative population sizes would be a in huge favour of Seattle. Something like 3.6m people versus 700k.

Seattle has all the advantages............other than political climate.

But $$$$ trumps all when it comes to pro sports, so as long as there's an NHL ownership group willing to jump through all the hoops (or the majority of hoops) that Hansen had to jump through in order to put hockey first with the arena? Then it should happen.

The NHL would love to bridge the geographical area between Vancouver and California, AND add one of the most affluent markets in the US to their sport.
 

m0ng0

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Messages
4,376
Reaction score
868
Location
Vancouver, Wa
So it seems there are 3 groups working independently of each other and with separate agendas to build arenas in SoDO, Tukwila AND Bellevue?
 
OP
OP
twisted_steel2

twisted_steel2

Active member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
6,848
Reaction score
1
Location
Tennessee
m0ng0":29zgcetx said:
So it seems there are 3 groups working independently of each other and with separate agendas to build arenas in SoDO, Tukwila AND Bellevue?

Interesting.

Dug up these old articles, wonder how accurate they were and if they're involved now.

http://nypost.com/2014/07/04/wayne-gret ... n-seattle/ July 4, 2014

Wayne Gretzky has joined a group of investors hoping to bring a National Hockey League team to Seattle, The Post has learned.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/12/3/5 ... na-project Dec 3, 2013

With all of that in mind, Chris Daniels of King 5 News in Seattle is reporting that former NHL star Jeremy Roenick was in Seattle on Monday participating in a meeting with the arena project's primary figure head, Chris Hansen, and an investment group to discuss the potential of an expansion franchise in The Emerald City
 
Top