Rumor - With Link NHL to expand to 32 teams?

[brelic]

Per TFP. They believe it will happen over the next 3-5 years, with Seattle and Quebec City as the likely new teams. THere will probably be another spot too, since Seattle will likely get the Coyotes. Guess we'll know more in a few weeks.

http://www.thefourth...a/dp130616.html

It's too bad, in a sense, because the talent is being diluted even more. And before expanding, shouldn't they look at closing shop in those southern cities that keep losing money??

[flyercanuck]

Insanity.

[ruxpin]

It's too bad, in a sense, because the talent is being diluted even more. And before expanding, shouldn't they look at closing shop in those southern cities that keep losing money??

This.

Aren't there at least a couple Canadian cities that could support teams at least as well as Miami and Tampa? I still think Hamilton could support a team without really harming the draw of the esteemed Leafs.

I mean, it IS a (the?) Canadian sport, after all. They could probably put teams in cities with populations numerically smaller than some US cities and still end up with a much better draw and better overall support.

[flyercanuck]

Why is there only one team in Toronto? Or Montreal for that matter. Quebec? Halifax?

[radoran]

Why is there only one team in Toronto? Or Montreal for that matter. Quebec? Halifax?

HaIIfax? 390,000 population Halifax? Stuck in Nova Scotia Halifax?

Quebec? Been tried before. Should likely get one again.

Another Tronno-area team makes sense (Tronno, not "Hamilton").

I doubt Montreal would ever support another team. Tronno would likely welcome a professional hockey franchise ()

There really aren't that many other metros in Canada that could support a competitive NHL franchise.

For that matter, it's been 20 years since a Canadian Cup.

[brelic]

This.

Aren't there at least a couple Canadian cities that could support teams at least as well as Miami and Tampa? I still think Hamilton could support a team without really harming the draw of the esteemed Leafs.

I mean, it IS a (the?) Canadian sport, after all. They could probably put teams in cities with populations numerically smaller than some US cities and still end up with a much better draw and better overall support.

Completely agree... and any new (Canadian) teams should be relocations way before considering expansion.

And now we're going to have about 8 winter classics per year... something else that was cool with just one, but now risks being diluted into being rather ordinary.

Out of curiosity, are all professional sports commissioners hated like Bettman is? I mean, the guy is booed at EVERY SINGLE PUBLIC APPEARANCE. That's a lot of hate! I wonder if that's par for the course.

[EDI-Flyer]

It's too bad, in a sense, because the talent is being diluted even more. And before expanding, shouldn't they look at closing shop in those southern cities that keep losing money??

Spot on brelic, they should be looking at contracting a few of the perennial loss making teams. Just let them go to the wall, stop propping up Phoenix and the like. 28 teams would be better, 24 even better still...

Sadly the chances of this happening about the same odds as penguins learning to fly and the pope turning protestant as the financial imperatives keep on demanding expansion so new revenue is generated. The players like this as even more of them are employed and end up with bigger paychecks.

[brelic]

HaIIfax? 390,000 population Halifax? Stuck in Nova Scotia Halifax?

Quebec? Been tried before. Should likely get one again.

Another Tronno-area team makes sense (Tronno, not "Hamilton").

I doubt Montreal would ever support another team. Tronno would likely welcome a professional hockey franchise ( )

There really aren't that many other metros in Canada that could support a competitive NHL franchise.

For that matter, it's been 20 years since a Canadian Cup.

I agree that Halifax is quite small, but the article that you posted the other day made some very strong statistical analyses, and really, Halifax is not far-fetched.

They only need 5% of the metro population to show up to games. That's not including the population within 2 hours drive (probably another 750,000-1,000,000). And where hockey fans are concerned, a 2 hour drive is pretty reasonable to go see an NHL game.

Yes, I think it would work there But I am biased.

[flyercanuck]

HaIIfax? 390,000 population Halifax? Stuck in Nova Scotia Halifax? Ya, that's bigger than Pittsburgh, no?

Quebec? Been tried before. Should likely get one again. It WILL do better than at least 6 or 8 teams

Another Tronno-area team makes sense (Tronno, not "Hamilton").Hard to believe there's STILL only one

I doubt Montreal would ever support another team. Tronno would likely welcome a professional hockey franchise ( ) Arguably the most passionate fans in the game? Ya, I think they could

There really aren't that many other metros in Canada that could support a competitive NHL franchise. The Skatch?

For that matter, it's been 20 years since a Canadian Cup.

It's been almost 40 since Philly won, and they're still doing fine. Even longer for Toronto.

[ruxpin]

I was actually thinking about Halifax because it is statistically small in comparison to Miami (although Miami city limits was only 400,509 in 2011 as compared to 390,000 for Halifax--I know, Rad, when you add in metropolitan area it gets dwarfed).

But I do think the "subset" of hockey fans might actually be larger. And when you add in the subset of "rabid hockey fans" it probably dwarfs Miami, although there's obviously no way to quantify that...or at least no way for me.

It is smaller than the Edmonton area though, by quite a bit, so maybe it wouldn't be sustainable. I don't know. I just remember only 27 people showing up for the Tampa Cup parade and 24 of them were related to employees. I think the Lightning had a better turn out at their company picnic. Something really needs to be done there.

[Podein25]

I agree that Halifax is quite small, but the article that you posted the other day made some very strong statistical analyses, and really, Halifax is not far-fetched.

They only need 5% of the metro population to show up to games. That's not including the population within 2 hours drive (probably another 750,000-1,000,000). And where hockey fans are concerned, a 2 hour drive is pretty reasonable to go see an NHL game.

Yes, I think it would work there But I am biased.

Being a CFA, I'm not biased and think Halifax is about the stupidest idea ever.

Just kidding. A Halifax-based NHL club would really need to be a regional (Atlantic) team, drawing from NB in particular. I guess that's possible. And while NS is poised to grow with the ships contract and everything, I worry about enough people supporting the team in the lean years and growing pains of an expansion club.

When I first moved here and the Mooseheads sucked, the Metro Centre was near empty. And deservedly so. The team would barely hit, hardly ever a a fight and were boooooooring.

Sure now they get 10,000+ now to see MacKinnon and Drouin and a winning team, but they're fairweather fans I'd say. A fairweather people in a way. They love to complain.

[Podein25]

I support a Mexico City expansion team. Call them the Bandidos or Tequila Monsters, or Pendejos.

[mojo1917]

I doubt Montreal would ever support another team. Tronno would likely welcome a professional hockey franchise ()

I laughed out loud at this.

If the league is to expand, I wonder where the defensmen will come from ? there are already not enough around that Kurtis Foster found employment in the league , just sayin'...

[Jam1986]

dumb

[SpikeDDS]

TORONTO--NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in a surprise announcement earlier today, said that the NHL will expand to Europe, adding 6 European teams to a newly formed European Conference. The NHL will expand from two to three conferences: Western, Eastern and European. The Detroit Red Wings will be the only US team in the European Conference since they are already so used to traveling halfway around the world already, and to act as an ambassador to the new European conference teams.

Answering questions raising concerns about thinning the talent pool in the NHL, Mr. Bettman said they will transfer all of the Grand Rapids Griffins players to the as-of-yet-unnamed Swedish team and will take the other developmental teams from the other Original Six teams and hold a European Draft to assign all those kids to the remaining 5 new teams. Mr. Bettman referred to the six new European teams as the "Original Seis." If further talent is needed, Bettman said that European nations have offered to use their high school hockey teams as recruiting fields for the draft.

There has been an additional Winter Classic game added, pairing the Yugoslavia Yugos and the Phoenix Coyotes in a matchup that will play in Tokyo, Japan on New Years Day, 2014. Other additional sites are being considered for future Winter Classics, including Johannesburg, South Africa, Sydney, Australia, Cairo, Egypt, Boise, Idaho, and Antarctica. The commissioner added that these additional sites would certainly help carry the NHL brand to unprecedented sites, most of which would not have to compete against the NFL, giving the NHL unprecedented sports coverage. ESPN Antarctica is already reportedly in negotiations for the TV contract for the upcoming Winter Classic that is expected to be televised there. Bettman is optimistic that these additional international games will bring in "at least 100 new fans to the NHL's viewership."

No further information will be available until the post-season, said Bettman. "We'll have more exciting news then." When asked about rumors that he might be in favor of a potential Zambian team, Bettman had no comment.

Edited June 18, 2013 by SpikeDDS

[jammer2]

I doubt the Leafs would EVER relinquish their 200 mile legal radius from another opponent. Ive been to Copps Collisium in Hamilton. Here we have a beautiful venue that seats 17,500 and it has sat and rotten for decades now.

[sarsippius]

@SpikeDDS

Thanks man, I needed a good laugh

[dilbert719]

I'm not a fan of the whole "talent dilution" argument. It holds slightly more water in the NBA, where maybe 5 teams have a legitimate chance of winning the title in a given year, but in the NHL, parity is much greater, and a terrible team one year can become a legitimate threat the next. See Toronto's move from 13th in the East to 5th this year, and their near-elimination of Boston. Hell, in 2010-11, 5 points separated 4th and 10th in the West.

The league could stand to move a couple teams, as well. Phoenix to Seattle, Florida to Quebec City, and new teams in Toronto (or Hamilton, close enough for government work) and any other location (my preference would be Hartford, with Milwaukee a reasonable enough second, whereas I'm sure Bettman would love Houston or possibly Kansas City) would result in a reasonably well-balanced league, and probably would be quite financially successful. It also remains relatively easy to balance divisions if this happens. The obvious choices are below, with some discussion of alternatives:

Pacific: ANA/CGY/COL/EDM/LAK/SEA/SJS/VAN

Midwest: CHI/DAL/MIN/NSH/STL/WPG

Central: BOS/BUF/MTL/QUE/OTT/TOR

Atlantic: CAR/NJD/NYI/NYR/PHI/PIT/WSH

The obvious benefits of PHX to SEA and FLA to QUE are they can stay in the same division and fit logically. Only five teams become questionable fits, and two of them currently don't exist.

The issues: Detroit, Columbus, Tampa, and the two new teams. If the new teams are Toronto B and Hartford, they go Central, Tampa goes Atlantic, and DET/COL go back to the Midwest. Sorry to both teams, but that's life. If the new teams are two of Houston, Milwaukee, and Kansas City, they go Midwest and the divisions out East stay put.

If they choose Toronto B and one Midwest team, it gets tricky. TOB has to be in the Central, the Midwest team goes to the Midwest *shock!*, then the question becomes "Does TB stay Central and DET go Midwest again, or does TB go to the Atlantic and CMB heads Midwest?" That one I don't know, but it's still not terribly difficult to resolve, all things considered.

Of course, if the Devils eventually prove to be insolvent, (since they're the team seemingly most in trouble behind the two in question at the moment) this can also be made easier by sending them out West somewhere, freeing up one more slot in the East. But that's neither here nor there at the moment.

[B21]

I support a Mexico City expansion team. Call them the Bandidos or Tequila Monsters, or Pendejos.

Montezuma's Revenge = "Lower Body Injury"?

[yave1964]

Why is there only one team in Toronto? Or Montreal for that matter. Quebec? Halifax?

There is only one team in Toronto, in fact in all of southern Ontario plain and simply because the Leafs wont have it any other way. Hamilton would be an ideal location but the leaf refuse to allow it so no way. Not kidding. The leafs have that much power. Not a very good hockey team but more power than any other team

[yave1964]

While on the subject of relocation we could move the Penguins to the Philippines and rename them the Manila Folders.....

[hf101]

While on the subject of relocation we could move the Penguins to the Philippines and rename them the Manila Folders.....

LOL

I'm totally in favor of expanding the league to 32 teams. It will give Holmgren another chance to shed a contract or two??

I truly think the talent pool around the world is enough to support another 46 players in the NHL.

[SpikeDDS]

While on the subject of relocation we could move the Penguins to the Philippines and rename them the Manila Folders.....

Now that's funny! Wish I had your brevity! :-)

[fan4ever]

While on the subject of relocation we could move the Penguins to the Philippines and rename them the Manila Folders.....

Love that!

[OccamsRazor]

Per TFP. They believe it will happen over the next 3-5 years, with Seattle and Quebec City as the likely new teams

HHHHHhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm...

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/delasean002/PilotsUniforms_A_zpsa5ed8dfb.png

or

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ZE6WWHwKtw/Tx3T4F0kELI/AAAAAAAAKDo/azWobTIcvXo/s1600/JustinCox-SEA.png

HHHHHHHhhhhhmmmm...ooooooookkkkkayyyy.