THE NEXT EXPANSION
Well, as most of us know the Seattle Kraken has had a doomsday of a debut this season (especially in comparison to their kin, Vegas Golden Knights); why would there be such a difference in success? Simple answer, the talent pool was a little drier this time around. Moving forward, Seattle has made money off this decision (despite the pandemic), thusly, Gary Bettman has big expansion dreams for his company, but where and when? I cannot answer the “when” but I can suspect the “where” so, let’s dive right in!
1) Kansas City - Has the newly renamed arena - T-Mobile Center - which seats 18,972 fans and has hosted preseason NHL games in the past; but one immediate concern with Kanas City, as is a similar issue with Quebec City, is its proximity to an already successful NHL club, The St. Louis Blues.
2) Houston - The Honda Center has already been the home to the AHL’s Houston Aeros (from 2003-2013) and currently hosts the NBA’s Houston Rockets. So you know, that’s always nice when one arena can host two professional teams.
3) Quebec City - The Videotron Centre is home to the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, but has a seating capacity of 18,259 (a little bit of a suspicious overkill, no?), easily enough to sustain an NHL franchise. A similar situation happened in Winnipeg years back. A new stadium was casually built and the Jets’ subtly flew into the NHL (see what I did there) All right, so there you have it, three teams and three potential hot expansions. I’m not too worried about new teams being located next to other teams, the NHL is literally running out of room to expand without stepping on some toes.
Justen Williams
Pro Sports Podcasters
NHL Analyst
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