NHL Possible Expansion

Ok, so we know there's a lot of talk of movement in the NHL in terms of franchise relocations. Phoenix, the Islanders, any southern market team that fails to make money, have all been mentioned as possibly moving in the next few years. We here at DGS would like to talk about possible movement in the NHL, somewhat seriously....oh bloody hell who are we kidding? We're gonna have a lot of fun with this.

A huge glove bump, stick tap, and thank you from DGS goes to the following people who really helped make this post possible:

• Don't Trade Vinny
• Peter from Hoosier Hockey
• HockeyBroad

Now of course to have an intelligent discussion about this topic, we need to solve a few problems, like Gary Bettman

So, now that we solved that problem. We can move on and begin discussing possible NHL expansions.


We'll start with Phoenix. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing the Coyotes move back to Winnipeg. Also, perhaps my Canadian readers and friends could answer this for me, why has no one suggested Regina/Saskatoon as destinations for an NHL franchise, they're decently sized cities? Is there something that I'm missing? (Like conditions that make Edmonton look nice?)

(Hoosier Hockey's Peter Evans supplied me with this:
"Regina/Saskatoon will not work seeing as they don't have the much needed corporate money necessary to have a team. Yes, the Credit Union Centre can barely accomidate an NHL franchise (I mean that in the loosest way possible), but the corporate dollars just aren't there.

") If anyone wants to dispute the findings of Mr. Evans, I'm all ears.

Mississauga, Ontario is a another place that I think a team could go.

If the Coyotes need to stay in the USA, then perhaps we could give Portland, Maine a shot (Wikipedia gives the metro area of Portland at around 500,000 people)and Milwaukee, Wisconsin could get a look as well. These destinations could work for the Islanders.

Peter Evans from Hoosier Hockey has offered his opinions on some of my ideas

Portland, OR- I don't see this happening. The city has just thrown a ton of money into converting their baseball stadium into an MLS facility. They've hit a stand still on the possible location of a new minor league stadium and the city LOVES their arena that's used for their WHL franchise. I'm just not buying the city building a new facility.

Seattle- Key Arena is a horrible place to watch a hockey game. Also, it would be too small and needs renovation. Seattle doesn't want to throw down money stuff such as this. I don't see it happening.

Kansas City- New arena and they're hungry for a tenant. Here's the issue: That city does not care about hockey. They have trouble keeping minor league teams. The Scouts lasted all of two seasons and when they had preseason games last year, they couldn't even give the seats away.

Hamilton, ON- No way. Too many issues with the league not really wanting a team there. TSN estimated that with stadium renovations, fees and money spent to Toronto and Buffalo on market infringement it would cost almost a billion dollars just to have the team. That's a huge set up fee. Also I honestly believe that if you put a team in Hamilton, Buffalo will be gone within a decade.

Portland, ME- Too small, not enough corporate money. No major arena.

Quebec City- Plans in place to build a new arena, an owner waiting in the wings, tons of corporate money. More a matter of when rather than if.

Winnipeg- An arena that will need minimal renovation, ownership groups frothing at the mouth, enough community support to ensure sellouts at an incredibly high rate. Referenced as the first city on Bettman's list.

Milwaukee- They were on the short list during that last decade of expansion. There isn't much interest in pursuing NHL hockey up there. I don't really see it happening.

Hartford- The arena needs renovation. There is interest in bringing them back, it's a possibility, but I don't see it happening before bringing back QC and Winnipeg.

Now, onto NHL expansion...

No, not the Gary Bettman kind.

No, not the Sami Salo kind either.


I mean, expanding the NHL to 32 teams like the NFL.

Here me out, I have an idea for this and I think it could work. I'll do the divisions, with how I work it.

Eastern Conference

Division A
Flyers
Rangers
Devils
Penguins

Division B
Hurricanes
Thrashers
Lightning
Panthers

Division C
Islanders: Now in Mississauga or Hamilton**
Canadiens
Maple Leafs
Senators

Division D
Bruins
Sabres
Hartford (Expansion)
Capitals



Western Conference

Division A
St Louis
Chicago
Detroit
Columbus

Division B
Minnesota
Dallas
Nashville
Milwaukee (Expansion)

Division C

San Jose

Los Angeles

Anaheim

Colorado

Division D

Phoenix (Back in Winnipeg or in Regina/Saskatoon)

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

I tried to keep rivalries together (Easter Div A and West Div B) while working geographically, also I kept the Canadian teams together in hopes that they draw big revenue by playing each other a lot.

As for the schedule:

other 3 teams in division

Inter-division games: 24

play 8x (4 home/4 road)

Other 3 divisions in conference

play 4x (2 home 2 road) 48

For 72 games.

Play 1 out of conference division 2x (1 home/1 road)

that's 80 games.

Play 3 teams that finished in your divisional slot (1st place vs 1st place) out of conference 2x (1 home, 1 road) for 6 more games

That's an 86 game schedule, and that's my thoughts on the topic. If you agree/disagree discuss it here. I've enlisted the help of HoosierHockey and Don't Trade Vinny for their views on the topic.

Don't Trade Vinny added this to regarding the NHL Preseason:

Extend the preseason from 4 games to at least eight games for every team, with some of the games being played in a neutral market. Then, we could see what markets generate potential expansion sites.

Places with huge collegiate hockey markets (Dakotas, Maine, etc.) could host preseason games. For instance, Boston vs. Philly preseason in Maine. Chicago vs. Vancouver or Calgary in the Dakotas.

Other places the NHL has considered could then be used also. San Jose vs. Colorado in Las Vegas. St. Louis vs. Chicago in Kansas City. Toronto vs.Ottawa in Hamilton. Columbus vs. Nashville in Indy. Not only could the sites be geographically specific based on teams, but could also be great in between travel points during the preseason, which could in turn provide less early season fatigue for everyone which could then in turn make the exciting first year players break out quicker and/or avoid that typical freshmen late season breakdown.

I happen to think that he's onto something there, of course, 86 games, plus 8 in the preseason means camps would open Sept 1, (8 games player between Sept 8 and 27) and the Regular season would start October 1 and run to April 15, playoffs begin April 20 and run through June 25 like they do now.


**- Note from Hoosier Hockey's Peter Evans: There is just absolutely no way in the world that the Islanders would move out of that New York market. The amount of money they bring in, in terms of TV revenue and advertising dollars is just way too high to leave. The more likely option is that they either A) Move to Queens (next to Citi Field), B) Move into the Barclays Center in Brooklyn or the more likely C) They remain where they are with a new arena devoid of pretty much any of the things Wang wanted built with the Lighthouse Project.)