Bettman tells BoG league is officially opening expansion process for Houston or Austin to be owned by Friedkin family

[StreetHawk]

28 is likely the right number of teams given the talent we are watching currently. Many teams forced to ice AHL plugs for large chunks of the year and many teams without legit superstars let alone two or three of them

It's the lack of the top end players who are 2C or legit top 4 NHL Dmen.

That's why STL is not giving up Thomas without something really good coming back. And why Yzerman is still trying to find a hockey trade (players) for Larkin.

And not just for the bottom teams. It's the middle of the pack #12-20 teams that are short this talent.

 

[3074326]

Oh good… more state tax free teams.

They should make one division of…

Florida
Tampa
Nashville
Vegas
Seattle
Dallas
Houston
Columbus
Buffalo
Montreal
Toronto
Ottawa
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver

Only the top 8 teams make the playoffs.

Would one of you tax guys actually f***ing learn how taxes work before inundating every topic with this bullshit? JFC

 

[nucks88]

Anything more than 32 is too many teams.

Anything more than 24 is too many teams

 

[Oddbob]

When a good number of the middle of the pack teams lack top 4 D and 2C it's pretty darn thin for talent at the top end. Can fill the bottom half of the roster but the top half?

Exactly. Every team already has AHL level talent in the bottom 6 forwards and bottom 2 D, every new team makes this more.

 

[PaulD]

This

As the number of teams has gone up, my overall interest in this joke of a league has gone down.

The on-ice product is trash 80% of the time but yeah let’s just add “moar teams”

Regular season never been so boring. Too many dead games.

On any given night they have like 12 games.
Reading the match-ups innthe morning of there are usually 3 or 4 max that look inviting to watch. Sometimes less.

 

[bobholly39]

i don't understand why fans are always up in arms with the idea of expansion.

Who cares? Why not? Maybe if they were suggesting to jump from 32 to 45 teams in one shot it would be stupid, but 1 team won't affect anything. If there's enough talent to spread over 32 teams, there's also enough for 33 teams.

So every division won't have the exact same number of teams for a season? Ok, and? So my Habs will play one team 3x and one team 2x, instead of both teams 3x. What's the big deal?

Houston is a huge city - I wouldn't be opposed to it.
I thought Vegas was an exciting add a few years ago for similar reasons.

Let's see what happens.

 

[Greatzsky 99]

if HF boards ran NHL it would be 6 teams no tv deal, standing room only in an
old barn from the 40s

Interesting, hoping for 36 teams soon, playoffs to 24

 

[Lshap]

Yeah, there's a problem, but it ain't talent dilution. The NHL attracts the best from all over the planet, with a talent pool that continues to grow in Europe and the US. There are teens playing hockey in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. That's hundreds of millions of potential new fans, among which the NHL would need 50 to fill the two new rosters.

There's no lack of talent. The real issue is the dilution of rivalries. The best part of being a fan is cheering for your team. The second best part is cheering against your hated rivals. The players on those other teams were almost as familiar as your own players. Today, more teams means fewer games against each other, and more players means less familiarity with who plays where.

90% of the season has become my team versus a generic opponent. No offence to any team – they may be really good with some great players, but my team hasn't played them in four months and there are so many damn players in the league it's hard to remember who I'm supposed to hate.

 

[Whalers Fan]

4 divisions, 8 teams per division. 32 teams.

That's balanced and makes sense. Any more and things are awkward and it diluted the talent pool. Please stop.

6 divisions, 6 teams per division, 36 teams.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Regular season never been so boring. Too many dead games.

On any given night they have like 12 games.
Reading the match-ups innthe morning of there are usually 3 or 4 max that look inviting to watch. Sometimes less.

Agreed

 

[ZombosNose]

if HF boards ran NHL it would be 6 teams no tv deal, standing room only in an
old barn from the 40s

Interesting, hoping for 36 teams soon, playoffs to 24

And the hockey would be f***ing awesome.

 

[Rebels57]

Idk, I for one am all for more hockey

Every number was at some point "too many teams".

Players are more talented than ever, and it's fun if scoring goes up for a little bit, anyway.

The league is watered down to the point where 2/3 of teams cant find a 2C or decent goalie.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Can't wait for a new expansion team to pluck everyone's best players except a protected few and wins another Cup before a team like my Leafs do. I don't have a problem with Austin or any other city getting a team, I think there's more hockey talent to go around than ever before. I have a problem with the expansion draft system.

 

[Norwegianoiler]

Let's expand and expand and expand. This is the way. How about fourty thousand teams playing sixteen million games per season. They all make the playoffs and play infinite games to milk money for some corporate sycophants.

 

[Stealth JD]

The NCAA has it right…Bettman should strive for 64 playoff teams. Which means 96 franchises. Then we can have May, June and July madness; rather than just March Madness.

 

[uncleben]

The league is watered down to the point where 2/3 of teams cant find a 2C or decent goalie.

There's enough star/topline players, and well more than enough bottom rung players. Lots of call up options, and hopefully you see more kids getting chances.
The middle 6 will get thinned the most, true

Goalies are the biggest problem.
But expansion in the 80s and 90s created a vacuum that led to arguably the greatest generation of goaltenders ever, the next generation, so fingers crossed for that again, bc the goalie world is kind of depressing these days.

 

[matt trick]

The NCAA has it right…Bettman should strive for 64 playoff teams. Which means 96 franchises. Then we can have May, June and July madness; rather than just March Madness.

Obligatory: Onion, March Madness Expansion

 

[Harvey Birdman]

There's enough star/topline players, and well more than enough bottom rung players. Lots of call up options, and hopefully you see more kids getting chances.
The middle 6 will get thinned the most, true

Goalies are the biggest problem.
But expansion in the 80s and 90s created a vacuum that led to arguably the greatest generation of goaltenders ever, the next generation, so fingers crossed for that again, bc the goalie world is kind of depressing these days.

I would go to 34 and stop for QUITE awhile and let the league rebalance. Add Houston/Austin and another East Coast team or do a west to east shift and add another West team then stop for awhile. I agree with you but I think expansion needs to be in doses and allow everything to settle and I’m not even sure the league has settled down quite yet from Vegas and Seattle. Add two more and just chill for a bit.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Officially will become the Sun Bult Hockey League sooner than enough.

Quebec keeps getting f***ed.

I really don't get why people think Quebec is still a thing lol.

The league has been stringing Quebec along for years. Quebec is the cute girl the league takes on a date to make the hot one they really wanna bang jealous.

 

[matt trick]

I love the symmetry of 32.

Half make the playoffs, half do not; no one needs to play an extra round to win the cup.

If you're going to add teams, I agree it's probably 4 more for 36. 34 would be acceptable in the interim, but I wouldn't expand unless you're going to 36 eventually.

If you go to 36, I'd say leave the playoffs as it is, but I strongly suspect the league will move to a bye or play-in game of some kind. 8/9 game for 34 teams, 7/10 for 36.

I'm not strictly speaking a tradionalist/purist, but it would certainly feel odd.

Houston/Austin (It's just one, not both, correct?)
Phoenix
Atlanta

Those three seem the most obvious. I'm sure there will be whinging about both the later two, yet all three (well at least Houston) are top 10 US metro areas with significant corporate dollars.

The question is who's 36? Portland, Quebec City, San Diego, or GTA 2 seem the best bets, but all have complications.

 

[wolfgaze]

 

[uncleben]

I would go to 34 and stop for QUITE awhile and let the league rebalance. Add Houston/Austin and another East Coast team or do a west to east shift and add another West team then stop for awhile. I agree with you but I think expansion needs to be in doses and allow everything to settle and I’m not even sure the league has settled down quite yet from Vegas and Seattle. Add two more and just chill for a bit.

I think that is a very reasonable take.

There's going to be growing pains, and there's a danger to things moving very quickly

 

[MK9]

Look. Let's just let Canadian fans take the best team they can put together of the players on the 7 teams there. Call them the Canadien VanRontOtawa Flamey Oily Jets. Move them around to each province once a month or so during the season so every one can get a gander at them once in a while. Then you take the remaining 6 teams, move them to wherever Bettman thinks he wants to expand to and do a mini expansion draft for those 6 teams. Re-distribute the wealth so to speak.

Canadian fans can unite under one big ridiculous banner, Bettsy gets his league "expansion" and we can be done with it.

There you have it. I have solved all of the problems. I will head back to my mountain top now.

Next.

 

[Summer Rose]

there are so many damn players in the league it's hard to remember who I'm supposed to hate.

Oh, that one's easy for me. If he doesn't play for my team, I hate him by default. Maybe he'll do something noteworthy and memorable, causing me to remember him, and remember that I like him. If he doesn't? Well, then I hate him.

 

[Greatzsky 99]

I dont know if it in here, but a NHL.com article about it

NHL exploring Texas expansion opportunities in Houston, Austin | NHL.com

League enters 6-month evaluation process with Friedkin family

www.nhl.com