Is Bettman plotting for a 36-team NHL?

[HisIceness]

Expanding 4 more teams without a team in Quebec should be grounds for a riot

Sounds fun, but I won't be participating.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

I hope they eventually get to 40 teams!

NHL has been backwards compared to other leagues in some ways, but for expansion, they have been trend setters (going to Vegas, expansion draft, etc).

I love Quebec and the Nordique, but not sure it makes sense for the league to go back there, market size is too small, language barriers (making it an unattractive place for players - see lindros), and it’s not where the nhl wants to grow the game - it goes against their approach. Winnipeg ONLY has a team because the nhl literally had no other options.

Toronto Needs another team. The area is so underserved - getting tickets to a leafs game is near impossible - or costs an arm and a leg, not great for kids/fans as the in house experience is the best!

That being said I 100% would love a team back in Quebec.

My ideal 36 team league:

PAC: Portland
Cen: Houston
Metro: Atl
Atl: Toronto/Quebec

40 team league:

PAC: Az shifts to
Cen: KC and Omaha/Milwaukee
Atl: Cincinnati
Met: Norfolk/Virginia Beach

 

[Dhockey16]

I love these expansion treads. Quebec is not a good option for the NHL. It wants markets that are either huge or untapped. Atlanta, Houston check the boxes for huge markets.

As for untapped, you're looking for locations that only have one, maybe two big fours, and ideally, no NBA presence (direct season competition).

Kansas City certainly fits the idea of a relatively big market with no NBA presence. I don't know what else they would look at. I'm aware of SLC rumors.

The reality that is so hard to grip for some folks is that all the feel goodery and nostalgia-baiting of the idea of QC does not line the pockets of the owners. Didn't before, doesn't now, won't at any time in the future. I'm sure they would sooner look at Jacksonville, Florida than QC (which I'm not suggesting is a good option either).

That's true on some level, but the most important part of having a team in a city - any city - is having an owner with the money and desire to own the team. That's why Atlanta left - nobody wanted to own an NHL team in Atlanta. Somebody might want to own an NHL team in Houston or Atlanta now but that's subject to change. I really doubt there are many rich people excited about spending a billion dollars on hockey in Jacksonville. Dumber things have been done with money, but I feel pretty confident in that assessment. Not so with QC - Quebecor is a behemoth in Canada and that's not likely to change. The NHL knows QC will accept whatever disaster franchise is thrown at them, though, so I imagine they'll probably be saved for emergency relocation like WPG.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

There are not enough NHL calibre players as is, but I don’t think they care about that.
There have always been a few players that don’t deserve to be in the NHL that somehow luck their way into a championship, but going forward there will be 5+ players getting their names engraved on the Cup every year that have no business in the NHL.

The legacy of the Cup will be tainted.

 

[Nineteen67]

You're going to have to dumb that one down for me. Revenue has largely risen faster than population growth over the last ~20 years.

Im not an expert but if the immigration crisis lowers incomes in some of the hockey markets that could reduce disposable income, which could hurt revenues.

 

[Siludin]

Look, I'm NOT at all against Quebec getting another team, but can you explain it to me how it would be terrorism if they didn't get a team?

Removing a team from Quebec and refusing to reinstate it for decades after failing in multiple expansion markets is a cultural attack on Canada. I don't care about the economics- it's a genuine insult no different than playing happy music when a American President dies.

 

[Dr Pepper]

32's bloated enough, I'm really hoping it doesn't expand again to 36.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Removing a team from Quebec and refusing to reinstate it for decades after failing in multiple expansion markets is a cultural attack on Canada. I don't care about the economics- it's a genuine insult no different than playing happy music when a American President dies.

Considering that QC failed to support their team properly last time, and that they acted like whiny children when they didn't get a team a few years back, and the provincial government acting like a bunch of turds towards the NHL, is likely is not doing QC favours.

 

[Siludin]

Considering that QC failed to support their team properly last time, and that they acted like whiny children when they didn't get a team a few years back, and the provincial government acting like a bunch of turds towards the NHL, is likely is not doing QC favours.

Doesn't matter. I'm from the West Coast and I would gladly join a nation wide hockey strike if it meant reinstating a team in Quebec.
Enough mucking around with garbage US markets.
If they can find three more US cities they can maintain the ratio and add one in Quebec.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Doesn't matter. I'm from the West Coast and I would gladly join a nation wide hockey strike if it meant reinstating a team in Quebec.
Enough mucking around with garbage US markets.
If they can find three more US cities they can maintain the ratio and add one in Quebec.

Cool. I'm from the east coast and couldn't give two farts into Tupperware about QC having a team.

 

[barry halls]

Don't expand, it just lowers the odds of getting to experience your favourite team winning the cup in your lifetime.

Imagine being a fan of a team like the Canucks, who couldn't even win a cup when there were only 14 teams in the league, how do expect them to be ok with 36 teams??

 

[Siludin]

Cool. I'm from the east coast and couldn't give two farts into Tupperware about QC having a team.

Sounds like you have no heart, like Bettman.

 

[NyQuil]

 

[Rodgerwilco]

If you join the NHL, you can be part of an exclusive family of owners! It will change your life as you become your own boss! Travel the world (well, mostly Canada and Scandinavia) to see the next prospect that your team can tank for! Hire quality people to run your team - Mike Babcock, Peter Chiarelli, Jason Botterill - the possibilities are endless!

Once you establish yourself and build your business, you can recruit others to “Chill and Chel.” Those owners become part of your Downstream Team, and you receive a % of their exorbitant expansion fees, along with any of their recruits!

Build your future, join the NHL.

Quit your dayjob and girl boss your way to the top! It's literally passive income. If they can do it, you can do it!

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Expanding 4 more teams without a team in Quebec should be grounds for a riot

Population is too low too have a proper riot in Quebec city

 

[Tilden Katz]

Removing a team from Quebec and refusing to reinstate it for decades after failing in multiple expansion markets is a cultural attack on Canada. I don't care about the economics- it's a genuine insult no different than playing happy music when a American President dies.

I'm fine with both of those things, actually.

 

[Green]

Makes me care less and less about the sport considering how much harder it will be to win a cup and that is the only thing I care about

 

[VivaLasVegas]

They’ll find a way to snub Quebec City again, too.

Nobody in QC is seriously trying to acquire a franchise.

 

[herzausstein]

I already don’t hate your bruins anymore. It’s just the leafs, it’s sad.

There is always room for more leafs hate. Could have another 4 teams fans worth of leafs haters

 

[cowboy82nd]

Removing a team from Quebec and refusing to reinstate it for decades after failing in multiple expansion markets is a cultural attack on Canada. I don't care about the economics- it's a genuine insult no different than playing happy music when a American President dies.

Did the NHL remove a team from Quebec or did Quebec sell their team? And like I said above, I would be happy to have a team in Quebec, but not putting an NHL team there is NOT a cultural attack on Canada.

 

[badfish]

Further expansion in the NHL likely represents a continuing tend of prioritizing growth in the American fanbase, potentially compromising the needs and interests of the traditional Canadian market.

When this topic comes up, I cannot help but think how Ken Dryden's "The Game" offers a valuable perspective to critique the NHL's leadership decisions. Dryden argues that hockey occupies a nearly-sacred place in Canadian culture and that the sentiment is not mirrored by any sport in the United States. However, the NHL's current policies and strategic decisions seem to disregard this cultural bond, an oversight that could have future ramifications, especially in a league that relies on the ticket sales and television contracts of Canadian hockey teams.

The NHL's leadership has had a blind spot regarding the emotional and cultural impact of their decisions over the past three decades. In the Game, Drydan says "A fan in Toronto loves hockey, and if the Leafs are bad, he loses something he loves and has no way to replace the loss." This sentiment is profound when considering the league's actions such as relocating teams from Quebec and Winnipeg, speculation of expansion into Quebec/Hamilton but then expanding 8 times in a row without including Canadian teams, and barring NHL players from the Olympics, where a gold in hockey is a source of immense national pride.

These decisions, alongside the emphasis on adding more American teams, are creating a "generational gap" in Canadian hockey experiences. Again from The Game, Dryden says "The golden age of anything is the age of everyone's childhood." Unfortunately, an entire generation of Canadians lack nostalgic memories of NHL or international hockey triumphs from their youth. The youngest individuals who can remember a Canadian team winning the cup are now around 35, while those who remember watching Canada winning the most prestigious best-on-best tournament (Olympic gold) will be 18 by time the next tournament occurs (assuming NHLers go). Many have been deprived of experiencing their 'golden age' of hockey, partly due to NHL policies that have diminished these opportunities.

There may already be early indicators about hockey's waning cultural significance in Canada. There has been an overall decline in hockey participation in recent years. Since peaking on 205, there has been a 30% drop of people playing hockey in Canada, despite a 15% increase in the country's population. This downtrend has even impacted affluent, traditional hockey-talent hotbeds, like Ontario.

What if this gap in hockey experiences continues for another tradition? What will be the outcome if the NHL further expands in the USA, maintains struggling American franchises, and Canada receives no new teams? Heaven forbid, what if one of the Canadian teams relocates to the USA? Could we see a decline in the NHLs Canadian market? Will the sport remain culturally relevant to Canadians in the future?

I said my bit. Thanks for reading.

 

[Mrfenn92]

I hope not

 

[MikeyMike01]

Lack of rivalries

It’s the idiotic scheduling. Get rid of cross-conference games… awful start times, against teams no one wants to watch. Actually play your division games a meaningful amount of games instead of the pitiful 4 times a year.

 

[GindyDraws]

Lack of rivalries

Then we will create more rivalries on social media.

 

[SomeDude]

I like how the NHL is turning into a Ponzi scheme. Revenues keep rising because new suckers keep buying in for a billion dollars.