NHL Board of Governors to approve opening of expansion process; Atlanta and Houston believed to be leading candidates

[Viqsi]

What they could do is get rid of conferences and have 4 divisions, seat teams 1-4 for the Semifinals(1 plays 4, 2 plays 3). This way you hopefully get the best possible finals

If the schedule is such that there's more games outside of the Eastern Time Zone, the semifinals seeding isn't going to matter. The chief issue was having a majority or near-majority of regular season games starting late and ending close to or after midnight. Particularly midweek.

 

[Snauen]

Travel would kill any thoughts of a Europe team unless there is an entire division.

Yep, an European division would be nice

 

[Tawnos]

what does 2023 look like?

I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of that person's post, but this was last year, sorted by attendance change. Not a whole lot of fluctuation.

Team	23-24	22-23	Change
Florida Panthers	18,640	16,682	1,958
Chicago Blackhawks	18,836	17,167	1,669
New Jersey Devils	16,280	15,207	1,073
Ottawa Senators	17,822	16,757	1,065
Los Angeles Kings	17,940	17,067	873
Philadelphia Flyers	18,414	17,635	779
Anaheim Ducks	15,687	14,953	734
Edmonton Oilers	18,267	17,838	429
Buffalo Sabres	15,981	15,567	414
Detroit Red Wings	19,116	18,819	297
Carolina Hurricanes	18,798	18,590	208
Minnesota Wild	18,643	18,454	189
Dallas Stars	18,532	18,371	161
Columbus Blue Jackets	17,009	16,860	149
New York Rangers	17,983	17,859	124
Vancouver Canucks	18,824	18,702	122
Vegas Golden Knights	18,137	18,024	113
Colorado Avalanche	18,102	17,991	111
Pittsburgh Penguins	17,909	17,816	93
Toronto Maple Leafs	18,789	18,753	36
Montreal Canadiens	21,099	21,078	21
St. Louis Blues	18,084	18,075	9
Boston Bruins	17,850	17,850	0
Seattle Kraken	17,151	17,151	0
Tampa Bay Lightning	19,092	19,092	0
Nashville Predators	17,306	17,344	-38
New York Islanders	16,540	16,912	-372
San Jose Sharks	13,559	13,988	-429
Calgary Flames	17,490	17,956	-466
Winnipeg Jets	13,447	14,045	-598
Washington Capitals	17,841	18,573	-742

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5414095/2024/04/18/nhl-attendance-2024-riser-fallers/

 

[triggrman]

I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of that person's post, but this was last year, sorted by attendance change. Not a whole lot of fluctuation.

Team	23-24	22-23	Change
Florida Panthers	18,640	16,682	1,958
Chicago Blackhawks	18,836	17,167	1,669
New Jersey Devils	16,280	15,207	1,073
Ottawa Senators	17,822	16,757	1,065
Los Angeles Kings	17,940	17,067	873
Philadelphia Flyers	18,414	17,635	779
Anaheim Ducks	15,687	14,953	734
Edmonton Oilers	18,267	17,838	429
Buffalo Sabres	15,981	15,567	414
Detroit Red Wings	19,116	18,819	297
Carolina Hurricanes	18,798	18,590	208
Minnesota Wild	18,643	18,454	189
Dallas Stars	18,532	18,371	161
Columbus Blue Jackets	17,009	16,860	149
New York Rangers	17,983	17,859	124
Vancouver Canucks	18,824	18,702	122
Vegas Golden Knights	18,137	18,024	113
Colorado Avalanche	18,102	17,991	111
Pittsburgh Penguins	17,909	17,816	93
Toronto Maple Leafs	18,789	18,753	36
Montreal Canadiens	21,099	21,078	21
St. Louis Blues	18,084	18,075	9
Boston Bruins	17,850	17,850	0
Seattle Kraken	17,151	17,151	0
Tampa Bay Lightning	19,092	19,092	0
Nashville Predators	17,306	17,344	-38
New York Islanders	16,540	16,912	-372
San Jose Sharks	13,559	13,988	-429
Calgary Flames	17,490	17,956	-466
Winnipeg Jets	13,447	14,045	-598
Washington Capitals	17,841	18,573	-742

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5414095/2024/04/18/nhl-attendance-2024-riser-fallers/

I mean that looks like a pretty healthy league to me. Take Nashville. While it did fall by 38, that's still well over the 17113 capacity for hockey so they're still selling 101%

 

[dj4aces]

I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of that person's post, but this was last year, sorted by attendance change. Not a whole lot of fluctuation.

Team	23-24	22-23	Change
Florida Panthers	18,640	16,682	1,958
Chicago Blackhawks	18,836	17,167	1,669
New Jersey Devils	16,280	15,207	1,073
Ottawa Senators	17,822	16,757	1,065
Los Angeles Kings	17,940	17,067	873
Philadelphia Flyers	18,414	17,635	779
Anaheim Ducks	15,687	14,953	734
Edmonton Oilers	18,267	17,838	429
Buffalo Sabres	15,981	15,567	414
Detroit Red Wings	19,116	18,819	297
Carolina Hurricanes	18,798	18,590	208
Minnesota Wild	18,643	18,454	189
Dallas Stars	18,532	18,371	161
Columbus Blue Jackets	17,009	16,860	149
New York Rangers	17,983	17,859	124
Vancouver Canucks	18,824	18,702	122
Vegas Golden Knights	18,137	18,024	113
Colorado Avalanche	18,102	17,991	111
Pittsburgh Penguins	17,909	17,816	93
Toronto Maple Leafs	18,789	18,753	36
Montreal Canadiens	21,099	21,078	21
St. Louis Blues	18,084	18,075	9
Boston Bruins	17,850	17,850	0
Seattle Kraken	17,151	17,151	0
Tampa Bay Lightning	19,092	19,092	0
Nashville Predators	17,306	17,344	-38
New York Islanders	16,540	16,912	-372
San Jose Sharks	13,559	13,988	-429
Calgary Flames	17,490	17,956	-466
Winnipeg Jets	13,447	14,045	-598
Washington Capitals	17,841	18,573	-742

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5414095/2024/04/18/nhl-attendance-2024-riser-fallers/

While not necessary, it might be helpful to denote which teams are at or above seating capacity. For example, I know that Dallas' 2023-2024 average attendance figure is also the seating capacity in their barn.

 

[Curufinwe]

Absurd. If the NHL should expand anywhere its Europe, 31% of the players are European and the populated cities, hockey-knowledge and interest is here too. The NHL is run by a bunch of old jerks

Absurd is thinking regular travel from LA to Prague is practical.

 

[HockeyScotty]

Yep, an European division would be nice

Teams 37-44 for the first division; then expand with 8 more for a full European Conference!

 

[Rob Brown]

Absurd is thinking regular travel from LA to Prague is practical.

It wouldn't be regular, if anything it'd be one long Europe trip once per season kind of thing.

 

[SEALBound]

I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of that person's post, but this was last year, sorted by attendance change. Not a whole lot of fluctuation.

Team	23-24	22-23	Change
Florida Panthers	18,640	16,682	1,958
Chicago Blackhawks	18,836	17,167	1,669
New Jersey Devils	16,280	15,207	1,073
Ottawa Senators	17,822	16,757	1,065
Los Angeles Kings	17,940	17,067	873
Philadelphia Flyers	18,414	17,635	779
Anaheim Ducks	15,687	14,953	734
Edmonton Oilers	18,267	17,838	429
Buffalo Sabres	15,981	15,567	414
Detroit Red Wings	19,116	18,819	297
Carolina Hurricanes	18,798	18,590	208
Minnesota Wild	18,643	18,454	189
Dallas Stars	18,532	18,371	161
Columbus Blue Jackets	17,009	16,860	149
New York Rangers	17,983	17,859	124
Vancouver Canucks	18,824	18,702	122
Vegas Golden Knights	18,137	18,024	113
Colorado Avalanche	18,102	17,991	111
Pittsburgh Penguins	17,909	17,816	93
Toronto Maple Leafs	18,789	18,753	36
Montreal Canadiens	21,099	21,078	21
St. Louis Blues	18,084	18,075	9
Boston Bruins	17,850	17,850	0
Seattle Kraken	17,151	17,151	0
Tampa Bay Lightning	19,092	19,092	0
Nashville Predators	17,306	17,344	-38
New York Islanders	16,540	16,912	-372
San Jose Sharks	13,559	13,988	-429
Calgary Flames	17,490	17,956	-466
Winnipeg Jets	13,447	14,045	-598
Washington Capitals	17,841	18,573	-742

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5414095/2024/04/18/nhl-attendance-2024-riser-fallers/

I think A LOT of these will change.

I expect the Sharks to get a boost with Celebrini and the Utah HC to have a strong inaugural season.

I think the Caps will be down-ish until Ovie gets close to the record. Then it will be tough to find tickets.

I think the Kings, Sens, and CBJs attendances will take a dump as well.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It wouldn't be regular, if anything it'd be one long Europe trip once per season kind of thing.

Ya it would just be one trip, but it would be brutal road trips for the Euro teams.

~ 4 x 10 day road trips
~ 5 x 8 day road trips

 

[Rob Brown]

Ya it would just be one trip, but it would be brutal road trips for the Euro teams.

~ 4 x 10 day road trips
~ 5 x 8 day road trips

Yeah fair.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

It wouldn't be regular, if anything it'd be one long Europe trip once per season kind of thing.

I'm not saying's impossible - just incredibly impractical. The European team would have to do something like 3-4 roadtrips that would each be 10-14 games long so they'd be in the US for a month at time. I assume the US teams would play all the road games in one trip.

What would you do for the play-off's?

Overall - it seems unlikely that the juice would be worth the squeeze.

 

[Derailed75]

Great, I love watching my favorite team have less of a chance to win the Cup

I guess you could stretch it out and blame the size if the league when in reality there are some teams so completely mismanaged they would win the cup in a 1 team league.

A good management team will get you in contention where you have close to the same odds as the other 16 well run teams.

 

[shipwreck]

Tilman Fertitta downplays NHL-to-Houston rumor, cites high pice​

Fertitta discussed the potential of an NHL team in Houston after a report emerged Monday citing Houston and Atlanta as the leading candidates to land hockey's next expansion franchise. Fertitta himself discussed the possibility of landing an NHL expansion team in February. He cooled expectations on that front Tuesday, largely due to a purported outsized sale price sought by the NHL.

Fertitta isn't quite ready to shell out major cash for an NHL team, with the last announced expansion franchise (the Las Vegas Knights) fetching $500 million in 2016. He's still spending plenty on hoops in Houston at the moment.

https://www.chron.com/sports/article/tilman-fertitta-nhl-team-houston-19789684.php

 

[Jagged Ice]

A billion in expansion fees and it costs another billion (minimum) to build an arena. Besides Atlanta, who's doing that?

 

[dj4aces]

A billion in expansion fees and it costs another billion (minimum) to build an arena. Besides Atlanta, who's doing that?

Technically, only Atlanta is presently in line to do that. Houston already has an arena, and will be doing renovations to make it NHL ready.

 

[StreetHawk]

Technically, only Atlanta is presently in line to do that. Houston already has an arena, and will be doing renovations to make it NHL ready.

Assuming that Fertitta wants a team at the NHL's price, which the NHL should know. There was mention earlier that Houston was re-installing the ice making machines which they had removed after the Aeros moved out.
Whether someone else wishes to do in HOU what ATL group(s) are proposing is unknown.

 

[Soundwave]

They probably are in a rush to get this done before the next CBA because there is 0 chance the NHLPA will not demand a cut of expansion fee revenue to be treated as hockey related revenue (because what else is it if not related to freaking hockey, lol). NHLPA will be all over this next time around.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Poor Quebec. NHL really doesnt care to go back there.

Who in QC exactly is offering the NHL a check for $1 billion? Name names!

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Tilman Fertitta downplays NHL-to-Houston rumor, cites high price​

The Fertittas have a big Vegas presence and the local rumors were that the Ferittas became hot on bringing a franchise to Houston after Vegas won the Cup, and apparently there were some behind-the-scenes talks going on with the League towards this objective. As the Meruelo clown shown reached its finale, the assumption was that the Fertittas would pick up the Coyotes on the cheap, but then somewhere in that process they cooled to the idea of acquiring a franchise and there has been radio silence on the issue ever since. No idea what happened or why.

 

[HabsDood]

Who in QC exactly is offering the NHL a check for $1 billion? Name names!

PKP

And Atlanta again?

F'd up league

 

[The Panther]

I really like pro-hockey in North America as a concept. I also like The Edmonton Oilers' history, legacy, and current team in general (my club since early 1980s). I enjoy seeing the highlights of all the fine games and great athletes in the pro-leagues.

At the same time, I hate the NHL itself.

In its first 50 years, the NHL was run by a bunch of robber-baron scumbags, whose names now adorn major awards in the League.

Nowadays, the NHL is run by a bunch of capitalist whores who do whatever lowest-common denominator business practice will get the shortest-route to quick-money to line owners' pockets (over-expansion, gambling ads).

I do miss the NHL of 1986-87 through 1993-94, when there was an abundance of great players because the League wasn't over-expanded.

If the NHL's main priority was long-term sustainable success, then they would prioritize making the best-possible product on the ice to entertain fans. The way to do that is keep "growing" the sport gradually, while having about (for today's market) 24-26 teams (I'd actually be happier with less, but I could live with that).

So, the best possible thing to do is to reduce the number of teams, not add to it. It's quite obvious that today's NHL rosters are watered-down in terms of median talent level. Some clubs these days (San Jose last year comes to mind) are basically AHL clubs.

What the NHL is trying to do now is to re-create c.1975 when there were 32 professional hockey teams in North America in an era of almost no US players and a tiny number of Europeans. The NHL is desperate to over-expand to create a short-term financial boom so the current owners and execs can all retire with their 200 million in savings.

Like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football that Lucy holds, the NHL continues to try to put hockey franchises in Atlanta (hey, maybe third time's a charm!).

The way they drag the season out into late June now is a disgrace.

It's all such a shame, because many of the recent rule-alterations and 'tweaks' the to game, and the current crop of young and peak players, is great. The athletes continue to get better and more skilled. The market for hockey is bigger than ever.

But short-term aims for fast-profit will always fail. The one consistent aspect of the NHL throughout its history is that is has succeeded despite itself -- it has always been run by idiots.

 

[dj4aces]

PKP

And Atlanta again?

No, PKP isn't offering up anything except a request for investors. It's the same thing he's been asking for since 2018.

I know, I know, people are really keen on getting QC back. I'd personally love to see it happen, and have made no secret of that desire. But it all starts with a lack of ownership, and if we're being honest, it's all downhill after that.

And yes. Atlanta again.

 

[Soundwave]

Does the NHL even have time to approve a new franchise before the current CBA is up? Because if they don't get it done fast, almost definitely the NHLPA is going to go into the next CBA negotiations (current CBA expires at the end of the 25-26 season) insisting on expansion fee revenue being including as hockey related revenue. It looks like with Seattle they started the process in late 2017.

 

[Leafs87]

Really not sure why they think Atlanta would work this 3rd time around….