Seravalli: NHL Back to AZ Within 5yrs ?!?

[rt]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841183003822997674

Click to read more...

 

[tucker3434]

I swear, if they get a team back before Atlanta…

But 10-15 years wouldn’t surprise me.

 

[NVious]

I swear, if they get a team back before Atlanta…

But 10-15 years wouldn’t surprise me.

Arizona is just Hockey crazy, there are hundreds maybe even thousands of Hockey fans there. Bettman is just speaking for all us hardcore Hockey fans that loved #HockeyInTheDessert

 

[teugen]

You cant make this shit up

 

[Peasy]

I mean this has always been the plan since they moved to Utah no? Once they finally get a proper arena built they will be back in no time.

 

[Jee]

It's like Bettman cannot stop thinking about his ex-gf. Move on, little wimp.

 

[StreetHawk]

I swear, if they get a team back before Atlanta…

But 10-15 years wouldn’t surprise me.

Was there any basis for that statement? Aside from the comment from Ishiba who mentioned he'd like to bring NHL to AZ? Because the Footprint arena has the same sightline issues they had back when the Coyotes played there. Unless that auction land is going to be the future home of the Suns/Coyotes and the city of PHX wants to get that going in short order. But, PHX also dealing with the DBacks stadium as well.

I think closer to a decade is more realistic. City isn't in a rush to throw more money into a sporting complex after dropping like $150 mill on Footprint around covid time. Have a runway with the Suns lease to 2037.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Let it go gary

 

[JianYang]

It wouldn't shock me, but they absolutely have to stay in the phoenix/Scottsdale area IMO.

That's where they went wrong last time.

 

[TooManyHumans]

If at first you don't succeed, just keep slamming your head into that brick wall. It is bound to cave in at some point.

 

[tucker3434]

Was there any basis for that statement? Aside from the comment from Ishiba who mentioned he'd like to bring NHL to AZ? Because the Footprint arena has the same sightline issues they had back when the Coyotes played there. Unless that auction land is going to be the future home of the Suns/Coyotes and the city of PHX wants to get that going in short order. But, PHX also dealing with the DBacks stadium as well.

I think closer to a decade is more realistic. City isn't in a rush to throw more money into a sporting complex after dropping like $150 mill on Footprint around covid time. Have a runway with the Suns lease to 2037.

I think a cooling off period would likely do them a lot of good, especially with the taxpayers that will likely need to vote yes at some point.

 

[S E P H]

If they do, it must be through the Suns owner.

 

[the valiant effort]

NHL secures freshwater pipeline from Lake Superior to quell Coyotes water crisis; residents still working on own solution

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Not a serious sports league

 

[S E P H]

You cant make this shit up

It's not dumb to want teams in big-city telly markets. The Arizona cities, Houston, and Atlanta markets are all within the top 10 in terms of telly and corporate sponsorships. They would be dumb not to want to go to those locations.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Inb4 you can't think a failed franchise shouldn't come back to a city without volunteering your own infinitely more successful franchise first

 

[Coffees]

Only reason I care about this is cause of RT

 

[Dr Pepper]

You cant make this shit up

Sure you can.

These "insiders" make a living out of doing exactly that.

 

[Breakers]

This what you get when you have the same CEO for 30 years

idiotic ideas and decisions like this.

 

[King In The North]

Not a serious sports league

This is just the top of the pile really.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Only reason I care about this is cause of RT

Russia Today will be unaffected by the NHL’s return to Arizona

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Arizona is a market the NHL wants. They need a proper building and strong ownership group. Bettman and the league are dancing right now that they will have Meruelo out of the picture. A clean slate when they return there eventually just as they will to Atlanta.

 

[TheNewEra]

has the last owner given up his rights to the logo etc, if its the same owner then absolutely not. If its someone new and they get a proper arena then it could work

 

[Voight]

Pipe dream really.

I really don't think anyone is going to put up billions for a third arena in the area, not to mention for an expansion team.

has the last owner given up his rights to the logo etc, if its the same owner then absolutely not. If its someone new and they get a proper arena then it could work

NHL holds the rights.

 

[BruinsFan37]

If they're serious about expanding to Houston and Atlanta (and by all accounts they are). then they need two more cities. to balance the Conferences/divisions. 17 teams each in the Eastern/Western conferences doesn't really work for nice clean divisions. If on the the other hand you add four teams, you'd have 18 in each conference and could do two divisions of nine teams each or three divisions of six (which, actually, I kind of like).

And with a four team expansion, yes a return to Arizona makes complete sense. I hope for Arizona's sake they get a management team that actually knows what they're doing this time.

Atlanta (East)
Houston (West)
Arizona (West)

Real question is, who would be the 4th team? Should be a team that would slot naturally into the Eastern conference. Another western team would push Chicago or Nashville east and result in them being the only team in that conference not in the Eastern Time zone -- something which they would really hate.