SI/Weekes: Houston, Atlanta leading NHL expansion list

[StreetHawk]

If he doesn’t, they won’t be getting a team.

Correct. And that means no Houston as an nhl market even if it’s one that the nhl desires to have a team.

 

[dj4aces]

A Houston team should be called the Aeros but the NHL likely wouldn’t allow it due to it’s association with the WHA. But Aeros has a clearly defined connection to Houston and even had Gordie freaking Howe win a couple of championships for them. If the NHL was smart they would honour this when they eventually go to Houston.

If the Aeros name is desired, I'm pretty sure the league itself wouldn't care. The Wild would have to relinquish the name though, as they currently hold the trademark.

 

[GreenHornet]

If the Aeros name is desired, I'm pretty sure the league itself wouldn't care. The Wild would have to relinquish the name though, as they currently hold the trademark.

That answers my question from above. Makes sense, given that Iowa is Minnesota's AHL affiliate.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

A Dallas-Houston rivalry would be good for the NHL.

The only league where Dallas and Houston don't share a division is the NFL. For TV reasons, the NFL can't do a purely geographical alignment like the NBA and NHL. That's why there's the AFC (in which Houston plays) and the NFC (in which Dallas plays). As such, only 2 Cowboys-Texans regular season games are guaranteed to occur in an 8-year period, in which they always meet in years divisible evenly by 2 but not by 4. They could meet in years divisible by 4 if they finish in the same position within their divisions the year before (as they did in 2024).

There has never been a Dallas-Houston rivalry in top-level professional hockey. WHA only ever had Houston, and the NHL has only ever had Dallas.

Dallas and Houston (and for that matter, Fort Worth) did co-exist in the first version of the Central Hockey League, starting in 1967-68 and ending in 1968-69, and again starting in 1979-80 and ending in 1981-82.