DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NHL/Seattle news

NHL has announced that an expansion team in Seattle will begin play in the 2021 season.

Great move if you ask me, and I believe this will lock in the return of the Seattle Supersonics to the NBA as well, because I believe there will be a brand new arena in Seattle.

Gary Bettman takes a lot of crap, and justifiably so for some of the things he has done, but I believe there has been more good than bad. Atlanta did not work out, but on the flip side, Columbus, Nashville, and Las Vegas have been colossal success stories.

As far as this year has gone, there have been some pretty decent storylines..

Buffalo, Colorado, Calgary, and the Islanders have been pleasant surprises.

The Blackhawks continue to freefall. Stan Bowman fired a hall of fame coach to save his own rear end, which looks like that isn't going to work. I don't think they make the playoffs, unless they shake up the team, and I don't think that's really going to happen. They're paying a little bit of a price for what they were able to do during that little 7 year run of dominance. They are stuck with some pretty hefty contracts, and are stuck with a puck-possession team that doesn't really possess the puck. They have great ownership, so I believe things will eventually get fixed, but I believe it will be a few years, and probably a regime change.

It seems like there are a lot of really bad teams this year, which is not the norm as parity has kinda evened out things over the years. Teams really stay in the playoff race until late in the season, but this year you have some teams that look like they may be out of it by the beginning of March.

Did I see their name will be the Totems?

Congrats Seattle!

I know that is/was one of the options, not sure if they decided yet. Others were\are Pilots, Aviators, Evergreens, Sea Lions, and Kraken. I think there were more, I can't remember them all.

Not a hockey fan, but Kraken would be a pretty cool name.

Totally. If I had a team I would name it The Kraken. Yesssss

"Unleash the Kraken!" .... smoke ..... fog ... and a huge roar ......



Yeah, that would be cool.

Does this make 33 teams?

Not a fan of that.

Love the Knights though and have really gotten into hockey. I'm not at the point where I watch non-Knights games but I'm getting there. I pretty much watch every Knights game. They started rough but have picked it up lately.

Might be going to Knights Blackhawks tomorrow as a matter of fact.

What a great game. What a great sport.

There's too many teams in the NHL. It dilutes the product, although the $650 million expansion fee doesn't dilute the owners' bottom line.

The Maple Leafs are racking up the wins, btw. Matthews, Tavares and Marner, plus Marleau, is a very formidable group of goal-producers, and players. Austin Matthews is a big-time talent. He just turned 21 in September.

Other random NHL thoughts:

I like seeing Buffalo getting off to a good start. They're a good young team, so far.

The Penguins look tired.

Ken Hitchcock has helped Edmonton short-term. He's always getting fired but he knows how to make teams better. He's done it a bunch.

Chicago are done, Winnipeg is a tough team.

Agreed, here are some of the proposed names and kits. The sushi one made me laugh out loud. Check out the Kraken presentation...dude deserves a position with the team.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25440...-design-contest

His others were good too.

I thought that made 32 teams?

Its 32. The Metropolitans has been the name buzzing around in Seattle. Old history hockey name there in the area. Don't like it. Another expansion draft upcoming. I get it but am not a huge fan.

I wouldn't go Mets just because the Mets baseball team ... I like stuff that's new

32. Nice even number.

Ok, I'm on board.

But no more after this.

I agree. To me, 32 is a great # for pro sports. Lots of equilibrium

It'll be relocating after this. They say it won't be Phoenix or Carolina but I think it will and its likely they go to Houston and Quebec City with possibly Portland in the mix.

There's a big push of late here in PDX for MLB including a group agreeing to land and having stadium plans already. If someone wants to move NHL here, they need to do it before baseball IMHO...I'm not sure the city would be able to fully support the Trailblazers, Timbers, Thorns (womens pro soccer, 16000 attendance per game), MLB and NHL all.

Winnipeg has serious firepower. They are going to be brutal come playoffs.

Portland is tough, especially with a town that supports the hell out of the Blazers, win or lose. Would be tough to expect great numbers for a hockey team, but it would be cool to see a pacific northwest rivalry with this new Seattle team, and even a rivalry with Vancouver.

I also think Bettman has to be careful with expansion. I think the Coyotes are probably more likely to be moved over the chance at an additional expansion team in the next 5-10 years.

Hockey has slowly risen in popularity on the west coast. You have good junior programs in the pacific northwest. You have the LA Kings and Ducks winning Stanley cup titles. The San Jose Sharks have been a model of consistency for almost 2 decades now. And you have I believe the first true up and coming superstar from the Western side of the country in Auston Matthews.

Hopefully the game continues to grow out there.

The league is loaded with talent, so I don't think the game is diluted quite yet.

My only concern is that the regular season is just not enough of a draw. With the NBA you get a few key matchups every month between great teams, but in the NHL parity has really evened out the field, and you just don't have those Warrior type teams anymore. The Blackhawks were that team for a while, but even then, they only won the President's trophy once, so they weren't exactly a regular season juggernaut.

I wish the NHL would do a better job of picking games they want to put on national television, because it just seems like they mix-match games between the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, and Bruins, and every once in a while sprinkle in the Blackhawks and Blues.

I get that you want the big markets, and on the east coast, hockey is huge, but showcase your talent. There are some really exciting teams outside of the giant metropolis size cities. Mix it up, and for the love of god stop with this "rivarly night" garbage between two teams that are clearly not rivals. It's almost a slap in the face to hockey fans. The NHL needs a way better marketing leader.