The NHL is working with potential owners of an expansion team in Texas, and it's becoming less likely that Canadian hockey fans will see an eighth franchise land in their country.
As an ongoing topic, the prospect of NHL expansion is a gift that keeps on giving.
For months, if not years, hockey’s top league has been entertaining the prospect of adding teams. And recent reports indicate the NHL is approaching a point where they’re going to add the league’s 33rd team when they award an expansion team to either Houston or Austin, Texas.
Adding a second team in Texas makes a lot of sense for the NHL.
The Dallas Stars will instantly have an arch-rival, while the vibrant Houston market – which already has teams in Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League – would provide the setting for a team that almost certainly would be a smashing success, just like we’ve seen with the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken in the most recent round of expansion.
With the 33rd team well on the way, all signs point to a 34th team eventually being awarded by the NHL. Commissioner Gary Bettman would prefer to have the competitive balance of two conferences with 17 teams each, and that means a Houston expansion franchise could be one of Bettman's final achievements in his career as commissioner.
If you’re holding your breath waiting for the NHL to put its 34th team in Canada, you’re going to expire well before you plan to.
There’s no question the prospect of an eighth Canadian franchise is intriguing. It would be fantastic to have a return of the Nordiques, but when you put it under the microscope, it becomes clear that the NHL will almost certainly be turning its attention to American markets.
While there would be an instant emotional connection for another expansion franchise in Quebec City or a second Toronto-area team, the league clearly doesn’t believe there’s the right combination of market size along with business and regional interests to place another team in Canada– at least, through the mechanism of expansion.
Eventually, those places may get a team if an existing U.S. franchise is relocated, but it’s safe to say the expansion door is closed for Canadian markets.
Unfortunately, the league isn't going to plug in more Canadian teams when they already have small markets in Ottawa and Winnipeg. If you’re just plugging in the numbers when it comes to market size, broadcast rights and arena costs, it makes sense why you’d pick Atlanta and Phoenix over Quebec City.
Quebecers have a great passion for the game, but this isn’t the National Passion League. The business of the game means we’re highly unlikely to see an eighth Canadian team anytime soon.
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