If the NHL expands, which arenas will house the teams?
Reports of NHL expansion-up to four new teams, mind you-followed by denials from the NHL leave us with the question: Which arenas would house these potential new teams? Here's a look:
LAS VEGAS
When the news hit that expansion to Las Vegas was, according to and MGM Resorts International. Plans for the privately funded, $375 million building on the Strip were announced in 2013 and The Province, a done deal, it turned NHL fans' attention to the new 20,000-seat arena that is owned by AEG ground was broken earlier this year with a goal of opening in spring 2016.
Built according to specifications that enable the arena to host NBA basketball, NHL hockey, boxing and pretty much anything else its owners desires, the Populous-designed structure will be ready for major sports from the get-go. You can expect it to serve as 'an extension of the Strip's high energy' with color and drama to match, says Populous lead designer Brad Clark. The new venue will feature an 85-foot-tall atrium, a performance stage outside, and a glass exterior covered in giant LED overlays up to 118 feet high. Talk about Vegas color.
A pair of other arena ideas for the city have surfaced in recent years, including one downtown, but with construction already moving along, the AEG/MGM Resorts International project looks very much like the obvious choice.
SEATTLE
Investor Chris Hansen wants an NBA team and he has a pretty well-developed plan for a new arena in SoDo, the neighborhood that houses Safeco Field and CenturyLink Stadium, a natural location for NBA and NHL franchises. But Hansen has long said that the privately financed arena will only be built if he has a NBA team to fill it. No NHL-first arena for him.
But that hasn't stopped the speculation in Seattle. Hansen has had discussions with billionaire Victor Coleman-a prospective NHL team owner-and other big-name hockey types (Wayne Gretzky, anyone?) about bringing in a franchise. If the NHL arrives without Hansen's yet-to-be-built Sonics Arena Project, the team would have to play at the old Key Arena, which opened in 1962 in the shadow of city's famous Space Needle.
The former downtown home of the NBA's Sonics, the Seattle Center venue seats more than 17,000 and has hosted basketball, hockey and plenty of entertainment for decades. While it would be a viable home in the short-term, nobody sees Key Arena as a long-term option for a major sports team. That's exactly why Hansen's plans have NBA and NHL fans in Seattle hoping he lands a hoops team first and hockey then follows.
QUEBEC CITY
It will be about one more year before the city's brand-new 18,000-seat, NHL-ready venue opens. Ground was broken for the Quebecor Arena in 2012-the design is said to be tied into the Province of Quebec's maritime history, using wood, steel and rope to give it a 'shipbuilding style'- and it's expected to be ready by September 2015.
Ever since the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche, the passionate fans in Quebec City have been longing for the return of the NHL. Pierre Dion, president and CEO of Quebecor Media, created a public-private partnership with the city to build the new arena with the full expectation that the venue will house either an expansion or relocated franchise.
Adding another team in Canada seems to make financial sense now that the NHL has struck its 12-year, $5.2 billion Canadian broadcast and multimedia rights deal with Rogers Communications. Quebec City sits ready with Quebecor Arena. The question is whether the league will commit to it.
TORONTO
Sure, Toronto already has a NHL team, but Canada's largest city has suburbs aplenty. The most obvious choice is Hamilton, where the FirstOntario Centre sits about 40 miles south of Toronto's Air Canada Centre, the home of the Maple Leafs.
Originally known as Copps Coliseum, the arena opened in 1985 with the direct hope of landing an NHL franchise, but hockey fans in Hamilton have had to content themselves by cheering the Bulldogs, the top AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, there since 1996.
Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie has tried to buy and move a team to Hamilton-he made bids for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and, most recently, the Phoenix (now Arizona) Coyotes-and house it in the 19,000-seat venue. But even with Hamilton's NHL-ready building, if the league desires to tap the Southern Ontario market for expansion, a variety of other locations in the greater Toronto area, including Vaughan and Markham, have put new arena plans on the table in recent years. More locales would likely clamor to be considered.
Tim Newcomb covers stadiums, design and gear for Sports Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.
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