Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Kansas City Not Entirely Off Radar For NHL Expansion

Jay Random · 08-14-2017, 08:48 PM

One thing that's changed: we no longer have a flood of horrible expansion teams scraping the bottom of the barrel for players.

In 1966, there were six NHL teams. By 1974, when the Scouts started up, there were 18 teams in the NHL and another 14 in the WHA, and only a handful of European players in either league. There was simply too little talent available for further expansion. The other new team in the NHL that year was the Washington Capitals, who set the all-time record for utter futility.

In 1976, the Scouts moved to Denver, where they failed again. But I don't think anybody nowadays would say that Denver is a bad hockey market because of that. It was just a weak franchise with little talent and lousy management, until Lou Lamoriello turned it around in New Jersey.

08-14-2017, 08:48 PM	#6
Jay Random Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Exp:	One thing that's changed: we no longer have a flood of horrible expansion teams scraping the bottom of the barrel for players. In 1966, there were six NHL teams. By 1974, when the Scouts started up, there were 18 teams in the NHL and another 14 in the WHA, and only a handful of European players in either league. There was simply too little talent available for further expansion. The other new team in the NHL that year was the Washington Capitals, who set the all-time record for utter futility. In 1976, the Scouts moved to Denver, where they failed again. But I don't think anybody nowadays would say that Denver is a bad hockey market because of that. It was just a weak franchise with little talent and lousy management, until Lou Lamoriello turned it around in New Jersey. __________________ WARNING: The preceding message may not have been processed in a sarcasm-free facility.