Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
You can only get expansion fees if someone is willing to pay them. If there isn't interest, and the league seriously wants to get into a market, then the other avenue is relocation. That's just the reality. The league likely recognizes that it is a 32 team league - max. They will expand by one more team, but after that, they will play the NFL card and move teams around. There are only a few sacred cows that would be on the "never move" list, but Calgary is not one of those teams. Relocation is a possibility. I wouldn't say a great one, but if the arena deal doesn't go down soon, and ownership continues to see no light at the end of that tunnel, relocation becomes a viable strategy, especially if Houston is available as a target.
|
Bull.
In the modern era relocation is damned near unheard of respective of the NHL.
Winnipeg got the Jets back because of a perfect storm of economics. No local ownership interest etc.
But Phoenix, the Panthers, the lightning for a while, Blue Jackets, Islanders and Carolina have been hemorrhaging cash for years and they're not going anywhere.
In terms of 'moving teams to where they can succeed' Calgary is very, very low on the list.