Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
All three would be central. Anything south of the Mason Dixon would be leveraging the "southern strategy" of tapping non-traditional markets the NHL has employed. All of the teams left standing for this year's Stanley Cup exist because of the southern strategy.
You are so mixing too many terms. Las Vegas could not be much further from the Mason Dixon line. And LV has a franchise because Bill Foley opened his cheque book and the NHL liked the market. The NHL didn't bring hockey to the desert, he did.
I would argue these are the minimum requirements for taking on a team, not the next steps in expansion or relocation. You need to meet these minimum requirements or you are not considered for a franchise. If it were as easy as 1,2, and 3 Quebec City or Hamilton would have a franchise right now. There's a lot more to awarding a franchise than meeting minimum requirements.
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Really? The last two expansions, the NHL went with all the applicants who met their minimum criteria but for QC. And part of that was because of 3) and part because their ability to meet 1) was in serious question.
You mentioned a whole bunch of cities in your list and none have yet to come forward and meet the NHL's criteria.