Rumor Owners meeting today to approve expansion to 34 teams

[FlamesAddiction]

I don't care how many teams there are really. I just wish there were more cold climate cities looking to add teams. If you keep adding teams in the Southeast, California, and Texas, it just become harder for Canadian cities to attract and keep talent. If you add San Diego, it would be like adding another L.A., Vegas, Miami or Dallas.

[Jay Random]

Trouble with that is that every large cold-climate city in North America already has a team. Out of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in North America, all those with cool climates have NHL teams already. In the top 50, the only ones with relatively cool climates and no NHL team are Kansas City, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Indianapolis – none of which appear to be in the market for a franchise. (Indianapolis couldn't support a WHA team with 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky on it!)