Gary Bettman furiously addresses NHL expansion rumors involving Quebec City Atlanta and more
Photo credit: Montreal Canadiens NHL.com
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addresses rumors of expansion to multiple cities including Kansas, Atlanta, Quebec City, Houston, and a possible second team in Toronto
Throughout the past few months many NHL insiders have came forward with reports of the NHL being ready- and hungry, to expand the league with another expansion organization in a new city.. or old?
Toronto was rumored to benefit from another NHL organization, as well as new teams in cities like Quebec City, Houston, Atlanta, Kansas and more.
Fast forwarding, the word- according to insiders, is that the NHL would like to expand to not one, but two more NHL organizations. Two well known reporters, according to MSN Expansion NHL News , also confirmed these reports.
Last week NHL insiders Andy Stickland and Kevin Weekes both reported that NHL owners were meeting to formally approve the opening of an expansion period that will see the league grow from 32 teams to 34 or even 36 teams. Stickland further reports that Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia are both frontrunners for expansion.
From Stickland:
Really? We're going to give Atlanta a third kick at the can? Why not just speed up the whole process and move them to Quebec City straight off the hop? After all, the last two Atlanta NHL franchises ended up north of the border eventually. The Atlanta Flames fizzled out after just eight seasons and relocated to Calgary to great success. Ditto for the Atlanta Thrashers who moved to Winnipeg after 11 failed seasons in Georgia. Now the NHL is going to give it another shot?
Gary Bettman took the media stand on Monday to address expansion rumors, and according to MSN's report- he sounded very annoyed and frustrated in the tone of his voice.
From Bettman:
«We're not going through an expansion process. Other than updating the board in October of the places that expressed interest, nothing else is gonna be done. Everything else was either speculation or had no basis.»
Via Leafs reporter Adam Laskaris
This report straight from Gary Bettman's own mouth, ruins credibility for notable insiders such as Kevin Weekes and St.Louis Blues reporter Andy Strickland.
With NHL expansion in the air- where would you like to see the NHL expand to?
Previously on HawksInsider
POLL |
24 SEPTEMBRE | 75 ANSWERS Gary Bettman furiously addresses NHL expansion rumors involving Quebec City Atlanta and more If you had to choose one place for the NHL to expand to out of these four, where would it be? |
Atlanta | 6 | 8 % |
Quebec City | 53 | 70.7 % |
Kansas City | 6 | 8 % |
Houston | 10 | 13.3 % |
List of polls |
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