Atlanta officially requests NHL expansion process

Houston, Kansas City, Omaha (Nebraska), Cincinnati, Salt Lake City…

When people talk about possible NHL expansion lately, these are the names that come up a lot.

In fact, these are just some of the names of cities that have shown interest in the idea of hosting an NHL club, as Gary Bettman stated at the last All-Star Game. It’s easy to remember, because the league commissioner talked about these cities without ever mentioning Quebec City.

That said, the possibility of the NHL returning to Atlanta has also been discussed in recent months.

We know that there have already been two teams there (the Flames from 1972 to 1980 and the Trashers from 1999 and 2011), but that it never really worked out because both clubs had to move to Calgary and Winnipeg respectively…

And yet, Atlanta is working hard to bring back an NHL club.

The Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group, led by former player Ansen Carter, released a statement Tuesday saying it has begun a process to bring an expansion team to Alpharetta, Georgia, about 40 minutes north of Atlanta…:

I’ve lived in Atlanta since 2009 and have no doubt that the best league in the world will be successful if it returns to the Atlanta metropolitan area. – Ansen Carter

Is the league ready to give Atlanta another chance?

Actually…

Are things so different from a few years ago, when we saw how it wasn’t a big hockey market?

That’s what we have to ask ourselves.

Avalanche owner has big ambitions

Stan Kroenke is the owner of the Colorado Avalanche.

We’re talking about a man of great wealth, because he also owns several sports clubs around the world (Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Rams, FC Arsenal and the list goes on).

But Stan Kroenke is also a man with big ambitions.

Radio host Scott Kaplan reported that, according to a “highly-placed” source at Stan Kroenke’s Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Group, the group would like to build a new amphitheater in San Diego with the aim of bringing an NHL team to the city:

One of the higher-ups in Stan Kroenke’s group told me over the weekend that they’re going to bring the NHL to San Diego. – Scott Kaplan

Atlanta, San Diego, Salt Lake City…

I can’t wait to see where the NHL is going to be located with its new teams in a few years.

Because, the longer it goes on, the more new locations there could be in the league, in view of the talk of a possible expansion and in view of the fact that we know how bad things are in Arizona and Winnipeg.

In a gust

– Corey Pronman’s pieces on NHL prospects are always interesting.

– Still.

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– Nice lineup.

Borjan OUT, Sirois IN.

Change of era in front of the Canadian goal with a new Crépeau-St. Clair-Sirois hierarchy.

Moving forward. https://t.co/RMSNS6Q3ZB

– Arcadio Marcuzzi (@_marcuzzi) March 12, 2024

– Two completely different environments.