The NHL to return to Seattle

When you think of Seattle most people automatically think about rain and the iconic Space Needle that marks an impressive cityscape, coffee and they may also think of sports. The city is home to three major sports teams with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the Seattle Sounders of the MLS and of course the Seattle Mariners of MLB.

All impressive and successful to differing degrees during their existence in the city but they may soon be joined by another big hitter. The NHL are set to allow Seattle an expansion franchise that could begin playing as soon as the 2020/21 season.

It would be no surprise to many as the NHL have wanted a natural rival to the Vancouver Canucks, just over the border in Canada, for some time while also seeking to add balance to the current East/West situation.

The Vegas Golden Knights were the latest expansion team to enter the NHL and they have, so far, had great success during their first season. Seattle will be hoping to do the same.

Where would an NHL team play in Seattle?

The proposed redevelopment of Seattle's Key Arena was a major factor in persuading the NHL to grant the city an expansion franchise. The Key Area was built in 1962 and is known for the unique roof that the city had planned to submit for municipal landmark status.

There was talk about a new purpose built arena being built in the SoDo region of the city but eventually the redevelopment of Key Arena was considered the better option. Two groups bid for the redevelopment contract with AEG eventually losing out to OVG (Oak View Group) that is led by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke.

The winning proposal will see the OVG spend $564 million to make Key Arena NHL and NBA ready. The striking part of the plan is the idea of lowering the arena bowl 15 feet while keeping the existing roof structure in place.

The new NHL team will then be able to play at the venue in time for the 2020/21 season. The work is expected to take around 2 years to complete meaning that the current tenants, WNBA side Seattle Storm will move to a new venue at least for the duration of the build.

Interestingly this will not be the first time that the Key Arena has been called home by a professional Ice Hockey team. The Seattle Totems played at the venue as part of the WHL (Western Hockey League) but folded in 1975.

The Seattle Supersonics of the NBA also played their home games at Seattle Center before they relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.

Is Ice Hockey popular in Seattle?

Seattle has had a long running love affair for the game of hockey. The first professional ice hockey team, the Seattle Metropolitans, played in the city after being formed as an expansion team in 1915. The owner offered lucrative salaries to players of the Toronto Blueshirts, who won the Stanley Cup in 1914, in order to have a competitive roster right from the off.

It worked as the Metropolitans became the first ever American team to win the Stanley Cup when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens in 1917. America would have to wait until 1928 to have another champion when the New York Rangers won the cup.

Unfortunately, the team would not stick around long and just nine years after they were founded, the Seattle Metropolitans folded.

After the Second World War, the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) was resurrected and Seattle was awarded a team, being recognised as a hockey city. The team was named the Seattle Ironmen and they played under that name until 1952.

In 1952 the league changed its name to the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the team became the Seattle Bombers and then they became the Seattle Americans in 1955.

They finished first in 1957 with Guyle Fielder, a rising star of the game, having a tremendous season. The next season saw them win their first play-off series and then another name change occurred.

The team became the Seattle Totems and remained under this name until the WHL folded due mainly to competition from the NHL. The Totems continued in the Central Hockey League in 1974-75 and were invited to join the NHL as an expansion franchise in 1975-76 but the team struggled to get the necessary finances in place and folded after the CHL 1974-75 season, leaving Seattle without hockey for the first time in two decades.

The city does have a major junior ice hockey team called the Seattle Thunderbirds that play in the Western Hockey League. This team was founded in 1985.

Can a Seattle expansion franchise expect success?

An expansion franchise would not often start an NHL season as favourites to make the play-offs but the recent records broken by the Vegas Golden Knights have perhaps changed expectations.

Any new team in Seattle might take a bit longer to hit the unprecedented heights of the Knights but it still might persuade people to bet on the team to bet on the team with Bitcoin when the Seattle team does get up and running.

Given the rarity of an expansion franchise having immediate success, the odds would be extremely favourable and often the excitement that surrounds a new team can help give it a boost.

A lot will depend on the expansion draft and who the other NHL teams chose to protect. To explain a bit more, whenever a new team comes into the NHL, the way they assemble a roster is through an expansion draft. This allows them to select one player off every other NHL team, with each team submitting a list of X number of players that are protected i.e. cannot be selected by the new expansion franchise.

If the GM of the expansion team plays his cards right, then he may well be able to assemble a very good group of players that is capable of immediate success.

This isn't always the case but even with the Golden Knights, there was not a lot of expectation that the roster they assembled would do well. Many hockey experts actually thought they hadn't done a very good job in the expansion draft but that has turned out to be emphatically not the case.

Ice hockey returning to Seattle

As you can see, the City of Seattle has a rich ice hockey history and it was only a matter of time before the sport returned to the city. It has been a complicated and rather long-winded process that, until last year, looked like a pipedream.

The year 2017 was key to getting things this far with the city proposing to redevelop the Key Arena back in January. The other option was to build a new arena in the SoDo area of the city which was the preferred route for some.

In February, Bill Daley suggested that the NHL would be open to setting up an expansion franchise should the Key Arena get renovated but was quick to point out that work would have to be done before anything was taken into serious consideration.

In March, Tim Leiweke talked about the Key Arena being ready in three years and it would be more likely that an NHL team returns to the city before an NBA franchise does, given the current state of both leagues.

Things started to move in April when both groups looking to table a bid to renovate the Key Arena, AEG and OVG, added people linked to ice hockey to their respective groups.

Reports in April also circulated that the redevelopment idea has support from both NHL and NBA executives.

In May, both groups showcased their plans for Key Arena redevelopment to an open house at the KEXP which was well received by the public as the Seattle Thunderbirds also won their first WHL title in the team's history in the same month.

In June AEG withdrew their bid leaving the way clear for OVG to go ahead with their proposals pending approval. This came on the 7th of June as the mayor's office confirmed that they have selected OVG group as their preferred bidder for the redevelopment of Key Arena. OVG then announced that they have added an NHL ownership group to their bid with David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer now on board.

In December the Seattle City Council approves OVG's plans of a $660 million redevelopment of the Key Arena that would make it NHL and NBA ready.

Just three days later the NHL accepted an expansion application from Seattle with ESPN announcing that the number one sports story of 2017 in Seattle was the NHL's interest in expansion to the city.

There is still much to do but everything has come together nicely in order for the city of Seattle to restart their love affair with the game of hockey. Many fans will be hoping that a new team can emulate and honor the great successes of the Seattle Metropolitans back in 1917 and give the city a NHL team to unite behind. If that is the case then it may not be long before this new team brings yet more sporting success to Seattle.

 

The NHL to return to Seattle to History of Hockey