Seattle's new NHL franchise is now official

[True Dough]

Link to tweet

SEA ISLAND, Ga. -- The NHL will add a 32nd franchise in Seattle, the league announced Tuesday after a unanimous vote by the board of governors.

The Seattle franchise will enter the league for the 2021-22 season as a member of the Pacific Division. That will trigger a realignment that will send the Arizona Coyotes to the Central Division. The cost for league entry will be $650 million, up 30 percent from the $500 million paid by the Vegas Golden Knights to enter the NHL last season.

Seattle's ownership group had expressed a desire to enter the league in 2020, but the league had reservations about whether that might rush the $700 million renovations to downtown KeyArena, and instead pushed the entry date a year later.

Seattle, the 18th largest city in the United States, has not had a winter sports team since the NBA's SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City in 2008. The Sonics also played in KeyArena. The WNBA's Seattle Storm are one of the current tenants of the arena, but will temporarily relocate for the 2019 and 2020 seasons as the building undergoes renovations.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25451216/nhl-votes-give-expansion-franchise-seattle

[maxsolomon]

1. Aw Yisss

Ridiculous we haven't had an NHL team since 1924.

Now, which name?

Metropolitans (original name)
Totems (WHL team)
Thunderbirds (current jr. league team)

I'm in favor of the Thunderbirds, because they're PNW Native mythology, and badass graphically.

[True Dough]

2. It should create a great rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks

T-birds is a definite possibility for the name.

[Loge23]

3. Where do the players come from?

The NHL is already watered down on talent.
32 franchises?? Yikes.

[True Dough]

4. Increasingly

the players come from all over the world. The U.S. and Europe have increased their presence in the game over the past few decades.