Christian Renzi
It's looking more and more like Seattle is going to have an NHL team in the next few years. The Seattle ownership group filed a $10 million down payment and an application for an NHL expansion team.
It's actually pretty surprising to me that Seattle hasn't had a team in more recent years. Seattle actually did have a team win the Stanley Cup in 1917. The Seattle Metropolitans were part of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. In 1924 the Boston Bruins became the first American hockey team to join the NHL.
Seattle seems like a natural place for a new hockey team to exist. Other cities have been discussed in recent years including Vegas (which now has a team), Kansas City, Quebec (who had an NHL team until 1995) and a second team in Toronto. In Seattle you can create a rival team to the Vancouver Canucks. The cities are under three hours apart according to a quick google maps search. The Western Conference also has one less team than the East so it makes sense to even the two out.
For now hockey is working in Vegas, although the team will eventually come back to earth and suck at some point, proving that expansion teams can work. One thing I've never been a fan of is Vegas's name. The Golden Knights is a strange name to me for some reason. I always thought it would be cool to name them after something that has to do with casinos, but I've heard the NHL wanted to stay away from the whole gambling thing.
So what should the NHL name the team in Seattle? I'd just bring back the Metropolitans. Call them the Seattle Mets. It wouldn't be the first time that the NHL had the same name as another sports franchise...see the Winnipeg Jets.
As long as the NHL doesn't name them something stupid like "the Seattle Grunge" I'm good.
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