By Charlie Teljeur
It’s quite telling, the different standards for expansion procedure required to join the NHL. Whereas Quebec City is perpetually on Standby, cities like Salt Lake City, Utah, seem to have easy access to Preferred Seating.
Of course, anyone who knows how the NHL operates, is not surprised by this at all. Gary Bettman has different standards for different applicants and he’s actually quite proud of that double standard, although you’ll never hear him say that. The dude just loves being wooed although he prefers to call the shots on who’s doing the wooing.
While this preamble is essentially old news, what is new news is that NHL might have finally gotten this latest one right. Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group filed a request for initiation of a formal expansion process by the NHL, according to a recent press release.
Salt Lake City is a great candidate for an NHL franchise, although let’s first deal with the elephant in the room: Why not Quebec City?
The answer is quite simple. The truth is that the NHL will NEVER return to Quebec City while Gary Bettman is Commissioner. Never. Doing so would be using the first Gary Bettman mistake (moving the Nordiques out of Quebec) to rectify a second one (re-locating the Arizona franchise). The commissioner is a very small man, and I’m not talking about physical stature.
He also knows Quebec City will always be there when, and if, he ever wants to start taking auditions again. That’s the way he deals with all the franchises in Canada. Aside from Montreal and Toronto, all the biggest bones are reserved for the hungry dogs south of the border. It’s just how he operates.
Salt Lake City however, is a great choice, whether it was because of the commissioner or not.
It would make a great expansion team or become a preferred relocation site for the Arizona Coyotes, which is potentially on the table depending on how quickly the league wants to have a team in the Utah capital.
Why is Salt Lake City such a great candidate?
First off, strong ownership. Smith Entertainment Group owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz, MLS’ Real Salt Lake, and the NWSL’s Utah Royals so they not only have deep pockets but also a legacy of successful franchising.
They also have an existing building ready-made for hockey. Delta Center, with an “official” capacity of 14,000 far surpasses Arizona’s paltry 5,000 seat Mullett Arena which, to be fair, is actually a building belonging to and meant for, Arizona State University. Of course, it’s even more fair to say that a professional hockey league team should not be playing in a college arena.
There’s also the Maverik Center, which holds 10,100 people. It’s hosted the IHL’s Utah Grizzlies ever since 1997. So yes, the backup rink for the expansion-ready Salt Lake City franchise is already larger than the current one the Coyotes play in.
Salt Lake City also has a strong hockey history. When the Nordiques moved to Denver in 1994, the IHL’s Denver Grizzlies moved to town, winning the Turner Cup in their first season. Their Cup-clinching game, in fact (held at Delta Center), (somehow) set the minor hockey league game attendance record at 17,381.
While those IHL Grizzlies moved to Cleveland in 2005, they were replaced with an ECHL team that same year. Also known as the Grizzlies, this franchise is an affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche and are continually top 10 in franchise attendance every year.
Another thing working in favour of a potential NHL franchise in Salt Lake City is the lack of competition when it comes to vying for fan dollars. Aside from the NBA’s Utah Jazz, all the other contenders play summer sports so, much like Columbus, the NHL would effectively be the only game in town.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Salt Lake City has the type of climate perfect for hockey. Selling a winter sport in a non-winter area will always be a huge obstacle for the NHL since beaches and cacti don’t naturally translate to a sport played on frozen water.
Utah is so winter-friendly (given its abundance of world class skiing for example) that it’s actually trademarked the phrase The Greatest Snow On Earth, and if that isn’t a great basis for welcoming the greatest game on ice, I don’t know what is.