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A new city has emerged as a candidate for an NHL expansion team – New Orleans.
NHL Network analyst and former NHL goalie Kevin Weekes says an ownership group recently had a productive meeting with Deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly.
Weekes says while the identity of this ownership group is currently unknown, they are hockey people from top to bottom.
“That have experience with the game,” Weeks says. “A couple of the principals that are involved, in terms of investors, their kids play hockey. They’ve been long-time hockey fans themselves.”
The NHL grew its membership to 32 teams in 2021 with the arrival of the Seattle Kraken.
The newest franchise, the temporarily-named Utah Hockey Club, started play this year, taking the place of the deactivated Arizona Coyotes.
New Orleans could be facing a few roadblocks in its quest to land an expansion franchise:
- According to USA Hockey, Louisiana has the second lowest participation in hockey in the country. According to its 2023-24 final registration report, Louisiana boasted only 278 players — seven more than the 271 players registered in Mississippi. (At the other end of the spectrum, Minnesota unsurprisingly has the highest participation at 59,190 registered players.)
- New Orleans is not a big TV market. Should New Orleans eventually become home to an NHL franchise, it would be the NHL’s second smallest U.S. market according to the Nielsen TV rankings, ahead of only Buffalo.
- New Orleans does not have an arena suitable for NHL hockey. The Smoothie King Center, which opened in 1999, was built primarily for basketball. To fit a hockey rink in the Smoothie King Center, an entire bank of seats at one end would be removed, leaving all seats above them without a view of the near-side goal.
Weekes, who played portions of his career in non-traditional hockey markets like Miami, Tampa and Raleigh, North Carolina (where he helped lead the Hurricanes to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2002), says he saw interest in hockey grow exponentially in those cities upon the arrival of their respective teams.
Despite the small size of the New Orleans TV market, Weekes says New Orleans would be a great NHL city, as evidenced by how well it hosted the biggest event of any kind in the U.S., the Super Bowl.
“I think New Orleans has a lot of things going for it, including the rich cultural tapestry, the creativity, hospitality (and) amazing entertainment experience,” says Weekes.
Many other cities, including Houston, Atlanta, Quebec City and Phoenix (the latter three of which used to have NHL franchises; in Atlanta’s case, two of them), are also vying for franchises.
“There is no shortage of interest and expressions of interest from parties wanting an NHL expansion team,” Weekes notes.
Weekes says the fact that the ownership group met with league brass is big.
“This is a pretty significant piece to be able to go to New York, meet with the deputy commissioner and some other league personnel, express interest in wanting a franchise there in New Orleans,” Weekes says. “That’s not a small thing. Not anybody and everybody can get on the deputy commissioner’s calendar.”
Weekes says the potential ownership group has some significant backing.
“They have a lot of major sponsors already that are on board with the bid and with the presentation and the idea of having an NHL franchise there,” says Weekes.
The ownership group also has the backing of Gov. Landry.
Landry posted on X, “It’s time Louisiana has an @NHL Team. The economic impact would be substantial and having the Stanley Cup in the Big Easy would be a win for all!”
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