There has been some talk of the National Hockey League expanding to Seattle, Washington.
Seattle hockey fans have been pushing this for years, with only the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds and the Everett Silvertips being the closest thing the Emerald City has to professional hockey. The city of Seattle could easily transform KeyArena, where the Seattle Storm professional women's basketball team plays, to an NHL hockey rink.
Currently, the NHL has 31 teams; 24 in the United States, and seven in Canada. In 2016, the NHL expanded to Las Vegas, Nevada, making the Vegas Golden Knights the 31st team in the NHL. The Vegas Golden Knights are in first place in the Pacific Division and show promise to be a strong competitor for the Stanley Cup this year.
NHL did a season ticket drive on March 1st and sold 10,000 season tickets in just 12 minutes proving that the state of Washington deserves a professional hockey team.
There is also talk that if Seattle were to be granted an NHL team then there would possibly be room for an NBA team. When the Seattle Supersonics left in 2008, many fans were crushed and this could be hope for a new era with both basketball and hockey in a city that is full of sports fans.
Seattle actually had a professional hockey team once. The Seattle Metropolitans were part of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915-1924. The Metropolitans even won the Stanley Cup in 1917.
We'll see if Seattle will actually get the NHL team. Nothing is set in stone yet, but there are many good signs. The new franchise wouldn't be until the 2020-2021 season, but fans are already discussing team names and are as thrilled as I am.
