What Are The New NHL Expansion Teams?
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The National Hockey League (NHL) is expanding by two teams for the 2021-22 season. The new teams are the Seattle Kraken and the Vancouver
Canucks.
NHL Announces Two New Expansion Teams
In a joint announcement today, the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) announced that the NHL will be expanding by two teams for the 2021-22 season. The new teams will be located in Seattle, WA and Omaha, NE.
Seattle Kraken
Beginning with the 2021-22 season, the NHL will officially have 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken and an as-of-yet unnamed team in Quebec City. The NHL’s Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the new expansion teams on December 4th, 2020.
The Seattle Kraken will play their home games at Climate Pledge Arena, which is currently under construction and is slated to open in 2021. The arena is located in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood and is also home to the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer. The as-of-yet unnamed Quebec City team will play their home games at Videotron Centre, which opened in 2015.
With the addition of these two new teams, the NHL will realign its divisions and conferences. The current 32 teams will be split into four divisions:
North Division: Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.
Central Division: Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets Dallas Stars Detroit Red Wings Florida Panthers Nashville Predators Carolina Hurricanes Tampa Bay Lightning St. Louis Blues
West Division: Anaheim Ducks Arizona Coyotes Colorado Avalanche Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings Minnesota Wild Calgary Flames San Jose Sharks Vegas Golden Knights Vancouver Canucks
Pacific Division: Anaheim Ducks Arizona Coyotes Colorado Avalanche Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings Minnesota Wild Calgary Flames San Jose Sharks Vegas Golden Knights Vancouver Canucks
ravens
Las Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The team is set to begin play in the 2017-18 NHL season, and will be a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Golden Knights are owned by Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, LLC.
How These Teams Were Chosen
After years of anticipation, the NHL finally announced its two new expansion teams for the 2021-2022 season. The new teams are the Seattle Kraken and the unnamed team in Quebec City. This article will go over how these teams were chosen and what the NHL expansion process entails.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the NHL’s 31st and 32nd franchises on June 22, 2016, awarding a franchise to each of Las Vegas and Quebec City. The new teams will begin play in the 2017-18 season, bringing the league’s total number of teams to 32.
The decision to award franchises to Las Vegas and Quebec City followed a comprehensive evaluation process that began in July 2015 with the filing of applications by prospective ownership groups. The evaluation process included interviews with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, as well as consideration of a variety of factors, including:
-Each applicant’s business plan
-An analysis of the market dynamics in each location
-The strength of each ownership group
– Arena financing and plans
– Ticket drive results
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey expansion team based in Seattle. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Kraken are scheduled to begin play in the 2021–22 NHL season, and will be based at Climate Pledge Arena, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in October 2021.
On December 4, 2018, it was announced that Seattle had been approved as the NHL’s 32nd franchise, to begin play in the 2021–22 season. On July 23, 2019, it was announced that the team would be named the “Kraken”, after an extensive trademark search and fan vote. The ownership group is led by Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer andinclude investment firms such as big banks and investment firms such as Goldman Sachs.
Las Vegas Golden Knights
The NHL’s newest team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, seems to have come out of nowhere. No one thought that the NHL would expand to Las Vegas, let alone choose them as one of their two new expansion teams. But that’s exactly what happened! So how did they do it?
It all started with owner Bill Foley. He was the one who first had the idea to bring an NHL team to Las Vegas. He started a ticket drive to gauge interest in the city and quickly found that there was a lot of support for the team. He then worked with the city to get a new arena built, and everything else fell into place after that.
The NHL announced their expansion plans in June of 2017, and the Golden Knights were officially announced as one of the two new teams in September. They will begin play in the 2017-18 season along with the other new expansion team, the Ottawa Senators.
What These Teams Mean for the NHL
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey expansion team based in Seattle. They are scheduled to begin play in the 2021–22 NHL season, and will be based in the Seattle Center arena.
The Kraken were approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors on December 4, 2018, becoming the league’s 32nd franchise and the first since the Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators in 1998. The Kraken took their name from the legendary sea monster of myth and legend. The team logo features an octopus.
Seattle had previously been home to two major professional ice hockey teams: the Seattle Metropolitans, who played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924, winning the 1917 Stanley Cup; and the Seattle Totems, who played in the Western Hockey League from 1958 to 1974.
Las Vegas Golden Knights
The NHL’s 31st team, the Vegas Golden Knights, began play in the 2017-18 season. The Golden Knights are owned by Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, which is a consortium led by Bill Foley and the Maloof family.
The Golden Knights play their home games at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. The arena is also home to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. The team’s name and logo were both unveiled on November 22, 2016.
The Golden Knights made history in their first season as they became the first expansion team in NHL history to win their division (Pacific Division) and also made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they eventually lost to the Washington Capitals in five games.
