The Fourth Period: (youtube) David Pagnotta on ‘The Latest’ on NHL expansion and the buzz out of Arizona this week.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Kate Pettersen: “”Okay, speaking of long term, there’s some buzz around Arizona that a group of political leaders and business people in the area have gotten together and are making a bid for an NHL franchise. To bring hockey back to Arizona. What’s the timeline? The likelihood? What are you hearing on that?”
Pagnotta: “Yeah, the committee that’s been put together by the Marisco, Maricopa County is to find the right pieces in place to go through a formal process of exploring an NHL expansion franchise. It’s very early in the process. This is kind of step one.
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But in speaking to NHL sources over at the league, they’re pleased with this. It shows to them that the local market is serious about bringing NHL hockey back to the market. And Maricopa includes Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, among others, but they want to see that possibility.
And Matt Isaiah, who owns the Phoenix Suns, has gone on record of saying he wants to see NHL hockey back in the market. We’ll see if he gets involved in this group as well, and perhaps on an ownership front level down the road.
But the league’s priority is to make sure they’ve got the right plan in place. The right group. And they will not consider any potential until there is an arena plan that is secure, sound, and ready to roll. They have that, then they can pursue ownership and then look at expansion.
The league is going to grow. We’re going to 34 soon, eventually get to 36 and then I think that’s going to be the cap. Whether Arizona is part of this next wave or the one after, obviously we’ll have to wait and see.
But the local market wants NHL hockey back, and now that they’ve got that mess of previous ownership out of the way, they want to focus on doing this the right way.
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Pettersen: “For sure. And I think what you’ve seen in Utah with the way that they’ve been able to use the Jazz facilities, perhaps that’s the easiest way to integrate that into something that’s already in existence.”
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