Major drama to come concerning Gary Bettman and the National Hockey League?

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MarcO
December 7, 2022 (7:44 PM)

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We are now in year two of the new Seattle Kraken franchise. At the time of the organization's arrival in the league, the leaders mentioned that it would be the last franchise for a long time to join the circuit.

According to what Chris Johnston recently mentioned in a podcast, the pandemic has changed the plan and we could see new franchises sooner than expected... This is huge!

"Someone predicted to me during the pandemic that, you know, these owners obviously took on a lot of water during the pandemic when they couldn't sell tickets to their buildings and all those kinds of things.

And this future expansion would be a way to recoup some of those losses. So that will be something. I'm not saying this on the immediate horizon, but, you know, maybe in a year or two we're talking about expanding the league beyond 32."

This news will make Quebec Nordiques fans happy. They will have to calm down, however, because other cities are much more attractive to the league than the national capital. We can think here of Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee and even Hartford.

One thing is certain, the lure of money will likely be there, while the price of a new franchise will certainly be very high. The Kraken cost no less than $650M just to join the league. The next expansion will be much more!

"It's possible that in a year or two, we're talking about adding more expansion teams, in the National Hockey League, to have more than 32 teams." - Chris Johnston

That's a huge statement! Imagine the shock if Gary Bettman ever turns around and actually agrees to add new expansion teams, in the NHL, in the medium term. Will he still be able to ignore Quebec City?