from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
Despite all the cautious word games played by league officials Wednesday, in which Bettman reiterated that Foley had to file the same paperwork as any other potential bidder, the expectation is not if Foley and Co. will land an expansion franchise, but when that might happen.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the earliest possible expansion date a new team could play would be the 2017-18 season.
Bettman said he was impressed by the work the Vegas group has done to date, but cautioned: “There is no list, there’s no priority, there’s been no determination other than – we’ve been listening for a while. Let’s take a look.
“Expansion is a serious and important business decision. You don’t do it frivolously.”
The waters get murkier beyond Vegas, however. Quebec would be a logical choice, because it has an established fan base, a new 18,500-seat arena set to open in September, plus a well-heeled prospective owner in Videotron, the cash-rich subsidiary of media giant Quebecor.
From an NHL perspective, the problem with Quebec, or any other potential Eastern Conference candidate, is its geography.
With 16 teams already operating in the Eastern time zone, the NHL would ideally prefer to put two more teams in the West, for a balanced 32-team league. Vegas and a team in the Pacific Northwest would fit the bill. Seattle and Portland have both been linked to NHL expansion in the past, though neither city is anywhere nearly as close as Quebec to putting together a viable bid.
At some point, any number of groups representing metropolitan Toronto may also come out of the woodwork, though Bettman has always been lukewarm about that possibility.
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