National Hockey League expands to Las Vegas

“In the fall of 2017, when we celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Hockey League, we will do so as a league of 31 teams”, Bettman said at a news conference in Las Vegas.

While we still have a full season before Las Vegas has the opportunity to form their team, let the speculation begin as to which players will be available when the Expansion Draft opens up.

“We think this is a tremendously exciting opportunity, not just for Las Vegas, but for the league as well”, Bettman said, calling Las Vegas “a vibrant, growing, global destination city”. The expansion fee for the Las Vegas team owned by Bill Foley is $500 million. This NHL expansion team will be a boon for the economy and finally give Las Vegans and sports fans throughout the Silver State a professional hometown team they can proudly rally behind.

LAS VEGAS – The NHL is now officially the first major professional sports league to gamble on Las Vegas. The arena, which seats 17,500 for hockey, was built entirely with private money by MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group, the owners of the Los Angeles Kings.

Bettman also told media members the team will be afforded talent consistent with the level of play in the current league, promising the Las Vegas franchise will be competitive right out of the gate.

With respect to the players that are available for Las Vegas to select in the expansion draft, each team must meet certain requirements.

Las Vegas is getting a major league team. Each team will have two options for their protected list – either eight forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender.

The league also said Las Vegas will be given the same odds in the 2017 draft lottery as the team finishing with the third-fewest points during the 2016-17 season.

“We’ll leave no stone unturned in our dedication and pursuit of hockey in Las Vegas, not just for our team but for the community”, he said. “We lost the Nordiques once, we don’t want to lose them twice”. The leagues and their owners anxious that because sports betting is legal in Las Vegas, games would be more susceptible to match-fixing. The rest of the players could potentially be chosen by the new team, in order to make up their roster to start the following season. “I don’t think it will affect us”. Foley, a graduate of West Point, said he loves the nickname of his alma mater, the Army Black Knights.

The Black Knights, said Foley, would be his preference. We’re going to lose a good player.

“The decision to defer was based on elements over which the Quebec City group had no control over whatsoever, significantly the fluctuation of the Canadian dollar, including its decline to a low of 68 (U.S.) cents earlier this year”. Moreover, the league’s geographic imbalance with 16 teams already in the Eastern Conference and 14 – now to be 15 – teams in the Western Conference undermined the achievement of that objective relative to Quebec City’s application, as well.

Essentially, Quebec City is in the same situation that Winnipeg was in six years ago. “We will continue to work with determination to achieve this goal”.

The bid of Quebec City has been tabled, or postponed, or whatever you want to call it.

Here is the link to the Associated Press story from today.