[MicroBob]

Also - if the NBA leaves Seattle I suspect the NHL might consider giving it a shot there too.

There are some northern U.S. markets that I think should be considered for big-league hockey and that is a big one.
Arena is as sucky as the Sonics say it is most likely. But it would be fine for an NHL team I suspect. Beggars can't be choosers and I think the NHL should want to get into that nice-sized TV market.

Houston also was a finalist in the last expansion consideration and would probably be considered again. I think the NHL has already done enough experimenting in the south and they would probably be about as popular as ATL or NSH or CAR there. So my guess is that the NHL would pass them by again now.

The NHL should be trying to get into the best non-NBA markets that they can imo.


Also - areyoudrizzle may need to be banned.
His insistence that the NHL games aren't on TV when they actually are is pretty silly.
I watched the Stanley Cup on NBC last year.
If you want to argue that they have a pretty low-level TV contract which gives them crap exposure in the U.S. and that losing ESPN was a terrible blow then I won't disagree.
But to just out-and-out say that the NHL isn't on TV at all is silly.

The even better news for hockey fans is that it appears 'versus' is a stronger network now and has better U.S. penetration. Still isn't going to go crazy with NHL ratings. But at least you have fewer fans who are completely left out in the cold from not getting the network at all.