The news of Bill Foley's ticket drive in Las Vegas shook the NHL landscape last year. Commissioner Gary Bettman's shocking admission that, with the league's blessing, Foley would begin exploratory expansion efforts raised many an eyebrow. Soon thereafter, talk began to swirl that cities like Quebec City and maybe even Seattle could potentially become homes to new NHL expansion teams as well. Before long, it began to look like something of a foregone conclusion that there'd be one to two new teams in the league in the near, if not immediate, future - though, throughout it all, Bettman has done his best to temper and even tamp down expansion expectations.
Now, on the eve of the NHL's board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach this week, it seems word has begun to spread among the league's 30 owners that there may be more opposition to expansion than previously thought.
"It doesn't feel like there's a lot of momentum," an NHL owner that requested anonymity told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun last week. "I could be wrong about that. But I think there's a growing contingent of owners that are anti-expansion. The expansion [fee] check is nice, but ..."
Expansion is only one of the topics expected to be discussed and updated during this week's two-day meetings, but it's the issue likely to draw the most attention, not only from owners, but from fans, especially in places like Quebec where they're desperate for an NHL team.
Interestingly, it sounds like many of the league's owners don't even know what to expect from Bettman and Co. this week. Expansion efforts have been kept a closely guarded secret to this point and more than one owner expressed to LeBrun that they're intrigued by the $500 million expansion fee, but also unsure of what to expect from the meetings.
But it sounds like some opposition to expansion efforts have centered on the fact that weak markets, like Arizona and Carolina continue to persist. Why expand the league into other areas when there are issues already plaguing the league's less robust franchises?
Still, Vegas and Quebec have arenas and the general organizational infrastructure in place to house an NHL team. They have interest from fans - Foley reached and reportedly exceeded his stated goal of 10,000 commitments only about a month into the drive - and they have the money to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, they may not have the backing of enough of the NHL's owners.
We'll find out more this week on what's happening in terms of league expansion, but it sounds like it's really anybody's guess as to what the outcome will be.
