Report: Seattle not considered for NHL expansion now

By Brent Stecker

The ongoing courtship between Seattle and the NHL has hit a rough patch.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters this week that an expansion team for Seattle is not a possibility in the foreseeable future, the Seattle Times reported.

Just like in recent failed attempts to bring an NBA team back to the city, the lack of a viable arena is the sticking point for the NHL. Investor Chris Hansen and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have a plan in place for a new basketball and hockey arena in the Sodo neighborhood, but the memorandum of understanding with the city requires an NBA team to agree to move to Seattle before the arena can break ground. That certainly hasn’t helped matters with the NHL.

“Until there is some better certainty about a building and its availability to an NHL team, there’s really not a whole lot of point in even going further in the thought process,” Bettman said, according to the Times’ Geoff Baker.

Hansen and Ballmer have attempted to buy an NBA franchise, most notably the Sacramento Kings last year, but their interest in the NHL is much less serious. Hansen has stated in interviews he is not willing to be a majority owner of a pro hockey franchise, though he would consider owning a small stake.

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