Insider says momentum is growing for the NHL to return to this city

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Cooper Godin
June 10, 2023 (11:12 PM)

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While on The Jeff Marek Show on Monday afternoon, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that he's hearing there is a lot of momentum growing for a potential return of the NHL to Atlanta, Georgia.

Friedman went on to say that if the arena plan in the suburb of Alpharetta gets the green light, then it's a very real possibility we could see the National Hockey League return to Georgia.

A Georgia developer is looking to build an 18,000 seat arena along with shops, restaurants, a hotel and residential units on a 100 acres of land near the city of Alpharetta, which is about 45 minutes north of Atlanta.

When looking back on the NHL's two previous franchises in Atlanta, the Flames and Thrashers, the main issue was that their respective ownership groups essentially gave up and allowed them to be relocated. The Flames moved to Calgary, while the Thrashers also headed north, landing in Winnipeg. Although, the product on the ice wasn't always the greatest. The Flames made the Stanley Cup Playoffs six times, but never won a series, while the Thrashers were swept by the New York Rangers in their only appearance in the postseason back in 2007.

If the National Hockey League does decide to return to the state of Georgia, it seems more likely that it'll be via the expansion route. Recent success of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken, the NHL's two newest franchises has been big for the league and bodes well for future expansion. In 2021, the Seattle Kraken paid $650 million USD as their expansion fee to enter the league and there's no doubt that dollar amount could be significantly higher if the NHL decided to expand in the near future.

There are several other cities around North America that would love an NHL franchise, including Quebec City, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Sacramento, Houston, among others. Returning to a city for a third time might seem unfair to those mentioned above, but if a strong ownership group is in place and an arena deal is reached, it makes a lot of sense for the National Hockey League to return to Atlanta.

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