Tilman Fertitta says he's working on bringing an NHL team to Houston
While the eyes of the hockey world were on the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, for good reason, the National Hockey League is still pondering if they'll expand in the coming years.
One city that has interest in having a National Hockey League franchise is Houston, Texas, which would form a great rivalry with the Dallas Stars. Houston is no stranger to professional hockey, playing host to the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros. They also had a team in the now-defunct World Hockey Association with the same name.
This week, Kevin Weekes of ESPN reported that groups from Houston and Atlanta were in New York City to meet with the National Hockey League regarding expansion. It's unclear how those meetings went, but in a recent interview, Tilman Fertitta, who owns the NBA's Houston Rockets and wants to be the owner of an NHL franchise, says that he's working on bringing a team to the city.
He added, "I would put an NHL team here tomorrow. This one has got to work. But I'd love to have the other dates in the building.
Do I want to see Toyota Center filled up 300 nights a year? Definitely. We'll do whatever we can do, but whatever we do has to make sense. ... Will we be aggressive? Yes. That's my nature."
The Toyota Center, which would be the home for the National Hockey League in Houston, Texas if granted an expansion franchise, currently holds 19,000 fans, but for hockey games, the reported attendance would just shy of 18,000 at around 17,800.
An answer on relocation likely won't be coming for a little while, as the NHL tries to figure out what is going on with the Arizona Coyotes franchise, who may be relocating to Salt Lake City, Utah as early as next Thursday. However, it seems inevitable that the NHL will expand to 34 teams in the coming years and Houston may be one of the front-runners.
| POLL | ||
Should the NHL expand to Houston, Texas? | ||
| Yes | 48 | 39.3 % |
| No | 74 | 60.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
