Canadian:
1- Vancouver
2- Calgary
3- Edmonton
4- Montreal
5- Winnipeg
6- Toronto
7- Ottawa
8- Quebec City (from current American NHL city)
9- Hamilton (from current American NHL city)
10- Mississauga (from current American NHL city) (rival with
Detroit, other Great Lakes cities)
11- Gatineau(from current American NHL city) (rival with
Ottawa)
12- Vaughan (from current American NHL city) (fastest
growing city in Canada, rivalry with Toronto)
13- Halifax (from current American NHL city)
14- London (from current American NHL city)
American:
1- Boston
2- New York Rangers
3- Philadelphia
4- Buffalo
5- Pittsburg
6- Washington DC
7- Chicago
8- Detroit
9- Dallas
10- Colorado
11- Minnesota
12- LA Kings
13- San Jose
14- New Jersey
Here’s the reason: 28 teams is realistic to pass in the
players union because not a ton of NHL players lose their job (vs. a 20 or 24
team proposal). Vaughan, the smallest of the proposed cities, still has 250,000
people in the metro area, which for Canada, means they could sell out a
20,000-seat arena on a regular basis. Niagara getting a team would be good for
a natural rival to Buffalo. A 16-team playoff format would still be in use,
which the NHL would approve because that means more games (meaning more
revenue, exposure, etc.). By eliminating or relocating a number of American NHL
teams, the NHL makes the game better (fewer teams = better players, still a good
size league = more cities and markets reached, more Canadian teams for their
country’s national sport = a good thing). I think it’s less of relocating the
American teams to Canadian cities than disbanding those teams and creating new
ones in Canadian cities, but realistically there has to be relocation so there
isn’t a big draft to re-organize the league.
