Four Sask. players named to Canada world junior hockey championship team
Dec 14, 2024
Berkly Catton, Brayden Yager, Caden Price and Tanner Howe were all named.
Poor Quebec City.
No NHL team for you, despite your three-year-old, $400-million arena, hockey-crazed fans and old connections with pro leagues. Gary Bettman and his cronies wanted another U.S. franchise, especially in the western states, in a booming city with a big TV market and rich, high-profile owners.
Seattle checks all those boxes. It also has a hockey history — the Seattle Metropolitans won the 1917 Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadiens, one year before the NHL was formed. That’s not nearly as important as Seattle’s owners’ willingness to pay a $650 million expansion fee. The team won’t appear for three more seasons when it might have a humourous or historical nickname — Totems, Mets, Fish Markets, Space Needles, Grunge or Nirvana.
Bettman said the NHL is content now with 32 teams. Without expansion on the horizon, Quebec City will have to wait for a cheaper, relocating franchise from Carolina, Florida or Ottawa.