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NHL Expansion a Huge Mistake

August 30, 2014, 1:17 PM ET [119 Comments]
James Tanner
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This week several news sources reported that the NHL would be expanding. According to various sources, the NHL going to Las Vegas is a "done deal" and then noted Shakespearean scholar Harold Bloom suggested that the NHL would expand by four teams by the year 2017, with Toronto, Quebec, Seattle and Las Vegas all getting teams. Or possibly it was a guy called Howard Bloom, the publisher of Sports Business Weekly.

Either way, the NHL denied it, which was to be expected.

Personally, with over a billion dollars in expansion fees on the table, I tend to think it's probably true - where there's smoke and all that. Plus, I don't think Bill Daly ever told the truth to a reporter in his life, so just his denial makes me more likely to think it probably is true.

Veracity aside, it's a terrible idea.

The NHL needs to expand about as much as we need a new reality show, social media site or catchphrase.

And, like all those crappy things, we'll probably get it anyways.

Look, I'd like to see the Nordiques return about as much as the next guy, but 30 teams is enough. The NHL is playing with fire here. It is a greedy, short-sighted idea that is not in anyway good for the game.

First of all, talent is going to be severely diluted by expanding four teams. There may be another 100 NHL fourth liners available in the world, but to make four more teams out of those guys? Initially there would be four terrible teams, but after a few years, as the expansion teams became competitive and parity returned, you'd see each team that currently exists lose 1-2 front-line players and the quality of the game will suffer.

If there are cities willing to pay big money to get an NHL team, the NHL would be much smarter to use those cities to blackmail current teams into getting in line, securing stable ownership, running their teams properly etc. The Coyotes have stable ownership now and appear to be on track to making it successfully in Arizona, but they aren't the only team in trouble. In the last 14 years, the NHL has seen such hockey cites as Pittsburgh and Buffalo get into trouble which means that outside of the Original Six cities, any team could go south if they end up with bad ownership. One way to ensure that that does not happen is to have cities available to threaten teams with. Expanding by four takes that option away.

The NHL expanding is like a debt ridden person just borrowing more money and going deeper into debt. They ought to have 30 healthy teams before they even consider it. If you can't manage what you have, why get more? It'll only lead to more problems than currently exist.

There's also the fact that the NHL can't even come up with a good way to track their standings and seed their teams for the playoffs, and another four teams is supposed to help this? Three point games? Two Point games? Games worth more than others? Too many shootouts, teams making the playoffs when teams with more points miss them? More teams won't help this.

Then there is the playoffs to consider. Currently, 16 teams out of 30 make it, which leads to great competition and ensures that just making the playoffs is a difficult and meaningful task. If the NHL goes to 34 teams you can bet they will expand the playoffs to include more teams as well. Since the NHL's 16 team, 4 best of 7 series format is perfect and the best in sports, this would only be bad news. The NHL might not know this since they change their rules as often as most people change their pants, but you aren't supposed to mess with perfection and the Playoffs are the one thing that no one can criticize about the NHL. (Seeding aside)

I could write an entire other essay about why putting a team in Las Vegas is a horrible idea but I think that has been beaten to death and the NHL should just know that if the NFL won't do it, it's probably a terrible idea. What I really want to get into is the most shortsighted, dumbest move the NHL has ever considered: putting a new team in Toronto.

On the surface, this seems smart - it's a huge market, people in Canada are mad for hockey, it's sure to sell out every game etc. etc. etc.

But, long term, the league would be making a huge mistake at the expense of short-sighted thinking. The NHL's premier team is the Toronto Maple Leafs and doing anything to spit on, piss off, annoy or disrupt your best asset is never a good move. The Leafs are a license for the NHL to print money and they would be foolish to do anything to alter this. There is a 20 year waiting list to buy Leafs season tickets. There are over 4000 people on that list. Why would you mess with that?

People like to point out how New York has two teams and California has three, but the state of California has more people living there than the entirely of Canada and New York City has over 8 million people while Toronto has just 2.5. It's a bad analogy and whether or not it will work, is besides the point. The fact is, you shouldn't dilute your best market. The people of Toronto have options like Buffalo, Ottawa and to a lesser extent, Detroit. The NHL wouldn't just be hurting the Leafs by putting a second team in the Toronto area, they'd be killing Ottawa and Buffalo. If you've ever seen the Leafs play in either arena, you know they are basically home games for the blue and white. There are a lot of things that don't seem to have been thought about when it comes to putting a second team in Toronto. Or, more likely, they are being thought about, but blocked out by giant dollar signs.

Overall, the NHL has recently said that they are the best they've ever been, in the sense that the game is good, the revenue is record breaking, the majority of the franchises are stable and competition is good.

On top of which, anyone who stands to profit from expansion is likely already a billionaire and at worst, a millionaire. People who want hockey in Quebec and Toronto act like it's exciting news, but what it really is, is an example of sickening greed. No one who stands to benefit this even really needs the money.

The League is doing fine. There are literally zero good arguments for expansion.

Leave well enough alone.
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