NHL hockey in Seattle would be awesome, but it appears obstacles still are in the way of that happening.
According to Chris Daniels of KING-TV, one prospective Seattle owner isn’t going to be part of the process at this time.
“Three sources confirmed Friday that prospective Seattle NHL owner Victor Coleman will not submit an expansion bid by the league’s mandated deadline,” Daniels wrote. “The NHL set Monday, July 20 as the deadline in the first “phase” of the expansion process, and has told prospective groups it will require a down payment in addition to the application. Sources close the process have confirmed that includes a $10 million payment, with $2 million of it non-refundable.”
Daniels also reported that complications over securing an arena are among the issues involved with a potential bid from Coleman.
KeyArena in Seattle, the former home of the NBA’s SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder), is not suitable for an NHL team long term, and there currently are no plans to build a new stadium in Seattle without an NBA tenant.
It’s possible another potential owner of a Seattle franchise could step up and submit a bid Monday.
Expansion bids could come from Las Vegas and Quebec City, too. Both cities have broken ground on the construction of a state-of-the-art arena. Le Centre Vidéotron in Quebec is scheduled to open in September.
Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images
