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***cake307*** · 02-09-2024, 07:43 PM

Recently, the SMJHL draft happened, with a few players going undrafted, and more players joining the waivers almost every other day still. As the Class of 76 seems to continue to grow larger and larger, it provokes a thought that if SHL continues to grow, eventually there will be a need to expand yet again and add new teams, potentially to both the SMJHL and the SHL.

The question, then, is what markets would make sense for such an expansion? I’ve gone over several cities or metropolitan areas currently without a team at either level that would likely prove fertile grounds for future expansions. Some of these have had teams in the past, some have not, and some may even be contentious due to proximity to other markets, but they all have one thing in common- they deserve hockey.

#4 - Washington D.C.

This one is at the bottom of the list for one simple reason; there’s a team in Baltimore. If it weren’t for that, Washington D.C. would be the absolute bang on number one prime option for an expansion team, and probably an SHL expansion team, too. With 5.5 million people in the metro area, as well as a never ending flow of visitors, Washington D.C. can easily support a team, and could be uniquely situated to provide entertainment and exposure to hockey even to people from nations where the sport is severely underrepresented.

It does suffer from sharing much of its larger market with Baltimore, but we’ve seen other sports manage this just fine, and hockey should be able to as well. It does also suffer from being a market with no shortage of pro sports offering, hosting professional teams in football, basketball, baseball, and soccer as well. In addition, with such a large population that originates from elsewhere, it may be harder for a team here to establish a die hard fanbase, instead of a casual following, unless they are rapidly successful in their first few seasons.

#3 - Kansas City

Kansas City is an interesting location. In many ways, it is the contrast to Saint Louis, Missouri’s other major city, each seeming to attempt a daring escape from the state. But while Saint Louis does have a team (Go Scarecrows), the city as a whole is on the slow decline. Kansas City is a contrast to this, slowly but surely growing in size, with 2.3 million people in the metro area, which stretches over two states, and over five hundred thousand of those in the city alone. Kansas City would be another location likely more ideal for an SHL team, in this case to synergize with the team in Saint Louis, but could host a team in either league comfortably.

Kansas City, like D.C., has an issue of being a more crowded market, this time with football, baseball, and soccer being the main competition. In addition, it is arguably the poorest of the cities on this list, and may be unwilling to support another major team.

#2 - Portland

Portland is an interesting city in terms of the SHL, and arguably the location on this list with both the best and worst case. The previous home of the San Francisco Pride, back when they were the Portland Admirals, the city is the center of a metropolitan area that, like Kansas City, stretches over two states. This market is actually larger than Kansas City’s, holding 3.2 million people, and Portland is a two team town (three, if you count the Thorns, but unfortunately they are not as popular and unlikely to be direct competition), unlike D.C. or Kansas City. These teams are basketball and soccer, which means the biggest sport in the US isn’t here. In addition, Portland has a strong culture that can quickly give rise to die-hards, as seen with both basketball and soccer. In addition, it will allow the shuffling of Chicago out of the Western Conference, and Edmonton or Calgary into the Central Division.

However, Portland has a wrinkle that’s unique to this list; it is the former home of another team, who still exists and has inherited the history of the previous team. In addition, both that team, the San Francisco Pride, and another team, the Seattle Argonauts, might claim that Portland is in their market (though in reality, it isn’t.) An expansion team here would likely have to surrender any claim to a connection with the previous team in the city, which might not be a bad thing. Surely a city as weird as Portland can do better than Admirals?

#1 - Ottawa

Ottawa is the smallest market on this list, easily, with only 1.4 million people in the entire metro area. So why is it #1? Well, the simplest answer is, it’s the capital of Canada. Canada is a hockey mad nation, despite struggles on the international scene, and nearly every major city in the nation has a team. The one notable exception is Ottawa, and it’s about time that was corrected.

The city has many similar advantages to D.C., just on a smaller level, being Canada’s capital city. But while it has the advantage of many people coming to the city who may wish to see Canada’s national sport in person, it also lacks the heavy competition of the D.C. market, with Canadian Football being the only other notable league to have a presence in the city. This, combined with Ice Hockey being one of Canada’s national sports, means the city also avoids the issues D.C. may have in establishing a hardcore fanbase, and would be able to expect fervent support from day one.

The one minor objection that remains may be that Ottawa and Montreal are not that far apart, but in a country like Canada, this should be fine, with more than enough enthusiastic fans to support both teams.

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***Jexter*** · 02-09-2024, 07:52 PM

Wyoming Lobsters!
(great read, love the analysis)

chetib · 02-13-2024, 04:29 PM

Approved @cake307 @CptSquall

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