NHL Expansion and Relocation

I've been meaning to tackle this subject for a while.  First off I think the NHL should aim to get to 32 franchises  so it can balance the four conference alignment that has been proposed but delayed by the Players Association.    First off, I think hockey in the desert has clearly failed and the NHL needs to give up and pull out of Phoenix.  Yes, its a huge media market but they put the new stadium in the suburbs and that clearly isn't working out for the Coyotes.  The other team I'm concerned about as it sits in its current location is the New York Islanders.  That arena is as old as dirt and the idiots in charge of designing the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn were foolish enough to not design it such that it can accommodate an NHL-sized crowd in a hockey configuration.  The person who did this should be fired as it likely cost the arena owners millions by making it impossible for the Islanders to be secondary tenants.  Unless the Islanders can find the money for a new arena I think they are going to have to start exploring other cities as options.

Now let's look at some of the candidates:

Seattle makes a ton of sense.  Instant rivalry with Vancouver in a huge media market.  There is even a group in place ready to build an arena if they can secure an NBA franchise for Seattle and a sister ownership group willing to own an NHL franchise that would share the facility.

Quebec City--I think they are going to ultimately going to get the Coyotes.  Bringing a team back to Canada, even in a smallish market I think would be a huge success.

After that it gets a little murky.  Milwaukee sounds like a good destination but their isn't a facility to hold them and I think southern Wisconsin is pretty solid Blackhawks country.  Kansas City has an arena in place but I would hardly call that city a hockey town--they want the NBA to come.  Anywhere in Southern Ontario would be a sure fire win (not to mention it would give the Leafs an incentive to field a better team) but the Leafs and Sabres would likely block any infringement on their territory.