Seattle expansion bid has legs
Governors’ board agrees to consider a proposal by city
The NHL’S board of governors agreed to consider an expansion application from Seattle, commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Bettman said the expansion fee has been set at $650 million for Seattle, which would become the league’s 32nd team, if approved. He made the announcement Thursday after the first day of the board of governors meeting in Manalapan, Florida.
“We’ve agreed as a league to take and consider an expansion application and to let them run, in the next few months, a season-ticket drive,” Bettman said. “This is a process that we go through.”
Bill Foley paid a $500 million expansion fee for the Vegas Golden Knights, who began play this season.
Seattle plans to have a new arena ready by 2020 with the intent of luring NHL and NBA teams as anchor tenants.
Bettman said Seattle is the lone city being considered for expansion at the moment, which means an NHL team likely won’t be playing in Quebec City’s 18,259-seat Videotron Centre in the foreseeable future.
“Obviously, there a lot of differences between Seattle and Quebec City, not the least of which is our conference alignment,” Bettman said. “Our plan is just to look at Seattle at this point.”
Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan said she spoke with Tim Leiweke, part of the Oak View Group that got approval to renovate Keyarena, and that they “couldn’t be more thrilled.” She hopes to meet with potential owner David Bonderman soon. ■
At San Jose, Calif., Brett Burns scored 22 seconds into overtime for San Jose, which capped a rally from a three-goal deficit when Barclay Goodrow scored a short-handed goal with eight minutes left in regulation.
■ At Boston, David Backes scored his first two goals of the season in his fourth game back after missing 12 straight following surgery to remove part of his colon.
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At Montreal, Sean Monahan scored his second goal of the game 1:14 into overtime to back David Rittich, who had 35 saves in his second career start.
■ At Vancouver, British Columbia, Shayne Gostisbehere and
Sharks 5, Hurricanes 4, OT— Bruins 6, Coyotes 1 — Flames 3, Canadiens 2, OT — Flyers 4, Canucks 1 —
Claude Giroux each had a goal and an assist, and Brian Elliott had 36 saves in his 200th victory.
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At Los Angeles, Drew Doughty scored 32 seconds into overtime to back Darcy Kuemper, who had 37 saves, as Los Angeles won its seventh straight.
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At Pittsburgh, Matt Hunwick scored 1:29 into overtime after Pittsburgh blew a 3-1 lead in the final five minutes of regulation.
■ At Sunrise, Fla., Vincent Trocheck scored twice to back James Reimer, who had 35 saves, as Florida snapped a three-game skid.
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At Tampa, Fla., Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists as Tampa Bay became the first NHL team with 20 wins.
■ At St. Louis, Jake Allen had 29 saves in his first shutout of the season, and Brayden Schenn scored his team-best 14th goal.
Kings 4, Senators 3, OT — Penguins 4, Islanders, OT 3— Panthers 6, Jets 4 — Lightning 5, Avalanche 2 — Blues 3, Stars 0 —