Could There be a Second Hockeytown?

An article posted on TSN this morning is beginning to stir up a lot of discussion about the NHL in Toronto. The article suggests that National Hockey League officials think the Toronto hockey market is big and strong enough to have a second team. An anonymous governor of the NHL said “Why shouldn’t we put another team in the biggest and best market in the world?” Other executives around the NHL seemed to have no idea about this. Jim Rutherford of the Carolina Hurricanes said he had not heard anything like this at the meetings he had been at.

I can’t see the NHL doing something like this, at least not anytime soon. Talks of expansion are big around the league right now, not just in this context. There are talks of teams heading to Europe and teams moving, but nothing about two teams in Toronto has really been publicized until recently. The anonymous governor was not just suggesting that a team would be moved to Toronto but would be created in Toronto. Jim Balsillie had put a bid on the Pittsburgh Penguins two years ago. There were talks that he was going to try to move them to Hamilton. Something like this will be done before a new team is created in an existing hockey market, even one as big as Toronto.

There is a hockey market that already has two teams-New York. The New York Rangers and The New York Islanders are almost opposite teams though. The Rangers have been making the playoffs consistently since they came into the NHL as one of the original six. The Islanders joined the league almost fifty years later and are still looked at as the lesser of the two teams. Over the last ten years their record hasn’t been consistent and they are still trying to figure out their identity. There are already enough basement franchises, including the team already in Toronto, the Maple Leafs, that I just can’t see them adding another team to this city.

Calgary Flames co-owner Harley Hotchkiss told the Globe and Mail, “Our priority is having the current franchises solid (TSN.ca).” I think fans would like to see more equality among the skill of the teams as well, which they will see with so many young, uprising players in the league right now.

This could be good news for Leafs fans though if this were to happen because maybe they would have a team they are proud to cheer for. A question was recently asked to Health Canada.

Q. The Stanley Cup was recently in my town, and I kissed it. Do I have to worry about being infected by listeria?

A. You are safe. The Stanley Cup has not been in contact with any Maple Leaf products in over 40 years.