(Atlanta) After losing the Flames and Thrashers, Atlanta is trying to get a third National Hockey League team.
Former NHL player Anson Carter announced Tuesday that he is leading a group that has filed a formal request with the NHL to begin an expansion process to bring a team to the Greater Toronto Area. Atlanta.
Carter’s group is the second to indicate a real desire to put a team in Atlanta, home of the Flames from 1972 to 1980 and the Thrashers from 1999 to 2011.
Both clubs moved to Canada – the Flames to Calgary and the Thrashers to Winnipeg, where they became the Jets – due to ownership troubles and declining attendance.
Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has also made a request to put a team in Salt Lake City.
The NHL has already indicated that it does not wish to add any teams, even though it currently has 32. However, she added that she would discuss with everyone who approached her with a project in this direction. The cost of expansion could be at least US$1 billion.
The Bettman circuit should not expand its ranks before resolving the situation of the Arizona Coyotes, who play in a university hockey arena with a capacity of 4,600 spectators.
“The League appreciates Anson’s passion for bringing NHL hockey back to the Atlanta area, and he has certainly kept the topic on our radar for several years,” commented NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
“Although, as we have made clear, we currently have no expansion process in place, it is always good to know that there is genuine interest. »
Carter, who played for eight teams during his career that spanned from 1996 to 2007 and lived in Atlanta for 15 years, is the head of Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group.
The organization is proposing an arena designed by American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry in Alpharetta, about 50 kilometers north of Atlanta. No details were given regarding financing.
“I have no doubt that the best league in the world will thrive when it returns to the Atlanta area,” Carter said. I am in dialogue with the commissioner [Gary] Bettman since 2019 for expansion in the market, knowing that decisions about teams are made exclusively by the NHL Board of Governors. »
Suddenly, two groups are trying to bring hockey back to a town that hasn’t had a team in over a decade.
Atlanta businessman Vernon Krause has already proposed an 18,000-seat amphitheater, also north of Atlanta.