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Seattle awarded NHL Expansion Team

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Well, it's 'said-&-done' (to the 'bane' of Canada)...the Emerald City (still rooting for the Sandpipers as the team name), will be the NHL's next expansion team!
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Seattle moves into next phase after NHL expansion approval.


Sea Island, Georgia - "Seattle's NHL expansion team has its roots in Dave Tippett's computer.
That's where the longtime coach-turned-senior adviser keeps a running list of players around the league who might be available in an expansion draft that is still 2½ years off. It is just an exercise for now but will become a key building block when Seattle picks its first players in June 2021.

"Every year it'll change a little bit," Tippett said. "By the time it gets here, you'll have a pretty good idea of where you think teams are going to fall."

Long months are ahead before the as-yet-unnamed team plays its first game, but work is already underway and the effort can begin in earnest now that the NHL Board of Governors has officially awarded Seattle a franchise.

Groundbreaking on a total overhaul of KeyArena is Wednesday, and Seattle's front office will spend the rest of this season plotting the course for an organization that has a tough act to follow after the Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.

"Part of the DNA of this ownership group is we're extremely competitive," said Tod Leiweke, a minority partner, president and CEO of Seattle Hockey Partners. "We're here to win. And we want to win. So we're going to look at these timelines and how it can be put to our advantage."

That means Tippett will watch the rest of this season with an eye on the new team's future and he will sketch out the beginnings of a hockey operations department. He will likely be senior vice president of hockey operations and have a big say in choosing the first general manager of the league's 32nd team.

Tippett will likely hire some scouts this summer and move forward on the GM search.

"When you're a year or two out, everything continues to evolve," Tippett said. "You continue to monitor things. It's an ever-changing world out there right now in the hockey world between coaches and GMs."

Veteran Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland is considered a potential candidate, and Vegas assistant Kelly McCrimmon would know the recipe for a successful expansion draft after helping George McPhee put the Golden Knights together.

The same rules will be in place that allow teams to protect only seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender, or eight skaters at any position and a goaltender.

That means that for $650 million, Seattle will have an opportunity to win right away".

Read More: Seattle will be the 32th NHL team

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"Emerald City Hockey...Game On"! CBJ
 
Congrats, it's going to be a lot of fun in the coming years Tippet was a fine whaler, many of them make excellent coaches/gm, etc .I still miss that team. Seattle has some nice hockey history to pull from, out of the names I see officially listed I would prefer Totem or Metro , over sockeye, steelhead, pilots, etc, the others sound mild, pc, generic minor league to me. I didnt see Sandpiper on the list, is it a consideration?
 
I'm very excited about the expansion of the NHL, I'm still praying and hoping that someday Milwaukee will get a team, but I just don't think it will ever happen in my life time. I really hope that they do something good for the name, not childish and or lame.

I like to see them drop the Seattle part of the name all together and go with "Emerald City" as the name and then drop the nickname after.

I.E. Athletica De Club, De Montreal AKA the Habs lol
 
KBShave:
This 'moniker' was officially included and in my humble opinion, it 'flows' and has a nice 'ring' to it too. :thumbsup:

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"Emerald City hockey...miracle in the evergreens". CBJ

from the list of proposed names, I think sandpiper is in my top 3. Is a sandpiper the little bird or something else I'm not aware of?
 
I didn't get season tickets, but eagerly await the arrival of the Totems. I remember watching our WHL team play the USSR and Czechoslovakia in the '70s.
 
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