France’s goalie Sebastian Ylonen fails to save United States’s side’s third goal by T J Tynan during the group A match between United States and France at the ice hockey world championship in Tampere, Finland, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Baton Rouge Zydeco forward Bradley Richardson (9) takes a face-off against Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Joakim Nilsson (74) in the second period on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
France’s goalie Sebastian Ylonen fails to save United States’s side’s third goal by T J Tynan during the group A match between United States and France at the ice hockey world championship in Tampere, Finland, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Baton Rouge Zydeco forward Bradley Richardson (9) takes a face-off against Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Joakim Nilsson (74) in the second period on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
New Orleans is already home to NFL and NBA teams, and there’s now a group that is interested in bringing an NHL team to the Crescent City.
Kevin Weekes of ESPN reported Wednesday that he had been informed by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and other sources that the league recently met with a group interested in bringing an expansion team to New Orleans. The meeting took place at the NHL’s league offices in New York.
Weekes didn’t reveal who was in the group that met with the NHL, or whether the people have connections to New Orleans.
Doug Thornton, who is executive vice president of ASM Global, told The Times-Picayune on Wednesday afternoon that he has received no contact from any group interested in bringing an NHL team to New Orleans. ASM Global manages multiple entertainment venues in New Orleans, including the Smoothie King Center.
While the meeting did take place, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has not publicly committed to the idea of expanding the league to 33 teams after bringing on the Las Vegas Knights and the Seattle Kraken within the past 10 years. A reported preference for the league gaining a 33rd team is a return to the Phoenix area, and bringing back the Coyotes’ intellectual and branding rights. A group of Phoenix government and business officials also met with Bettman about getting that process underway as well, Josh Erickson of Yardbarker reported. Phoenix still needs a new arena to make the return reportedly happen.
👀 In speaking to Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and other sources involved,I can confirm that there was a recent meeting in NYC with a group expressing their interest in bringing an @NHL expansion team to New Orleans. #HockeyX #NewOrleans pic.twitter.com/fAhYY5cbDH
Houston and Atlanta are already in the process of building NHL-ready arenas. Cincinnati, Hamilton, Kansas City, Omaha, Quebec City and Saskatoon are also cities with interest in NHL expansion.
New Orleans once had an East Coast Hockey League team called the New Orleans Brass, a minor-league team of sorts for the NHL. The team was briefly affiliated with the San Jose Sharks and existed from 1997-2002. The Brass played in the Smoothie King Center but were forced to fold when the city demanded it prepare for the NBA’s Hornets to move to the city in 2002. The building held a capacity of 16,900 for hockey games.
The Baton Rouge Zydeco and Monroe Moccasins of the FPHL, another minor league and down two levels from the ECHL, are the only two current professional hockey teams in Louisiana. The Zydeco are in their second season, and the Moccasins are in their first season.
The Shreveport Mudbugs of the junior North American Hockey League also exist, but players in that league do not get paid.
Email Rashad Milligan at rashad.milligan@theadvocate.com.
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