Louisiana Ice Hockey

If you would have said twenty years ago that the city of Charlotte would be able to sustain a hockey franchise, you would have been laughed at. The thing is, when the Hartford Whalers moved to that location in 1997, few would have thought that the team would have been so successful. After a Stanley Cup victory in 2006, the Hurricanes continue to have a large fan base and actually sell out a good amount of games. With success in places like Carolina and Atlanta, the question has to be asked: could we see an NHL expansion team in a place like Louisiana? The answer, unfortunately, is no.

It’s not that New Orleans is a bad market for hockey, it’s that if expansion were to happen in the NHL, it would happen in other places. In the United States, the two places most mentioned is Kansas City (because of their NHL ready arena), and Las Vegas. Truth be told, though, is that if the NHL expands it would be in Canada, with markets like Quebec City, Winnipeg and Hamilton without a team. In fact, New Orleans would probably have to build a new arena to even dream of getting an NHL team. And in a city dominated by football, the NHL may be a hard sell.