The NHL is coming to Utah.
Actually, it is more like the NHL is pulling the plug on its current efforts in the Arizona desert.
Notwithstanding statements by the league over the past months, everything was not OK. As a result, the Coyotes, who used to be the Winnipeg Jets are packing again to leave town. They are departing a 5,000 seat college arena for a 14,000 building tailored to basketball in a market whose hockey history is limited to minor league hockey starting in 1969 (Golden Eagles & the Grizzlies) and hosting the Olympics.
From this perspective there is little doubt that hockey can make it in Utah. For that matter, hockey might make it Arizona – the ingredients for success are there. The same is true for places rumored to be priorities for the NHL in terms of expansion – the likes of Houston (one time home of the WHA Aeros), and even Atlanta, where attempts have failed twice already.
But nowhere in the discussion is any place in Canada mentioned. And in particular overlooked is Quebec City.
Today there are 31 teams in the NHL, seven in Canada. The Stanley Cup was donated by the Governor General of Canada, the Hon. Frederick Stanley (16th Earl of Derby, Lord Stanley of Preston). In doing so his stated intention was as follows:
“I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion [of Canada]”
The last time the Stanley Cup was won by a team actually from Canada was 1993.
Needless to say some in Canada are not very pleased with what has become of their game. This week’s events are another painful reminder that something has gone astray.
Therefore, thought eh headlines tell the story of a team being transferred from Arizona to Utah, the actual story is a broader one – stretching back decades in history as well as into the hearts and souls of Canadians.
More to come from these quarters in the days and weeks ahead.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
Image Credit: Visit Utah
Image Credit: Wikipedia