Casinos & Canada: A look at the two NHL expansion cities

Expansion! What has been a riveting topic among NHL fans and persona in the last few years has taken a huge leap forward. Just eight days ago, the possibility of expansion became all the more promising as the cities of Las Vegas and Quebec City moved into the third and final formal stage in the process to acquire an NHL expansion franchise. If this 2-team expansion goes through, it would increase the NHL's size from 30 teams to 32 teams and would have the Las Vegas franchise play in the Western Conference while having Quebec City's franchise play in the Eastern Conference. The third stage of the expansion process involves reviewing the applicant's business plans and projects for revenue. This stage, assuming there will be no upholds, is set to end in September which would then put the onus on the league and approval of the board of governors to grant Las Vegas and Quebec City expansion franchises,

What an exciting time for the NHL! In a league that is trying to increase the market of their sport, what better way to do it than to bring this incredible sport to a city like Las Vegas and to another Canadian city. The importance of bringing a hockey team to another city north of the border should yield no explanation. Let's look at potential naming and uniform ideas, probable arenas, and the pros of what each city has to offer as a host of an NHL Franchise.

LAS VEGAS

Money, money, and money. The word that pops up most in many individuals heads when they think of Las Vegas. When it comes to whether or not this city could support an NHL franchise, it really does really heavily on the single dynamic that makes keeps Vegas running: the people.  In a city that has a massive population of hardcore sports fans, it is somewhat puzzling that they still have yet to have a professional sports team to call their very own. Which is exactly why an expansion into Las Vegas is a perfect match for both the city and the NHL. Las Vegas would reap huge benefits from a professional sports team. The hotels would be able to sell loads of team merchandise, it would be a huge addition to Vegas' wide list of attractions, visiting fans would generate more revenue in hotels, and it would introduce hockey to a place where one would think hockey would be something of a taboo. Just look at the website https://www.vegaswantshockey.com if you are doubting how much Vegas wants a hockey team.

What would the identity of Las Vegas' first ever professional sports franchise? With a vast array of ideas created by internet users, there definitely some very interesting individual takes on what the identity of this franchise should be.

We know one thing: the season ticket depositors will vote to decide on the nickname of the Las Vegas hockey team.

Bill Foley, the billionaire who is taking the reigns of the project to bring a team to Vegas, filed the paperwork to the NHL under the name "Black Knight Sports and Entertainment LLC." This was perceived to be the name of the NHL franchise in Vegas, until Foley broke the ice on the team name.

"The name will be determined by our season ticket depositors, so get ready with your suggestions and keep the faith", Foley wrote in a latter addressed to his Vegas fans six weeks ago. "The door has been opened, and we've stepped through. Thanks to all of you for your input and support."

So, the name Black Knights seems to be just a placeholder perhaps. Other names that have been circulating around are Aces, Scorpions, Jokers, and Wranglers. These are just unofficial ideas until the list is decided on by the fans.

Along with names, the designers have been having fun with coming up with uniform concepts for the Vegas hockey team.

Here is a clean-looking set for the "Las Vegas Aces" designed by sparky chewbarky of www.sportslogos.net

The black/grey/white scheme is executed perfectly here. Having the all-black uniform as an alternate instead of the home set is a great decision to avoid clashing with the uniforms of the Los Angeles Kings. The logo symbolizes the casino history of Las Vegas extremely well. A solid design here.

Now we have another concept from sparky chewbarky, this time for the "Las Vegas Black Knights":

Here is a concept that I absolutely love. Almost as if the U.S. Military Academy was transformed into an NHL team, the use of vegas gold is applied excellently and meshes well with the graphite grey and white. It would also make Vegas the only NHL team to have a grey jersey as their primary home jersey.

As far as an arena goes, the team would play in the future Las Vegas Arena, which is currently under construction. The $350 million, 20,000-seat arena will be located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is scheduled to be completed by early 2016. The two closest to hotels in proximity to LVA will be the New York-New York and Monte Carlo.

An artist's rendering of the completed Las vegas Arena.

QUEBEC CITY

There is not much that needs to be said about an expansion team going to Canada. Quebec City hockey fans are have been waiting...and waiting...and waiting. The existence of their beloved sport has been bone dry since 1995, when the then Quebec Nordiques packed up and headed to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche. There is no doubt that Quebec City could support an NHL team. Unlike Las Vegas, this would not be their first go-around with a professional sports club. Canada's seventh largest city knows what to expect; they hosted the Nordiques for 15 years.

Bringing another hockey team to Canada and to a city who's hockey fans are foaming at the mouth is a gold-mine opportunity for the NHL. TV ratings would skyrocket. The team would have no issues with attendance. I mean, it's Canada and hockey, people will show up. A new opportunity for a rivalry will spark up with the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens are currently the only NHL team residing in the province of Quebec and this expansion into Quebec City would provide a level of competition among Quebec hockey fans.

The Quebec Solidarity Fund announced their interest in partnering with Quebecor, the company submitting the application, to help finance the return of NHL hockey to Quebec City. So, funding the team and arena will not be an issue.

There is one object in regards to the team identity that is for sure: the team will bring back the "Nordiques" name and presumably will retain the color scheme of light blue, red, and white with navy accents.

On to the uniform concepts.

Here is yet another concept from sparky chewbarky for the Quebec Nordiques:

What I love about this set is that it keeps the classic Nordiques igloo logo. The light blue home jersey is a solid idea, as it would make the Nordiques the only NHL team to have a light blue primary home jersey. The logo switch-up on the navy alternate is a nice touch as well.

Here is a set designed and submitted to www.icethetics.com by Michael Baumann:

This set is unique in that it stays away from the old igloo logo. The red numbers look exceptionally good on the white away jersey. A fantastic concept right here.

The Nordiques would play their games at Centre Videotron, a 18,000-seat arena currently under construction. Centre Videotron would replace Colisee Pepsi as the home of the Quebec Nordqiues.

An artist's rendition of the outside plaza of the completed Centre Videotron.

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