Breaking: Mayor of potential NHL expansion city drops a huge hint live on TV

In an interview with Seattle’s KING 5 news yesterday morning, Seattle city mayor Ed Murray made some shocking proclamations about the city’s continued interest in securing an NHL franchise. When asked about the possibility of either the NHL or the NBA moving into a renovated KeyArena, Murray insisted, “I think the NHL is ready to move quickly,” then paused smiling before adding, “I think we’ll hear something soon.”

Wow. That’s a loaded comment. Clearly mayor Murray has had closed door discussions with Gary Bettman and the NHL, but isn’t tipping his hand just yet on what could be in store for the Emerald City and the NHL. Expansion? Relocation? Whatever the case, some serious work must be done to KeyArena to make it worthy of hosting an NHL franchise. 

The 55 year old KeyArena will undergo extensive renovations later this year that will total $564 million and transform the venue into an NHL and NBA ready facility. Whether that will be enough to lure the NHL, who knows? Quebec City has already used the “if we build it, they will come” model to land an NHL franchise and, as of yet, have been unsuccessful in their attempt.