Report: The NHL is expanding to Atlanta

According to NHL player agent Allan Walsh, the NHL is dead set on giving Atlanta, Georgia an expansion team... for the third time.

Third time's the charm, right?

Or maybe, three strikes and they're out?

From Walsh on Twitter last night:

NHL insider Kevin Weekes also shared a report on Twitter indicating that Krause Sports and Entertainment, headed up by billionaire automotive retailer Vernon Krause, is set to meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman concerning expansion.

Approval from the city was the final municipal hurdle for Krause's group to jump and they completed that successfully last night with a 'Yes' vote from council. Now, they turn their focus to Bettman and the NHL.

Are we really, REALLY about to see Atlanta get its third NHL franchise?

It seems so surreal to me, but I guess it makes sense on paper. Of course, we all know how things turned out for the NHL the first two times in Atlanta. The old Atlanta Flames stunk so bad that they ended up moving to Calgary to become the Calgary Flames. Ditto for the Atlanta Thrashers... they ended up north as well as the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. Both the Flames and the Jets are thriving and there's hardly any talk in NHL circles about Atlanta anymore... yet the NHL seems fixated on returning to the dead market.