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Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 - She~ton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1
Just a few weeks ago, all signs pointed toward
the National Hockey League moving forward
with its plan to have an expansion franchise
begin play in the 2020-21 season in Seattle.
Long in the works, Seattle's bid for an NHL
hockey team is now nearly a reality. But on Mon-
day, the league hinted that reality might have hit a-
minor snag that could keep Seattle's yet-unnamed
NHL franchise from making its debut on schedule.
Though the NHL Board of
Governors will likely vote in
favor of Seattle's expansion bid
during the league's annual meet-
ings Dec. 3 and 4 in Sea Island,
Georgia, a story posted Monday
by Dan Rosen, NHL.com senior
writer, casts some doubt as to
whether the team will actually
drop the puck for a 2020 inaugu-
By MICHAEL ral season as it planned.
HEINBACH Rosen writes that NHL Dep-
uty Commissioner Bill Daly has
heard rumblings that a refur-
bished KeyArena, the future home of Seattle NHL
hockey, isn't scheduled to reopen until November
2020, a month after the NHL campaign begins. In
the eyes of the league, that doesn't bode well for the
possibility for NHL hockey hosted in less than two
years in the Emerald City.
Rosen's story on NHL.com states that the league
is wary of the Seattle ownership group's desire to
thai
iW
0
~ ~ ~ I
NHL fold'come the
start of the 2020
regular season. He
states the league is
against having its
newest franchise
debut in a tempo-
rary home.
:'They've men-
tioned that pos-
sibility, but I don't
think that's an
ideal way to bring
in an expansion
franchise by play-
ing in an alternate
venue for any pe-
riod of time, really,"
Daly told NHL.com.
"We'll see how that
plays out. I know
they have an inter-
est in starting in
'20-21 and we'd like
the accommodate
them any way we
can."
I would think the
NHL. which doesn't
exactly have its
talons completely
sunk into the ma-
jority of hearts of
sports fans here in
the Pacific Northwest, would bend over backwards
to accommodate Seattle's NHL ownership group.
Led by David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer
and fronted by CEO Tod Leiweke, the group plans
to fork over a $650 million franchise fee to the
league, and as a sports facilities investment group
plans to spend an additional $700 to renovate
KeyArena.
Keep in mind that $700 million price tag should
e t f an chi se ,
should the league take some interest in righting a
wrong it committed in 10 years ago by allowing the
see CORNER, page B-3
Journal photos by Shawna Whelan
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Rand Iverson,
above, 72, of Matlock, reaches to hit the ball
during a pickleball match Saturday at the
Mason Transit Authority's Transit-Community
Center in Shelton; a sign hangs-on the wall at
the center; Iverson's opponent, Gordie Klein,
71, of Shelton, gets low for a return.
4,