The NHL has a plan. I know, you're agog. A league that deludes itself into thinking it can sell hockey in southern US markets where icing a tea makes more sense than icing a puck. The Phoenix Coyotes might be set to pack up their gear and head back to where they came from, Winnipeg.
The league has a contingency plan that would have the prodigal son come home...with a schedule in place, a move to the North West Division, an owner, an arena and. although Gary Bettman will hate to admit it, fans that actually want to see hockey, will pay for it, understand that Miroslav Satan is not the Anti-Christ and boarding has nothing to do with getting on an train.
5 years ago I would have said...this is insanity. Today not so much. Betteman's grand scheme of taking hockey into alien territory makes the Donner Party look like a success story. The intentions were good. The idea was to blanket the US with teams in every major market to make it palatable to American television. Visions of a legal tender bender had them setting up shop in places that didn't know, didn't want and wasn't about to learn hockey.
Carolina? High School Basketball gets more attention. Tampa? The beach or the Boltz? Not much of a choice. Atlanta, Nashville, Miami, Phoenix. They aint buying what your selling. Columbus is a struggle, The Islanders are teetering.
So, if the great unwashed in those cities refuse to get into a shower of ice chips take the game to fans who will. Winnipeg has a 15 thousand seat arena. Cozy by NHL standards. But better to have a sell out in Manitoba every night than 6 or 7 thousand in Miami where they think "full house" is some crappy old Bob Saget sitcom.
It's time Betteman and minions read "Hockey for Dummies". I've always thought the NHL was missing a lucrative opprotunity by not setting up a 5 team division in Europe. That's another debate for another date. This is a "gate driven" league. So take the game to where the people want it. Winnipeg. Quebec City. Hamilton, although I'm not convinced it should be downtown. Put the arena where it's easy access from the Hammer, Kitchener/Waterloo, Cambridge, Burlington, Oakville, Niagara and Guelph.
Hockey is no joke in the Big Smoke. This area can support not 2 but 3 NHL teams. Downtown Toronto, suburban Hamilton, and Vaughn. The population is here. The interest is here. The demand for tickets is here.
What's the point in pitching your tent in cities where the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, college basketball, highschool basketball, highschool football, college football, cow tipping, frogging, moonshining, and gator baiting have bigger followings than hockey.
The NHL has to get it's head out it's butt. Grasp the reality. If Mohammad wont got to the Mountain take the mountain to Mohammad.
Given that the NHL is indeed a gate driven league, and a new team in Ontario provide an alternative affordable option would a second team or teams in the Canadian cities you mention be able to compete in the NHL?
1. The LEAFS are corporately supported and own the rink they play. Would other teams get the same type of corporate support?
2. Would other teams get the same type of media rights revenue the Leafs get?
3. With CBA salary floor cap, would these new cities be able to generate enough revenue with affordable tickets to break even?
Outlying Kitchener/Waterloo would be my choice (and I'm in central T.O.) for a another Cdn. team since it could IMHO best draw from a wide area of suburban corporate and non-urban fan support beyond an initial season or two of high-priced ticket enthusiasm.
However finalizing any new pro sports team in Ontario will face stiff opposition - what with of likes of the usual poverty or drinking & driving campaigners and that 'Big Smoke led' antagonism of male-centric physical competition. Just like bidding on the Olympics - twice.
But top tier professional hockey needs NHL contraction first, and probably an international development second. At some point beyond $3-6 million a season, there will be many players who'd increasingly rather stay overseas within a super league format.