Day 6

Sin City vs La Belle Province: where should the next NHL team land?

As Las Vegas approaches its goal of selling 10,000 season ticket commitments, Sin City resident and poker champ Daniel Negreanu debates Hockey Central's Jeff Marek on whether the next NHL team should go to Nevada or Quebec City.
Radio personality Chet Buchanan speaks during a news conference at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino announcing the launch of a season ticket drive on February 10, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/WireImage)

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman isn't making any promises about his league expanding to Nevada, but he's said he is keen to see the results of the "Vegas Wants Hockey" campaign. The ticket drive kicked off last month with a goal of selling 10,000 season tickets in the form of 10% deposits, and this week, the Las Vegas ownership group announced it surpassed the 9,000 mark. They've got the attention of the league, and an NHL-level arena set to be ready by the end of April 2016. But north of the border, Quebec City's new arena is scheduled to open even sooner, and twenty years after les Nordiques left for Colorado, hockey fans in la belle province are hungry for a team of their own. 

So if the NHL is going to expand, should the new team go to Las Vegas or Quebec City? 

Daniel Negreanu's got his money on Vegas. He's a world poker champion and transplanted Canadian, and is part of the effort to bring an NHL team to Nevada. Defending the Quebec City cause is Jeff Marek, host of Sportsnet's Hockey Central and co-host of the Marek vs Wyshynski podcast.