Amid one of the great Stanley Cup tournaments in recent memory, cities across North America have been scrambling to get in on the action.
Add Seattle to that list.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told a Seattle television station that a group of investors from the area has inquired about getting a team in town, according to CBS Sports.
"We've had discussions with a group in Seattle," Daly told the station, according to CBS Sports. "Certainly [there are] people who are interested in having NHL hockey in Seattle. I would rather not get into specifics to be fair to that group, or the process."
Already this month, the Phoenix Coyotes have secured their location for another year while they search for a new ownership group. And last week, multiple reports have indicated that the Atlanta Thrashers will soon be on the move to Winnipeg, though NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has gone out of his way to say the relocation is not a done deal.
Seattle is the country's second-largest television market without a hockey team, and it has unsuccessfully tried to acquire an NHL franchise in the 1960s and 1990s, when the league awarded teams to Ottawa and Tampa Bay.
Seattle lacks a suitable arena, and that poses the city's major problem with this process. The arena issue forced the Sonics to relocate to Oklahoma City after the 2007-08 season, so there wouldn't be a quick solution with that issue.
Also, keep in mind that this inquiry, according to Daly, could be a ploy by the NHL, which has been appearing to create leverage in the process with the Winnipeg group. The NHL is also trying to save a Phoenix franchise that Bettman so cherished, and the league would be helping itself by creating the illusion that multiple cities are interested in the bidding process.
