Thunderbirds to celebrate 100 years of hockey in Seattle with Metropolitans Night
There will be a celebration of hockey in Seattle in early December.
The Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds, the Hockey Hall of Fame and www.seattle-metrpolitans.com will host Seattle Metropolitans Night when the Thunderbirds play the Tri-City Americans.
According to a Thunderbirds release the team will wear the above classic looking Metropolitans jerseys, which will be auctioned off during the game.
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The Stanley Cup will be at ShoWare Center as part of the celebration of the 1917 Stanley Cup champion Metropolitans.
Also:
Seattle Mayor Edward B. Murray has signed a City of Seattle Proclamation declaring December 7, 2015, to be Seattle Metropolitans Day.
The timing of the event comes around the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting, which is slated to run from Dec. 7-8 in Pebble Beach, Calif. According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA, expansion will not be announced then. Seattle was unable to put together a credible bid in time for the NHL’s deadline last summer.
Quebec City and Las Vegas have since gone through several phases by the NHL to try to convince the league to expand to their cities. They both gave presentations to the NHL’s Board of Governors on Sept. 29. Since then the league has seemed to slow its pace on expansion, after a summer that saw the NHL announce it would formally explore the process.
A SoDo neighborhood NHL/NBA arena project by Chris Hansen was approved in early September by the The Downtown Design Review Board.
Then the Seattle Design Commission unanimously approved the public benefit of the project.
Victor Coleman is a potential Seattle owner linked to the SoDo project.
This should reportedly lead to a final vote by City Council next month.
Said NHL to Seattle:
Too little, too late? Maybe…but moving forward reduces any friction for any future opportunities. One thing we might get out of this final vote is to hear if Hansen and/or Coleman have a strategy to make the NHL or NBA team happen. As far as I know, the MOU is written for a basketball-first scenario, but that is only upon the condition of funding, so technically, Hansen (with help) could start building as soon as this final city council vote is made (and passed).
An October report in The Seattle Times said the lead investor in the Tukwila, Washington arena project bailed in early July and that a Bellevue, Washington arena plan is “dead with no revival plans.
The Times said Ray Bartoszek could be out as the person heading the Tukwila project.
According to The Times, Sports consultant Jeff Marks of Premier Partnership, “said in an interview Coleman told the city during the call he wouldn’t be applying for a team since he couldn’t control whether Hansen gets his arena approved.”
But also, “Marks did say financial negotiations between Coleman and Hansen remain unresolved. But he says Hansen has an optimal location, is nearing approval and would be an ideal partner.”
At very least, hockey fans in Seattle will be able to celebrate the sport on Dec. 5 and 7 as the city and local businessmen still try to figure out if they can land an NHL team.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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