Who Gives A Puck?: Vegas Expansion Ruling, North Dakota Gets A New Logo, And The NHL Awards
We’ve been hearing about the NHL expanding to Las Vegas for a while now. The rumors began probably two years ago. The news that the NHL would be testing out the expansion process took over the news last summer. And now this year the Vegas movement has been growing pretty quickly. I’ve already written plenty of words about Las Vegas becoming the 31st team in the NHL and you can read those words here, here and here. Good news is that we won’t need to be talking about whether or not the Las Vegas expansion will be happening or not because that decision will be made final today.
So now I guess there are just a few more questions surrounding this team. For starters, will an NHL team work in Las Vegas? Will enough people be willing to give up a couple of hours of their stay in the Sin City to watch some guys skate around on a sheet of ice? There are already so many attractions in Las Vegas. Whether it be a show, whether it be the casinos, whether it just be a bunch of strippers and coke with the boys because Craig is a dumbass and is getting married soon. There is always something to do in Las Vegas and can a hockey game beat out any of those other activities? My personal belief is that the first two years will be a success. The ownership already got over 14,000 people to put down deposits for season tickets for the first year. So you’ve already got all those people hooked. Then you’ll get plenty of visiting team fans to plan trips around when their team goes to Vegas in those first two years. It’ll all be new, it’ll all be exciting, it should be be a good time. But after that honeymoon stage wears off, well then who knows. It’ll depend on whether or not they’re able to throw a legitimate team together or not. Because if the team is trash, well then good luck getting all those season ticket sales to stay up. Also, as soon as the NFL finally moves to Vegas then that’s going to completely undercut the NHL team. I’m rooting for the Vegas team but obviously it’s a huge gamble.
Next question is the team name. Obviously the name that makes the most sense would be the Aces. Rolls off the tongue, has the Vegas connection, it works well. But I can’t imagine the NHL wants to be that blatantly connected to gambling like that. So chances are we’ll probably see the team be called the Black Knights since the owner Bill Foley is already the chairman of Black Knight Financial Services. And therein lies the problem. You can’t win the Stanley Cup with a team name like the Black Knights. It sounds like a club team. It sounds like a summer roller hockey team. The Black Knights. Get out of here with that shit. And speaking of horrible nicknames, let’s move to college hockey real quick with North Dakota just unveiled their new logo.
Wait, sorry. Wrong logo. Got confused there for a second. THIS is North Dakota’s new logo.
It’s a good thing North Dakota already got their National Championship this past year because yikes, this new logo ain’t good for business. Unless your business is as a coach bus or some shit like that. Maybe some insurance agency that strictly employs recent college graduates? Either way, this logo sucks and it’s a strong reminder of what could have been for the University of North Dakota if they had just listened to the people who suggested better nicknames than the Fighting Hawks. Nicknames such as the Big Dick North Dakotans, because if its on a jersey then it has to be true. Or nicknames like the Halfpriced Apps, because who doesn’t love half priced apps? Or nicknames like the Washington Redskins because if we’re being perfectly honest, it’s less controversial than the Sioux.
Finally, the NHL Awards are tonight. So this is just a quick reminder for everybody to start arguing about who should win the Calder and who should win the Norris again. Because if there’s one thing about awards that I know to be true, it’s that everybody deserves tow in every award while at the same time nobody deserves to win any awards. It’s this great little trick the internet plays on everybody.
For my money, Panarin wins the Calder. Bergeron wins the Selke because of course. Kane should win the Hart but the NHL will try to capitalize on Crosby’s star power being as high as ever right now so Crosby wins the Hart. Doughty gets the Norris. Holtby gets the Vezina. Trotz gets the Jack Adams. Kopitar wins the Lady Byng and Subban wins the NHL Foundation Player Award. Will Arnett will win best guy hosting the show. And X Ambassadors will win best musical performance. Tony X or @soIoucity will win best black guy who accidentally found out about hockey in the playoffs and is now a guest award presenter.