For the one NHL fan still holding his breath for a decision on the league’s potential expansion to Las Vegas and/or Quebec: Please, feel free to exhale.
It’s not happening anytime soon.
Bill Foley, the billionaire leading the Vegas bid, did not attend the NHL’s expansion meeting in New York City Wednesday, when 10 executives met to discuss next steps. Foley will not attend All-Star Weekend in Nashville, either.
An anonymous source with knowledge of the meeting told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that although both the Vegas and Quebec bids were discussed, no decisions were reached.
Back in November, the league’s deputy commissioner, Bill Daley, speculated that an expansion vote might take place in Nashville, but that will not be the case.
The complications of an expansion draft and the tumbling Canadian dollar are two believed hurdles, though the league has downplayed the weak Loonie’s influence.
“I think it will be March or April, and then we can start putting one foot in front of another,” Foley told the Review-Journal. “I think it’s complicated for the other owners…. I’m sure the draft is something they’re struggling with.”
Foley filed his application July 20 with hopes of dressing a team in 2017, but the NHL has never provided a timeline to make its decision on expansion.
“It’s a little more complicated than we probably expected it to be when we put our application in last July,” Foley said. “I think we’re at the point where it’s just patience and letting the process take its course.”
