The NHL in the Southern U.S. – made to be or a failed project?

Rodmehr Filizadeh ’25

Contributor geles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Carolina Hurricanes have all won the Stanley Cup. Despite this, hockey in the south continues to get be routinely

In addition, southern teams such as the Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks have routinely been near the bottom of the league in terms of attendance percentage, which begs

However, the Coyotes, for example, do not have a large market, and consistently poor performance means that the franchise is in danger of relocation.

The NHL’s history in the southern United States goes all the way back to 1967 when the league added two new teams in California: the Los Angeles Kings and the California Golden Seals. The Kings had mild success, reaching the playoffs in some early seasons. However, change came in 1988 when they acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, easily the biggest trade in the league’s history.

Gretzky’s popularity accelerated the growth of hockey in the south and, in 1991, the league brought another California team, the San Jose Sharks. The Golden Seals only played nine seasons and were the least successful franchise of the 1967 expansion.

Southern NHL teams have had reasonable success. The Los An- questioned. prompts the question: Is there enough support for southern NHL teams?

Recently, there have been talks about the potential relocation of the Arizona Coyotes in the face of floundering performances and poor attendance rates, made worse by losing their lease at their arena. The Coyotes resorted to playing out of Arizona State University’s Mullet Arena with a capacity of a mere 5000.

The question of support for southern teams varies from team to team. Franchises such as the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings have plenty of support. Fanbases in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles are large enough to support their respective teams.

Another danger to hockey in the south is visibility. Northern and more popular teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and Montreal Canadiens usually get more broadcasting time than southern teams, contributing to the slower growth of teams in the region. The value of southern NHL teams is also lower than northern teams.

The Kings are the most valuable southern team, but they are 8th in value in the league. The rest of the southern teams are all in the bottom half of the league, in terms of value, with Arizona and Florida last and second last in the league, respectively.

Although NHL franchises have been hit-or-miss so far, there is consistent support for many of the teams. The league could, however, support the floundering teams by increasing broadcast time.