There's not too many things anymore that I don't understand about hockey. The actions taken to add a new team to the NHL would be one of those few things.

How exactly does it work to add a team to the NHL?

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There is an expansion fee first of all. Not sure what it sits at now, but Im gonna guess its north of $100 million. Also, it has to be approved by all the owners and the commissioner. Not to mention at this point, any team addition would probably have to be done in pairs to keep divison/conference alignments even. Thats all I know really....

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

Step 1 - Gary Bettman takes a United States Map.
Step 2 - He cuts it off at the Mason-Dixon line.
Step 3 - He adds some pins to his Balsillie VooDoo doll for the hell of it.
Step 4 - He hangs the lower portion on the wall.
Step 5 - He puts on his "Bitch" collar, and blindfold and starts throwing darts at the wall.
Step 6 - The first city he hits with pop > 100k wins.
Step 7 - He mails a poison apple to Balsillie.
Step 8 - He reaches into his bowl of evil pixie dust and spreads it in the air.
Step 9 - He contacts Jaffar from Aladdin for some magic.
Step 10 - An NHL team is born.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

yep. a group puts together an expansion fee, and the owners review the city, ownership group, arena, ect. they then vote on it. bettman really has no say what so ever over where a new team goes. hes simply the collective voice of NHL owners.

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Everyone hates on Bettman, but like you said, he is really only a voice, the Owners are the ones he works for and the ones who decide on if a team moves or if they form.

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Assuming Bettman has no voice in these decisions is quite naive. He may not have a vote, but to say he has no influence over the Board of Governors is silly.

They do what he wants.

Adding a team to a league where top line talent is already sparse is just foolish. Honestly when guys that score 20-25 goals are getting huge contracts I legitimately worry about the depth of talent on some of the teams, including our own.

I just think discussing it is pure insanity.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

i dont think so, i think hes just the guy that has to deliver flowers to the public even if they are all dead.

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At this point I don't see new teams coming in. I see some teams that NEED to be moved up north.

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The Board Drunk.

The only problem I have with contraction is that it makes the playoffs look even more bloated. I wonder how it would look with the NFL's approach. Two new teams, and four divisions in each conference. I will ponder this...

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

i have no problem with 28 teams and 14 teams each conference, and 2 divisions each conference with divisional playoffs. thats how the AHL does it.

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The only problem with 7 teams a side is, does a team automatically move to the second round as a BYE if they get the top seed in each conference?

Or they could structure it like the NFL does with 12 teams each and the top two teams in each conference earn a bye round. Would also make the regular season more helpful and interesting trying to earn the bye.

I gwould say leave it be sine it works this way, just move a team or two that really should be moved.

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no, 8 teams still make the playoffs in each conference.

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What ever city his boyfriends safety word is.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

safewords are for pussies.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

More then half the league makes the playoffs, you put less teams making the playoffs, the regular season means more and the Cup is even harder to earn then.

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