Why NHL in Vegas is a low-stakes
gamble—but is it most deserving?

» The ‘best’ cities for NHL expansion

Elliot Chan
Opinions Editor
© opinions
@theotherpress.ca

 

he National Hockey League

has kept their cards close
to their chest in terms of when
and where the next expansion
franchise—if there is one—will
be. As far as competition goes,
Las Vegas and Quebec City are
the two frontrunners, being the
only two cities to submit their

eyes are on the prize, both of
those cities have things working
against them when it comes to
adopting a NHL franchise.

Las Vegas, known for
its sultry heat and abundant
amount of entertainment,
may seem like a bizarre place
to watch hockey. In addition,
having never been home
to a major sports team, Las
Vegas doesn’t inspire a lot

: of confidence. Bets are on

F for whether such a venture

: would be successful or not. We
: would hate to see it become

: another inescapable desert

: disappointment, (cough cough)
: Phoenix, I mean, Arizona.

All I can say is that the heat

: will not be what harms their

: chances; it will be the fan base.
: At the moment, Hockey Vision
: Las Vegas, an organization

: seeking committed hockey

: fans to buy tickets, is aiming to
ae ae _, 2 convince the league that there

$10 million application fee. While = j, 3 strong desire for hockey.
: | believe there is a fan base in

: Vegas, but not necessarily from
: the locals.

Las Vegas is a vacation

hotspot with 40 million people

: visiting in 2014—many of whom
: came during the winter season,
: Le., hockey season. This is a

: perfect opportunity to lure in

: spectators who would not have

: an opportunity to see hockey

: otherwise.

I know that Vancouver fans

: will happily drop $500 for flights :
: and an all-inclusive trip to Vegas :
: to see a Canucks away game :
: against the Las Vegas team. But:
: would those living in the Sin City :
: bother seeing their own team? :
: The fact is that any Canadian

: hockey fans would be excited to
: see their team in Vegas, but if

: that’s the case, why not have the
: expansion take place closer to

: home?

Seeing Winnipeg get a team

: back in 2011 must have given

: Quebec City a lot of hope. The

: reason they lost the Nordiques

: in 1995 to Colorado was because
: their facilities could not match

: the new NHL standards. That’s

: all changed now; the Videotron
: Centre gives the city some legs

: to stand on when trying to earn
: the NHL’ attention. It’s designed :
: with hockey as its sole purpose.
: With that being the case, it’s just :
: a matter of time before hockey
: returns to French Canada.

  

However, Quebec could get

: a franchise again via a different
: route: the Carolina Hurricanes
: have been rumoured to be on

: the move. This means the former :
: Hartford Whalers franchise

: could possibly move north of the
: border... wouldn't that be nice?

Las Vegas and Quebec City

> are as different as cities come,

but for hockey, I believe these

: two places are apt choices.
: Nevertheless, I hate seeing
: so many NHL franchises
: concentrated on the East

Image via www.realclearsports.com

: Coast. We are due for a couple
: of purely western teams. For

: selfish reasons, I would rather
: see an expansion team in

Seattle or Portland before a

: team in Quebec City. One thing

: lacking for Vancouver fans is

: an opportunity to go on road

: trips to see our regional rivals.

: If Seattle can make a push when

: the next expansion round comes
: around, that would be exciting

: news. But for now we'll take what
: we can get, and be happy we

: don’t live in Atlanta.

 

MLB playoff chase reaching climax

» Who'll make the postseason?

Devon Momy-Gamache
The Sputnik

Ihe dog days of summer are

gone and the top teams are
getting ready for the playoffs or
making a final push to clinch a

spot. This season has seen the
top teams open enough of a
gap over the middle of the pact
that the final three weeks of the
season won't have a lot of drama
involving teams fighting for a
playoff spot.
The American League

We'll start with a look at the
American League since it is more
competitive. The AL West is the
closest and has three teams that
still have a chance to sneak into
October. Houston is currently
trailing the Texas Rangers by a
game and a half, and Houston
is three and a half games ahead
of the Los Angeles Angels who
are trying to make a final push
to reach the wildcard position.
Houston has been one of the
surprise teams this year after
struggling for multiple seasons.
However, after a fast start their
lead in the division has been
completely erased, possibly due
to fatigue from their young core
that has got them this far into
the season.

The Rangers are trying
to make a full recovery from
finishing last in the division
last season. The Rangers faced

: an unusual amount of injuries,

: especially to key players. They

: set an MLB record for most

: players used in a season using

: 61 different players. Having

: Prince Fielder return as well as

: the pitching of Yu Darvish and

: Derek Holland has helped Texas

: return to a playoff contender.

: The Angels are being led by MVP
: candidate Mike Trout, and Albert
: Pujols bouncing back to the

: player he was in St. Louis. The

: lack of a true ace will hurt the

: Angels and most likely prevent

: them from reaching the playoffs.

In the east the Blue Jays

: and Yankees are only separated
: by three games and both have

: 17 games to play. The Blue Jays

: are leading currently and have
: the benefit of hosting a three

: game series with the Yankees,

which will be the last series the
teams play this season. Both
teams have the benefit of playing
lots of divisional games to end
the season. Although the east
is usually one of baseball’s top
divisions this season has seen
Boston, Baltimore and Tampa
Bay all struggle for various
reasons.

The loser of the AL east
will most likely host the wild
card game because they should
both finish strong. As well,
the Yankees have a three and a
half game lead on the Houston
Astros for the top wild card spot.
Both teams will be fighting for

: the division though to avoid

: the luck involved in a one game

: elimination scenario against the
: other wild card team. Also both
: teams would want to avoid the

: Royals until the conference series :
: if possible. :

Although the Kansas City

: Royals have gone 2-8 over their

: last ten games, they still have a

: g game lead over their closest

: challengers, the Minnesota

: Twins, in the central. The Royals
: have a two game lead on Toronto
: for the best record in the AL

: which would clinch them home

: field advantage throughout the

: playoffs. Only four of the Royals’
: last 19 games are against teams

: with winning records, so they

: should be able to secure the top

: seed for the playoffs.

The final AL wild card spot
will most likely end in a battle
between the loser of the AL west
battle, (Houston and Texas)
and the Minnesota Twins. The
Twins are only one and a half
game behind Houston for the
second wild card spot. Minnesota
is another young team, like
Houston, that started strong
and many experts predicted
would eventually collapse and
fall out of the playoff picture. But
with only three weeks left they
are still in the hunt. Thanks to
All-Star second baseman Brian
Dozier and young starts stepping
up such as Miguel Sano and
veterans such as Joe Mauer, the

: Twins have a chance. With a

: weak schedule compared to their
: competitors, the Twins should be
: able to make the playoffs and will :
: most likely play the Yankees in

Yankee stadium in the wild card

: game.
: The National League

The National League is

lacking in close playoff races, but
: there is still a close race in the

: central division, which will most
: likely be sending three teams to
: the playoffs.

With San Francisco seven

: anda half games back of the

: final wild card spot, it is likely

: that St. Louis, Chicago and the

: Pittsburgh Pirates will all make

: the playoffs. St. Louis (91-54) and
: Pittsburgh (87-58) have the best
: records in all of baseball. After

: a starting strong the Cardinals

have been chased down by the
Pirates and the winner of the
division will most likely possess
home field advantage through
the NL playoffs. The Cubs are
only seven games back of the
Cardinals so they could win the
division. With the Cubs playing
four more games against the
Pirates, as well as the Pirates
playing St. Louis three more
times, anything is possible.
The other divisions in
the NL will likely not finish as
close. In the East, behind the
strong pitching staff of Matt
Harvey, Jacob deGromm, Noah
Syndergaard, Jon Niese and

: Bartolo Colon, the Mets have
> built a seven and a half game lead
: over the Washington nationals.

The Nationals have been led by

MVP candidate Bryce Harper, but
: have dealt with a large amount

: of injuries that have prevented

: them from building momentum

: throughout the season.

In the west, the Dodgers

: are once again headed towards

: another postseason berth. With
: a seven anda half game lead on

: the defending champion Giants,
: the Dodgers should be able to

: comfortably make the playoffs

: where they will hope they can

: finally reach the World Series.

: With Clayton Kershaw and Zack
: Greinke being two of the top

: pitchers in all of Major League

: Baseball, the Dodgers should

: bea threat in the postseason.

With both the Dodgers and Mets
playing weak schedules down the
stretch, the battle for home-field
advantage in a divisional round
series between New York and Los
Angeles will be close, and I give
a slight advantage to Los Angeles
due to experience, and the Mets
decision to rest their ace Matt
Harvey due to injury concerns.
While many of the spots
are already determined, the last
three weeks will still feature
many battles involving teams
trying to secure home field
advantage, as well as a division
title instead of merely a wildcard
spot.