Right now a loonie is worth approximately $0.97 US and it has hovered around that dead even mark for about four or five years. In fact, last year for a time, the loonie was worth more than the US dollar for the first time since the early 80s. And with the endless schwantz measuring in Washington these days on both sides of the aisle, and everyone's willingness to to play chicken with our economy instead of actually governing responsibly as they were elected to do, who knows what things will look like next year or five years from now?
From an NHL expansion standpoint, that changes the equation entirely, IMHO.
If one believes that expansion is an absolute necessity and that there is enough talent out there to sustain two more teams; and if the well compensated economists can all agree that the Canadian economy is likely to keep pace with the American economy for the foreseeable future, this whole decision is a complete no-brainer. If all of those questions are answered in the affirmative, then teams should - and will - go to Quebec City and the Greater Toronto Area. It's really not even a debatable point in my view.
If you believe that the Canadian economy can stay competitive with that of their Southern "neighbours" then there is no real incentive for the league to try and sell hockey in non-traditional American market when there are perfectly good markets in Canada with strong hockey traditions and legions of fans clamoring for the opportunity to throw money at the NHL. That is a BIG issue for a gate driven league like the NHL. Also, it is notable that Quebec City and Markham have arenas under construction or in the final planning stages so even that won't be a disadvantage relative to their American competitors.
That said, I still think that Seattle has a great chance to land a team. However it will be a relocated team like Phoenix. Seattle is an underrated hockey market. It has several Western Hockey League teams within a two hour drive of it and they all draw very well by junior standards. There is no reason to believe that a new team in Seattle wouldn't be able to win over those fans. Everyone has jumped on the Phoenix to Seattle rumors but I would caution everyone to keep a close eye trained on Florida. They too really struggle to draw fans and are bleeding red ink. I still think PHX is more likely to move but I wouldn't be remotely shocked to see them stay put and instead have FLA end up in the Pacific Northwest.
Incidentally, both of those teams are stymied by the exact same - and wildly underrated - issue. Their arenas are too far from their cities and they are not centrally located, making it difficult for fans living on the other side of the DMA to get to and from games in a reasonable amount of time. I'm told that the Tampa Bay Rays have the same issue with their field but I'm not from there so I'm not sure how true that is?
Anyway, the difference between Seattle and the Canadian teams is that Seattle's priority has always been - and will continue to be - landing an NBA team. It looks like they're on the verge of securing the Sacramento Kings. Also, Chris Hansen and his investment group are basically building Seattle's new arena with their own money and with limited government support. That is almost certainly going to mean that they will have limited resources to bid on an expansion team.
The Canadian teams have no such issues and the Quebec group, Quebecor (basically the preeminent French language media conglomerate in Canada) has a TON of money to spend and a direct motivation to land a team so as to grow their empire. As such they would be willing to cough up the hundreds of millions of dollars it is going to take to land an NHL team.
The Toronto area team is even more of a no-brainer. That market is so flush with cash that even if the Canadian dollar tanks to the level it was at the turn of the century (approximately $0.60 US), that team would probably STILL make a lot of money. A lot of Americans may not realize this but Toronto is roughly the same size as Chicago so it is MORE than big enough to comfortably support both the Leafs and another team - just as Chicago does in baseball with the White Sox and the Cubs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nor...population
Also, it is notable that the Maple Leafs are currently owned by Rogers Sportsnet and Bell Canada - two ENORMOUS media companies. I wouldn't be remotely surprised to later find out that was a short term marriage from the start and that as part of the deal for the Leafs allowing another team into its market, one of those two media companies gets squatters rights to the new Toronto franchise - which will be an absolute gold mine for whomever gets that team.
Personally, I think the NHL should cool its heels on realignment until it decides one way or the other whether it wants to expand. The worst thing they could do is realign only to realign again in another year or three. In the meantime, simply swap Nashville or preferably, Columbus with Winnipeg and voila, we're all set until a final decision is made on whether to stay at 30 teams or to expand to 32 teams.
One thing is for certain, it will be utterly fascinating to see how this all plays out.
![[Image: nhl-realignment_medium.png]](http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2234485/nhl-realignment_medium.png)
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Realignment for puckheads (latest NHL proposal)
![[Image: NHL_Timeline_%281917-1942%29.PNG]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/NHL_Timeline_%281917-1942%29.PNG)
