New VHL Franchise Destinations

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

The Victory Hockey League has grown so much over the past 13 years. We have gone from 8 teams to 10, back to 8 teams, up to 9 and now finally, 10. It has just been announced that the VHL will be expanding to 12 teams. With 5 teams in each conference, the North American and European, I would expect the two teams to each fit into the conferences. Here are cities I think could be coming to the VHL very shortly.

 

North American Conference

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City is a very interesting proposal. This would help grow the game of hockey as a professional team in North America's biggest city could do just that. The team could be the Mexico City Aztecs because that is a very sweet name and holds to their heritage. The city as a population of about 8.9 million people and I think with a winning culture, the city can get behind a team like this. It would also be an untapped market as the NFL played some games here but nothing else has materialized. It could be hard though with the hot weather as Soccer and Baseball reign supreme.

 

Los Angeles, California

LA is the 3rd biggest city in NA with a population of 3.9 million people. The LA crowd loves a winner so the new hockey team would have to come out firing within the first few seasons. The city hosts 11 professional sports teams including 2 hockey teams with the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have 2 Stanley Cup Championships and the Ducks have 1, so for the new team to come in, it will need to win some championships to compete with the hockey market in LA. I think the Los Angeles Monarchs could be a nice team name.

 

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago has a rich sporting history and they would make sense to add to the VHL family as they have 2.7 million fans to add to the VHL fanbase. Chicago has had a few teams in the Big 4 since the league's inception which is a testament to the longevity of a Chicago sports franchise. The Chicago Wind could bring lots of puns to the Chicago teams skating. However, the team would have to be pretty successful considering the Chicago Blackhawks recent success.

 

Houston, Texas

Houston is an untapped hockey market and would be a very interesting spot considering Dallas has an NHL team. The fans in Houston probably don't like cheering for a Dallas team because the two cities are a big rivalry much like Calgary/Edmonton. The Houston Aeros would pay a nice homage to the former WHA team, a team that Gordon Howe once played for.

 

European Conference

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is the biggest city in Europe within city limits with 15 million people. We just added the 2nd largest city as the Moscow Menace just were added. Istanbul Turkeys would be a very punny name that pays homage to the country of which they would be located. However, it is hard to think of Turkey as a menacing animal but imagine how much money would be made if you bring them to play in Canada and USA during Thanksgiving.

 

London, England

London is the 3rd largest city in Europe and I know this would make a certain member happy. The London Phil's would be one of the more popular teams in the VHL thanks to Phil being one of the most liked members in VHL history. London makes a lot of sense as an untapped hockey market as the small English Hockey League currently resides but the bigger VHL would most likely make them 2nd fiddle in the Hockey market.

 

Saint Petersburg, Russia

From having 0 Russian teams to 2 in the span of a few seasons? Unlikely but Saint Petersburg is a huge city with 5 million people that have a huge hockey standing in the world. SKA Saint Petersburg is one of the most popular teams in Russia with the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk playing for them in the KHL. Moscow vs Saint Petersburg would be a nice VHL rivalry. Saint Petersburg Fortress pays homage to Peter Fortress who is Peter the Great, one of the cities former tzars.

 

Berlin, Germany

Berlin is the largest and is the capital of Germany. With Cologne losing its VHL team, let's move back to Germany and do it right this time. The Berlin Bombers would be a great name. just kidding someone did that before and it didn't go over well in sim league history. The Berlin Wall would be a sweet name and it could be a way to build the team as a shut down defensive team. Berlin has 3 million people to add to its VHL fanbase and I think this could work out well.

[DizzyWithLogic 43]

I like all of these except Los Angeles. 

[Victor 10,536]

Anyone wanna tell him about Mexico City and Houston?

[DizzyWithLogic 43]

I presumed it would be like a parent club situation. Probably not the strongest choices though.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

9 minutes ago, Victor said:

Anyone wanna tell him about Mexico City and Houston?

VHLM doesnt matter.

 

tbh i forgot about the Houston Bulls. but i seemed to have missed Mexico getting a team