Expansion draft location predictions

[TukTukTheGreat 15]

As we are on the cusp of an expansion of the league to 12 teams I have decided to follow suit with everyone else in the league and create my own speculations on where a team could be placed.  As a disclaimer these are my own suggestions for expansion locations and names and should be taken with a grain of salt as I am far from what anyone would call a creative.

 

NA

 

The Quebec Seigneur:  One of the current shocks is that the province of hockey in Canada does not currently have a VHL team.  This is a travesty that must clearly be rectified as soon as possible. Creating a name for any Quebec team however is not small task.  I landed on the Quebec Seigneurs referencing the pre Canadian system that Quebec used to have in place. I feel that for any Quebecois team it needs to be unique and have roots in French culture.

 

Florida Crocs:  Florida in my opinion is not large enough to support two teams, as a result it should support a singular team that would provide VHL with another low tax rate team to steal away all the free agents.  Hockey in Florida has been growing in the past number of years and while it may not be as popular as some of the other places in Canada and the US it should not be dismissed out of hand.  When developing the name of the team I could not think of a better one than the Florida Crocs.  This is due in part to the abundance of crocodiles in Florida but also due to the ferocity of the animals and the strong imagery that could be created.

 

Boston Minutemen / Bullies : As much as I hate Boston, their hockey culture is undeniable and would fuel many rivalries for decades to come. As such they unfortunately deserve a team, where else would all the goons go? I was torn on what to call them so I came up with two names for them.  Due to their history in the war of independence, I feel like the Boston minutemen would be a very solid name.  It has historical significance and would represent the city well.  The second one that I came up with, the Boston Bullies, is however my favorite.  I feel like it rolls off the tongue better and frankly would pump up the fanbase.

 

EU

 

Berlin Blitz: If you were planning to add a franchise to Berlin how could you not call them the Blitz.  While perhaps not the best choice on this list Berlin would be an interesting one.  Situated in the north of Europe it would draw support from the Scandinavian countries that don’t have a team and provide the Riga Reign and Moscow Menace a worthwhile rival.

 

Istanbul Sultans: While Istanbul might at first glance seem like a bit of an odd choice for a franchise, it is a very populous city of 15 million and could be a good stepping stone to bringing the game into Asia.

 

Rome Centurions: The name says it all, being in central Europe Rome has the advantage of being easily accessible by more than half the European continent.  As an added competitive edge, they likely have the best pregame spaghetti in the world.

 

Paris Old Guard: Referencing Napoleons historic elite infantry would be a good starting point for a team name.  While France currently does not have a large hockey culture that would slowly start to change with the addition of a major franchise to their largest city and capital.

 

London BullDogs: Like most of Europe, England does not play very much ice hockey due to climate related issues.  However it has developed a very robust field hockey culture that would be strait forward to tap into to create a fanbase from.  There is also the potential that any team in the UK would get support from the hockey leagues in Scotland and could potentially rally the country around the team to distract itself from other world issues.

[TukTukTheGreat 15]

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