Credit: Reuters.com

Many are proposing a NHL expansion to Seattle. A team in Seattle cannot be very far from the reality because of several factors. For one, the state is the 15th most populated metropolitan area in the U.S., which is already larger than other cities with NHL teams. Moreover, Seattle is a good fit for league geography. The West Conference has 14 teams, while the East has 16. A team in Seattle would balance the two sides.

Even with this clamouring, NHL should not rush things out and think things over. Twenty years ago, it rushed an expansion and it led nowhere because of poor ownership. The league has to avoid this mistake again. A Seattle team cannot be established just because there are many people interested to see it happen and someone is willing to pick up the tab.

Ray Bartoszek and Anthony Lanza are two investors ready to fund $220 million to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Seattle. However, whether or not they can be worthy owners of a NHL team is still questionable.

Critics claimed that Bartoszek and Lanza's interest in having a team in Seattle is just business. You cannot find a passion factor here. According to City Councilman Tim Burgess, "They didn't strike me as having that [passion]. They spoke very highly of Seattle as a media market and recognized as it relates to the NHL that this market had great potential and had not been tapped and they wanted to be hopefully a part of that. Beyond that they weren't that detailed."

While there's nothing wrong with being business as usual, NHL would be much better off for its franchise to be bought by someone who is invested both in the city as well as in the sport, not just in his or her return on investment.