If there were any doubts that Seattle has moved to the front of the line for the destination of a relocated NHL team or even for future expansion, they were erased Wednesday when Seattle announced Christopher Hansen's proposal to build a new arena in Seattle's stadium district.
The league has liked Seattle as a possible NHL city but it was lacking two key components -- an arena and an owner.
"It's fair to say professional hockey in the Pacific Northwest is a popular sport, it's been accepted," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in December when I asked him about Seattle as a relocation possibility. "It has a rich and long tradition."
Now it's also one step closer to breaking ground on an NHL-ready arena.
To read more from Craig on the NHL coming to Seattle, plus his mailbag answer on Rick Nash's ideal trade destination, sign up for Insider today.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigCustance
And fire off a few probing questions for his weekly mailbag while you're at it.
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