T-Mobile is pretty damn sure that they are getting a NHL team there to play during the 2017-2018 season. So much so that they’ve already blocked out the dates for a possible team to play during that season, and have added some locker rooms labeled “NHL Locker Rooms.” Whether this is a hopeful addition, or the guys over there know something we don’t, is yet to be seen.
‘We’re ready for an NHL team,” said Rick Arpin, of MGM Resorts. ”But our primary motivation was not for a pro sports team. We built this building to get events we couldn’t do otherwise, and pro sports certainly fits in that.”
They are more than “ready,” the arena was built to host hockey. According to T-Mobile Arena General Manager Dan Quinn, it was designed with “hockey in mind.” “If you’re in the upper level, you’ll be able to see everything. It’s an intimate building for one of its size. “That was the intent, we traveled around and saw a lot of different arenas and we took the best components from several of them and incorporated them into our building.”
However, with the NHL expansion committee not yet meeting and voting on both Las Vegas and Quebec City, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen tomorrow. Even if they do meet, the entire Board of Governors of Hockey have to meet almost immediately, otherwise there is no way there would be a team ready for the 2017-2018 season.
