Somewhere between 20-30 is the sweet spot of teams for any league.
EDIT: I am shocked there's that many NFL teams. Don't they play like 15 games a season? How do you even build rivalries?
Also it should be mentioned...take the time to play Gwent. It may seem like a silly mini game and usually I stay away from them, but that shit is addictive.
Going back to this, I would be totally in for a NHL > AHL > ECHL relegation format that would never actually happen but would be totally rad nonetheless. But also that would mean seeing NHL games in arenas that have no business hosting professional sporting events.
EDIT: And more obviously it...
In short, if they really are truly interested in growing the game, make it more accessible for the average American and make it full of personality instead of making us watch dull as melba toast player give the same cookie cutter interview every goddamn game, and make skill something to be truly...
And if the NHL really, and I mean REALLY wants to expand they have to do more than the bare minimum to expand to minority groups. And that means a deep soul searching of the horrible shit that goes on from the minor levels all the way to the professional level.
I don't think they have any...
Yeah, I'm more of moving the teams that don't work and strictly against expansion. 34 teams is at least 4 too many.
They're going to risk more Arizonas than find more Vegases.
And for fuck sakes if you're going to bring an NHL team back you'd have to think that the Nordiques would work better than the Thrashers.
Quebec is more populous than Atlanta and that not even factoring in how many more fans there would be percentage wise.
Fuck Bettman if this happens.
The NHL does not need 34 teams. This is lunacy.
Figure out which teams don't work, and evaluate from there.
They CERTAINLY don't need to try the Atlanta experiment again, or yet another team in Texas.