Ex-NHLer Anson Carter Leading Bid To Bring Hockey Back To Atlanta

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There's officially a push to bring the NHL to Atlanta for the third time, however, this time around, there may be reason to believe it could work out.

Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment announced its intentions to pursue an NHL expansion team for the Atlanta area on Monday, and that group's leader is noneother than ex-NHLer and current TNT broadcaster Anson Carter.

In the statement, Carter — a longtime Atlanta resident — said he has been in talks with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman for years about another return to Atlanta.

"I’ve lived in Atlanta since 2009, and I have no doubt that the best league in the world will thrive in its return to Metro Atlanta," Carter said in a statement. "… I have been in dialogue with Commissioner Bettman since 2019 about an expansion team returning to the Fulton County Metro Atlanta market, knowing that NHL franchise decisions are exclusively decided by the NHL Board of Governors."

While the NHL has been a bit non-committal about expanding to 33 teams and beyond. There's no shortage of interest. Salt Lake City is in the mix, as is Houston and Kansas City.

Quebec City is too, but let's be honest, that's a pipe dream.

So, considering the NHL has made two forays into Atlanta, first with the Atlanta Flames from 1972 to 1980 before they skipped town for Calgary, and then with the Atlanta Thrashers from 1999 to 2011 at which point they relocated to Winnipeg.

So, what would make anyone think it could work out this time?

Well, the key would likely be that the team wouldn't play in downtown Atlanta, but instead 40 minutes outside the city in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Y'know, like in the name Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment…

The region is capable of supporting hockey teams. The Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL have played in nearby Gwinnett County for about two decades.

You have to think if the NHL decides to go ahead with another foray into Atlanta, they will use some of what they've learned from the two previous failures.

At least, you'd hope that would be the case.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.