The NHL is still "reviewing Seattle’s expansion application, but it would be hard to say no to a city that had deposits on 10,000 season tickets in the first 12 minutes on March 1," according to Kevin Allen of USA TODAY, who writes under the header, "Seattle's NHL Expansion Bid Creates Bigger Buzz Than Vegas." Season-ticket sales were "cut off at 32,000." It is still "undetermined how many season tickets will be issued, but the ownership group has committed to giving at least some tickets to all 32,000." Predators GM David Poile said, "I can remember trying to get 12,000 season tickets (as an expansion team) 20 years ago, and that was hard. Seattle feels like they could be sold out on day one and for the foreseeable future. It’s unreal." The Golden Knights, considered an "expansion success story, needed two days to reach 5,000 tickets and a month to reach 9,000." Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke said that almost 1,000 of Seattle's season tickets were "purchased by Canadians." Some Alaskans also "bought tickets, and some ticket buyers were from Oregon." But the "vast majority" were from Washington state. Leiweke: "It’s amazing how many people have reached out to me now that the ticket sales are closed, and saying ‘Can you help me?'" Meanwhile, Allen notes the NHL gave the Golden Knights the "most favorable expansion draft setup in league history and the Seattle franchise will receive the same setup." Golden Knights GM George McPhee said, "It was a great move by the NHL to this way to give an expansion team a chance. It was a great lesson for all sports." Allen writes the NHL has "plenty of reasons to want to go to Seattle, including its ranking as the USA’s 14th largest television market and its proximity to Vancouver." It seems likely that a Seattle-Vancouver rivalry "would be strong." Poile: "Things are going great now in hockey. We are a hot sport now" (USA TODAY, 3/15).
