The demand for NHL Seattle season tickets is "so strong," the expansion club's ownership group is "considering doing away with traditional 82-game commitments and offering mini packages instead," according to Luke Fox of SPORTSNET.ca. NHL Seattle GM Ron Francis said, "The league said, 'You get six weeks to get 10,000 season-ticket deposits,' and they did that in 12 minutes. They got 25,000 the first hour. They got 32,000 the first day. And it's my understanding, there's another list of 30,000 that want to get on that list of 32,000." Francis added NHL Seattle President & CEO Tod Leiweke and his staff are "looking at a lot of different ways to make as many people happy as possible." On an official name for the team, Fox noted fans should "expect a finalization of a nickname in the early part" of '20. Francis said, "They have a few selections left, and it's a question of trying to come up with a logo to match the names and see what everybody's comfortable with. Once they get to that point, then they'll trademark it and make sure we're protected." In addition to leaders of other startup businesses, Francis has "sought counsel" with Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee and GM Kelly McCrimmon, as well as Predators President of Hockey Operations & GM David Poile, on "how they built successful hockey clubs from scratch" (SPORTSNET.ca, 11/19).
