Is Seattle Being Considered?

Could it actually be a possibility that we might be able to travel a short three hours to watch a game between the Canucks and the Seattle “Towers” hockey club?

Earlier this month it was reported that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly (apparently) were in Seattle meeting with city officials.

According to King 5 News Bettman and Daly were joined by a Los Angeles-based real estate tycoon named Victor Coleman, who the CEO of Hudson Pacific Properties,

Coleman has ties to the Seattle area and reportedly has interest in purchasing an NHL team specifically for Seattle.

Coleman (so we hear) was also joined by Jonathan Glaser of JMG Capital Management and Jeff Marks of Premier Partnerships.

Here’s more on the newly-emerged Coleman from KING 5 News:

Coleman (52) leads the publicly traded company and is believed to be, along with Glaser, the principals interested in buying an NHL team and bringing it to Seattle.

He maintains a constant low profile and his portfolio that includes 26 properties, two movie studios, plus four buildings in Seattle and another in Lynnwood.

His company website says Hudson Pacific owns the 83 King Building, 505 First, Merrill Place, and Met Park North in Seattle, along with the Northview Center in Lynnwood.

So, what does it all mean? Possibly not much, but the fact that the NHL’s top executives went to meet with the mayor of Seattle, Ed Murray, and King County Executive Dow Constatine with a prospective owner is more than a little interesting.

the Seattle mayor told Daniels that the purpose of the meeting wasn’t as basic as obtaining a status report on the new arena as the NHL had previously said.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray told King 5 News that the purpose of the meeting was to ask for the city to change the Memorandum of Understanding for the Seattle Arena proposal.

Interesting because as of yet Seattle does not have an NHL size arena nor a location for one, which will have to be worked out by the city council.

Local businessman Chris Hansen has pledged to build a $525 million arena, contingent on the purchase of an NBA team.

An environmental review is due this September which is also part of the process before the arena breaks ground and Hansen’s group was blocked from purchasing the Sacramento Kings by NBA owners last May.

So that’s obviously a bit of a hiccup, but it doesn’t sound like the people of Seattle or Hansen are going to give up easily in their quest to bring back the NBA as well.

Coleman is from what I am hearing is the third publicly known businessman with interest in bringing the NHL to Seattle.

Prior to this report from Daniels, the NHL played coy on the meeting with city and county officials and shared very little detail, including the fact that Coleman and others were in the meeting.

Though the NHL continues to say it has no plans for expansion, but we’ve heard this before!

If the league can find serious owners with deep pockets and a suitable building becomes available in Seattle, it seems like a no-brainer location for the league to expand to the Pacific Northwest!

Here’s Hoping???