NHL in Seattle still on track for 2020 season

All eyes were on the NHL's Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

During the meeting in Nevada, hockey fans in Seattle continue to wait anxiously in hopes of watching their team skate into their first season in 2020.

When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about the possibility of Seattle getting an expansion team, he instead chose to talk about the Vegas Golden Knights who went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals last season.

“It proves how a well-done expansion can work,” said Bettman. "Everywhere you go, everyone is talking about the Vegas Golden Knights."

Dave Tippett, a former NHL player and coach who was hired as a senior advisor for the Seattle group, said he hasn't heard much from the Board of Governors about a possible expansion team. “I don't think we're even on the agenda down there right now. They know that we're doing our due diligence up here."

Tippett said he has not ruled out the possibility of becoming the squad's first head coach.

"But that wasn't the reason why I came here at all,” said Tippett. “It was to help build a team from the ground up, which is very intriguing to me.”

When the Vegas ownership group held a season-ticket drive, it took them two days to reach 5,000 deposits and two months to reach 9,000.

Seattle's NHL season ticket drive sold 10,000 tickets in 12 minutes.

"They sold what they thought was a lot in Las Vegas when their team came out -- when they sold all of those [tickets] -- and we crushed that,” said Trevor Martin, a Seattle native.

"I think it just shows how much people want that kind of excitement here, and just that kind of like energy around it,” said Laura Stafford, who grew up in Portland, Ore., but now lives in Seattle.

As for getting an NHL team in Seattle by 2020, Tippett said hockey fans should hear more details on whether that will happen in September.

"You just hope that everything is in place for them to grant a franchise [to us here],” said Tippett. “I really believe it's going to happen sooner or later whether it's September or whether it's December."

The Oak View group has an aggressive timeline for construction that could have the renovated building open just in time for the 2020-21 NHL season.

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