NHL team in Indy?

[Irishman]

This topic has come up from time to time as far back as when I was 13-14 years old.....and that was a LONG time ago. The talk heated up after the Racers folded. The Racers consistently had the top attendance numbers in the WHA. It was starting to look real after that point. The DeBartolo family built the 4 suburban mall in Indy. They also owned the Pittsburgh Penguins. To test the water a bit, they played a pre season game at Market Square. The place was packed. I am guessing that local officials in Pittsburgh took notice. There is no timeline from the league as far as expansion goes, and there is another obstacle. While Gainbridge Fieldhouse is designed to have an ice rink, it eliminates too many seats; to the point that capacity is just under 11,700. My guess is the league will have a minimum required capacity for expansion teams a few thousand higher than that. Fun to speculate though.

https://fox59.com/sports/report-indianapolis-interested-in-nhl-expansion-team/ 

[23andCounting]

On 7/2/2025 at 12:46 PM, Irishman said:

This topic has come up from time to time as far back as when I was 13-14 years old.....and that was a LONG time ago. The talk heated up after the Racers folded. The Racers consistently had the top attendance numbers in the WHA. It was starting to look real after that point. The DeBartolo family built the 4 suburban mall in Indy. They also owned the Pittsburgh Penguins. To test the water a bit, they played a pre season game at Market Square. The place was packed. I am guessing that local officials in Pittsburgh took notice. There is no timeline from the league as far as expansion goes, and there is another obstacle. While Gainbridge Fieldhouse is designed to have an ice rink, it eliminates too many seats; to the point that capacity is just under 11,700. My guess is the league will have a minimum required capacity for expansion teams a few thousand higher than that. Fun to speculate though.

https://fox59.com/sports/report-indianapolis-interested-in-nhl-expansion-team/ 

Hope not. The Komets always have and hopefully will always be Indiana's premier hockey team. 

[Irishman]

2 hours ago, 23andCounting said:

Hope not. The Komets always have and hopefully will always be Indiana's premier hockey team. 

Definitely a lot of history in the franchise. But I am not so sure it would suffer much at all though with a pro team in Indy. The only possible chance of that would be if the Komets were affiliated with a particular team. But even then, the Chicago wolves are a farm team of the Canucks, and even with a heated rivalry like the nucks and the Hawks had, the Wolves still do well for a minor league team. 

[23andCounting]

8 hours ago, Irishman said:

Definitely a lot of history in the franchise. But I am not so sure it would suffer much at all though with a pro team in Indy. The only possible chance of that would be if the Komets were affiliated with a particular team. But even then, the Chicago wolves are a farm team of the Canucks, and even with a heated rivalry like the nucks and the Hawks had, the Wolves still do well for a minor league team. 

No, it wouldn't affect the Komets one iota. Just making a point that Fort Wayne is Indiana's hockey city and always has been. Wouldn't mind keeping it that way. 

[Daniel_Bragg]

This shouldn't surprise anyone.  With the talk in recent years of getting an MLS team, this was always going to be a discussion.  Indianapolis leadership wants to go over the "hump" of cities, by having professional teams in every sport.  Only league that I don't think will ever come to Indy is the MLB.

[Irishman]

23 minutes ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

This shouldn't surprise anyone.  With the talk in recent years of getting an MLS team, this was always going to be a discussion.  Indianapolis leadership wants to go over the "hump" of cities, by having professional teams in every sport.  Only league that I don't think will ever come to Indy is the MLB.

Buuuuut, Victory Field was built keeping the possibility of expansion open. 🙂

[PDB26]

3 hours ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

Only league that I don't think will ever come to Indy is the MLB.

I don't see an NHL team in Indianapolis ever, either. Four franchises are in close proximity and two of those cover the Indianapolis tv market already, plus the NHL's expansion strategy has been to go to the west and south to more populous markets. If Houston wants a team and Atlanta wants to try again, I'd be shocked if they didn't get teams. The NHL wants to be in Phoenix, but can't go back until the arena situation gets sorted out there. Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix are all top ten in metropolitan population, while Indianapolis is outside the top 30. Indianapolis would probably be behind Quebec City all things considered. Indianapolis would probably make for a good American Hockey League affiliate if the Fuel weren't already in the picture.

[Irishman]

2 hours ago, PDB26 said:

I don't see an NHL team in Indianapolis ever, either. Four franchises are in close proximity and two of those cover the Indianapolis tv market already, plus the NHL's expansion strategy has been to go to the west and south to more populous markets. If Houston wants a team and Atlanta wants to try again, I'd be shocked if they didn't get teams. The NHL wants to be in Phoenix, but can't go back until the arena situation gets sorted out there. Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix are all top ten in metropolitan population, while Indianapolis is outside the top 30. Indianapolis would probably be behind Quebec City all things considered. Indianapolis would probably make for a good American Hockey League affiliate if the Fuel weren't already in the picture.

I would agree it's a long shot. The one city I was surprised to see mentioned was Atlanta. You would think a 2 time failure, 1st with the Flames and then with the Thrashers, they would be out. As far as proximity goes, Let's keep in mind that one of the newer franchises in the league is in Columbus. I would add that the proximity thing is not a factor for the NFL. I think what the NHL and the NBA even need to do is look at how conferences are divided. It is more of a thing for the NHL when you look at the travel distances for Western Conferences teams that reach the Stanley Cup Finals. They really should look at divisional setup like what MLB and the NFL do. People might complain about traditional match ups, but the last adjustment to divisions left just 1 of the Original 6 in the Western Conference. 

[Daniel_Bragg]

16 hours ago, PDB26 said:

I don't see an NHL team in Indianapolis ever, either. Four franchises are in close proximity and two of those cover the Indianapolis tv market already, plus the NHL's expansion strategy has been to go to the west and south to more populous markets. If Houston wants a team and Atlanta wants to try again, I'd be shocked if they didn't get teams. The NHL wants to be in Phoenix, but can't go back until the arena situation gets sorted out there. Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix are all top ten in metropolitan population, while Indianapolis is outside the top 30. Indianapolis would probably be behind Quebec City all things considered. Indianapolis would probably make for a good American Hockey League affiliate if the Fuel weren't already in the picture.

You're probably not wrong.  I just personally would love to see the NHL give Indianapolis a chance.  Our minor league teams have had good followings over the course of my lifetime, and I just feel like an NHL team would be so awesome for the city.  While you are correct that two teams cover the Indianapolis area, there really isn't any existing fandom in the city and surrounding area for them.  Compare that to the loyal followings of Cubs, White Sox, Reds, and Cardinals fans, that's why I don't think the MLB will ever give Indy a chance.

[Muda69]

Go Red Wings.

Gordie Howe forever.

 

[Sparty]

Go Home!

O’Doyle rules forever.  
 

I jest.  

[PHJIrish]

My wife and I were Racer season ticket holders and rabid fans of the team back in the 1970's.  I will always cherish those days as I was privileged to see Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Davey Keon and many more greats, granted in the twilight of their careers but they still had some skills.  I also saw some up and coming stars like Marc Tardiff, and of course Wayne Gretzky.  We were witnesses to Gretzky's first professional goal, something to remember.

Whether Indy is capable of supporting an NHL franchise, is anyone's guess.  I'm too old to even worry about it.  I still watch a lot of NHL games and try to follow the league the best I can.  It's an amazing sport to watch in person.  I also enjoy watching on TV, but I hear a lot of folks say it's difficult to follow the puck.  Even at my advanced age I find that not the case for me.  I just watch wherever the players are grouped, or where they're heading.

[crimsonace1]

On 7/5/2025 at 9:42 AM, 23andCounting said:

Hope not. The Komets always have and hopefully will always be Indiana's premier hockey team. 

The Komets were at a lower level than both the Racers (1974-79) and Checkers (1979-84). The latter won two championships and had multiple future NHLers. 

[23andCounting]

39 minutes ago, crimsonace1 said:

The Komets were at a lower level than both the Racers (1974-79) and Checkers (1979-84). The latter won two championships and had multiple future NHLers. 

I was speaking more in terms of popularity. The Komets brand is pretty powerful at the minor league level. And it's the second longest standing franchise in the country, regardless of level, only trailing Hershey Bears. 

[PHJIrish]

I've witnessed a few games at the Allen County Coliseum back in the day, late 1970's and early 1980's, after the Racers were folded in December 1978.  I enjoyed the atmosphere up there and I'm sure the enthusiasm is the same now as it was then.  Hockey is an incredible game to watch, especially in person!

[Irishman]

11 minutes ago, PHJIrish said:

I've witnessed a few games at the Allen County Coliseum back in the day, late 1970's and early 1980's, after the Racers were folded in December 1978.  I enjoyed the atmosphere up there and I'm sure the enthusiasm is the same now as it was then.  Hockey is an incredible game to watch, especially in person!

Since then, they literally raised the roof...... and added a section of seats. Pretty impressive feat. It was well before I moved up here, but have seen plenty of pictures. Great vision on the part of the people that pulled it off. It's allowed them to bring in some well known shows that likely would not have come to a smaller venue. Paul McCartney comes to mind....what a great show that was.