Hockey fans pumped about prospect of Seattle NHL team

West Coast hockey fansare getting excited about the prospect of the NHL's 32nd team landing in Seattle.

On Tuesday, NHLcommissioner Gary Bettman is expected to confirm that the league will be expanding to the Washingtoncity, which already has major followings for its football and baseballteams on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

In March, when a newNHLteam was rumoured to be in the works,it took a mere 12 minutes for fans to put deposits on 10,000 season tickets. The number of deposits now stands at 32,000.

'I bought 12 tickets, 12 ... because we like hockey.'

6 years ago

Duration 2:22

The CBC's Briar Stewart takes a look at the support for a NHL hockey team in Seattle.

For John Barr, it's proofthat Seattle is a hockey market. For the past six years, he's been the organizer of NHLTo Seattle, a grassroots group of hockey fans that's been advocating for a team for six years.

"It is a really fragmented market. Everybody is transplants. They root for different teams so they don't even connect with each other," said Barr, who also coaches a girls' hockey team in the Seattle area.

He says an NHLteam will be well received in Seattle and that the city, a tech hub with highly paid workers, will have no problem filling seats.

"The demographics are great. It's a big city," he said. "I compare it to Denver and Detroit a bit, with ahigher income."

The ownership of the anticipatedteam is made up ofDavid Bonderman and Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The expansion fee is $650 million US.

KeyArena, where the NBA's SuperSonicsplayed before moving to Oklahoma City, is getting a $700-million upgrade for the new NHL team. The goal is to have renovations finished for the team to play in the 2020-2021 season.

'The battle of the I-5'

For hockey watchers north of the border, having two teams within a three-hour drive of one another will be good for the sport.

"Seattle coming into the NHLis something that I think would be one of the most intense rivalries down the road in the NHL: call it the battle of the I-5," said RandipJanda, a Vancouver-based host with sports broadcasterSportsnet650.

"Ithink this would be a galvanizing aspect to the fan base here."

The NHL expanded to 31 teams in 2016 when it added the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

With files from Briar Stewart, Chris Cordayand The Canadian Press