Does Toronto have room for a second NHL team?

In October, The Globe and Mail published an article speculating that NHL governors have been informally discussing the prospect of bringing a second team to the ice in the Greater Toronto Area. For the most part, sources have remained anonymous and contradictory, but fans have been lighting up sports talk radio and hockey sites across the net for weeks now about the speculation. Is Toronto really able to host a second team? And, more importantly, is the prospect a possible one?

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, has been tight-lipped regarding the prospect of a second team. "Any talk about expansion or relocation of another NHL team to Southern Ontario is purely speculative," read MLSE President Richard Peddie's brief response.

Richard Powers, Assistant Dean and Executive Director of MBA Programs at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, notes that given the Maple Leafs' current status as a financial juggernaut, a second team may be the only way to push for a winning team in Toronto. Though the Maple Leafs' streak without a Stanley Cup is running on 41 years, this year their value increased 9 percent, to a total of $448 million - the greatest of any team in hockey history.

He notes that the ACC must fill its so-called "blackout nights," those calendar days when there are no Leafs or Raptors games. Powers estimates that a secondary hockey franchise would fill up between 30 to 40 blackout nights in a year. "It's perfect," he says.

Alan Middleton, Executive Director at York University's Shulich School of Business, disagrees. "Will you fill the stadium at the same price point as the main team? My answer is no." Middleton believes an expansion team couldn't compete on the level of prestige held by the Leafs. Selling tickets at the same prices as the Leafs games would be "an inherently stupid idea."

Middleton prefers the idea that the second team could be located in Hamilton, referring to last year's rumour that Blackberry billionaire Jim Balsillie might buy and relocate the Nashville Predators there.

Toronto fan Amit Puri notes that other large cities in North America have multiple sports teams, and says that Toronto could do the same, especially if the team locates itself outside of the downtown core. "It takes away some of the traffic in the city. There are enough people in the Hamilton area that would go."

Superfan Greg Kankas agrees that Hamilton isn't that far to go for another hockey game. "Maybe on weekends."

Jonathan Ore is The Strand's former managing editor.