Proposed Atlanta NHL Arena Clears Another Hurdle, Agent Hints at Expansion – The Hockey Writers – NHL Expansion

Hockey remains a topic of conversation in the Atlanta metro area. Over the last week, some smaller updates have come about that keep the sport relevant locally in some fashion.

Without further ado, here is the latest round-up of Atlanta hockey news. I’m opting to keep these as three separate topics this time around as there is no indication they are connected at this time.

North Point Mall Arena Clears Latest Hurdle

The City of Alpharetta’s Planning Commission voted to recommend the North Point Mall site to be redeveloped into an entertainment district that includes a 20,000-seat NHL arena. This is the latest meeting involved in the development.

Two community zoning information meetings had been held in June and July leading up to this recent meeting. One more major public meeting remains on this subject. On Aug. 26 at 6:30 p.m., city council will look at this proposal. After that, we’ll know if they can move on to other important steps.

Currently, this push is for rezoning the large property that North Point Mall sits on. After all of this is approved, they can move on to the step of potentially getting this built. It’s currently unknown how this could play out based on how NHL expansion unfolds.

When the developer of this project, Jamestown LP, was asked if this proposal would continue if there wasn’t an NHL team, they declined to comment. It’s still unknown if Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment, led by Anson Carter, has the $2 billion for expansion. They are the target ownership group for this development.

A competing development that would include an NHL arena is set to be built six miles north in South Forsyth. The development is called The Gathering at South Forsyth, spearheaded by Krause Sports & Entertainment.

NHL Agent Claims Atlanta Expansion to Come

A single tweet from NHL agent Allen Walsh triggered some buzz last week. As part of quote-tweeting a story related to NHL expansion, he included the following statement: “NHL expansion is coming. Houston and Atlanta.”

The story his tweet promoted is specifically related to expansion in Texas, either Houston or Austin. Atlanta isn’t mentioned at all.

At this time, there is high confidence that expansion to Texas is coming. It wouldn’t be a surprise that after the six-month deep dive to explore Houston and Austin as options, it’s announced at the end of the calendar year.

When this news of expansion back in July came about, Atlanta, along with rebooting Arizona, was still considered in the running. However, they were considered a few steps behind the bid in Texas.

For now, this should be taken with a grain of salt. While it’s not nothing that an NHL agent put this out there, it’s not buzz that was commented on by any major source. Something could very well be happening behind the scenes, but it’s not baked enough to comment on yet. We’ll see what unfolds over the next few months.

ECHL Atlanta Gladiators Hype Up Major Announcement

The ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators, an affiliate of the Nashville Predators, are set to have a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 20, that they want the public to attend. It’s been paired with the message, “History is calling.”

Having vague messaging for an announcement that comes later next week is guaranteed to create plenty of speculation for what it could be. It could be something as small as a partnership announcement, but they typically come out and say it in social media posts.

I know some might think it’s NHL expansion-related. Even though Carter is a part-owner of this team, this just feels highly unlikely. It’s an unorthodox avenue to announce anything like this. It would also be impressive that an announcement of that magnitude could be kept under wraps.

For example, when the independent Athens Rock Lobsters were set to make the move from the Federal Prospects Hockey League to the SPHL (formerly the Southern Professional Hockey League), it was leaked to the University of Georgia’s student newspaper, the Red & Black. No matter how small the league, the word gets to somebody.

Even a name change or a jump to the American Hockey League would likely get to a reporter somewhere. If they manage to keep a lid on a big announcement, then all the credit to them.

Fans should go to this press conference. It doesn’t hurt. Maybe something exciting will come out of it. Just don’t go with the highest of hopes that it will be something massive.

That’s the wrap on hockey news in Atlanta for now. Keep following The Hockey Writers for further updates.