Could the city of Vaughan get its own NHL team?

It’s the story that just won’t die. The Globe and Mail is reporting that talks of a second NHL team in the GTA are underway. Again.

Apparently, senior league officials met with a group of business leaders and, this time, the city of Vaughan, just outside of Toronto, is the preferred destination. The Globe and Mail is reporting that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly met with an unidentified group for more than two hours last week in Toronto. If that’s the case, it’s pretty significant. The group also met with Paul Kelly, executive director of the NHL Players’ Association. Of course, always at issue in talks of another team in the GTA is the impact the team would have on the revenues of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres. If the plan were to go ahead, territorial rights fees would have to be settled with both clubs. The unidentified group of business leaders is proposing to build an arena at the intersection of Highways 427 and 7. It would take between two and five years for the arena to be built, if the plan goes ahead. Speculation is also rampant that if this does happen, one of several struggling American clubs will head north. The struggling and cash-strapped Phoenix Coyotes franchise seems like the most obvious choice to relocate. Stay tuned. This story doesn’t seem like it’s ever going away.