During his first stint in Seattle Tyrone Crawford Jersey , Tod Leiweke helped develop the Seattle Seahawks into a benchmark franchise.
Her17;s returning to the Northwest this time with a chance to build a franchise from scratch r11; pending NHL approval.
Leiweke was introduced Wednesday as the CEO and president of the prospective NHL expansion franchise seeking to call Seattle home beginning with the 2020 season. The announcement has been expected since Leiweke announced he was stepping down from his role with the NFL earlier this year. But it was another step forward for the expansion bid.
r1;Itr17;s kind of fun to start from scratch because you can build a culture the way you would want a culture to be built with likeminded people who want to serve, who love the game of hockey. In this, it is a grand opportunity,r1; Leiweke said.
The prospective majority owner of the franchise, David Bonderman, said he believed there could be a possible conditional announcement about the franchise from the NHL in June and a potential formal announcement in September coinciding with upcoming NHL Board of Governors meetings.
r1;We hope there is not any doubt about it and itr17;s certainly not just a formality. However, there is a process with the NHL and we expect to play through that process Tremaine Edmunds Jersey ,r1; Bonderman said.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking before the playoff opener in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, wasnr17;t as optimistic, saying there is no set timeline for a decision on Seattler17;s expansion bid.
r1;We donr17;t have a timetable,r1; Bettman said. r1;That would be nothing more than speculation. I would be surprised.r1;
While announcing the president and CEO for a team that doesnr17;t exist yet might seem a bit presumptuous, Leiweke brings the kind of clout that will only strengthen a bid that almost appears to be a foregone conclusion.
Oak View Group, a partner in the franchise and the group responsible for renovating KeyArena Ryan Kalil Jersey , is expected to begin construction on the building later this fall and have the remodel done for the 2020 season. The season-ticket drive that started on March 1 was a rousing success and was capped at 33,000 deposits.
Leiweke got his start in hockey with the Minnesota Wild. He also worked in Vancouver and most recently helped build Tampa Bay into a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. Leiweke left the Lightning in 2015 to become the COO of the NFL and didnr17;t have any interest in leaving the league office until the project in Seattle began to gain real traction.
r1;The fact is I found the NFL to be a pretty amazing and fascinating place to work and I was starting to get quite comfortable in my role there so I wasnr17;t looking,r1; Leiweke said. r1;But I think the stars aligned and my sonr17;s advice was, `Dad, how can you not do this?r17; Today, I think her17;s right.r1;
Leiweker17;s job will be to capitalize on a market whose demographics have changed significantly since he left the Seahawks in 2010 after being largely responsible for the team hiring head coach Pete Carroll. Seattle is the largest market in the country without a winter pro sports franchise and has seen an influx of wealth in recent years. Even when he was running the Seahawks, Leiweke believed Seattle was ripe for the NHL and the response to the season-ticket drive only strengthened that belief.
r1;It really is a great fit. I always thought this could be a great hockey market and it proved it. So far Tavon Austin Jersey , so good,r1; Leiweke said. r1;Now itr17;s on us because I think people are going to show up opening day ready to believe and what are we going to put out there? Does it all connect?r1;
Leiweker17;s hiring also reunites him with his brother, Tim, the CEO of Oak View Group, which created the privately funded deal to finally solve Seattler17;s arena issue.
r1;Ir17;m so in awe of what we did here,r1; Tod Leiweke said. r1;This has been a challenging issue and my brother came in here and figured it out.r1;
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At the end of the Broncosr17; offseason program, word surfaced that linebacker Shane Ray needed surgery on his wrist and that he would need three months to recover from the operation.
That timeline cast doubt on his ability to be ready for the start of the regular season Bryce Callahan Jersey , especially because it was the latest wrist issue for a player who missed the first half of last season after other surgery. A new report regarding Rayr17;s condition is more positive, however.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the doctor who was scheduled to perform Rayr17;s surgery determined that the operation was not necessary for Rayr17;s wrist to heal. Ray stuck to rehab work and is now expected to be ready to return to action ahead of the three-month date originally cited, although he may still start camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Whether Ray was fully healthy or not, his role on the team was going to change after the selection of Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall pick in this yearr17;s draft. An extended absence this summer and into the regular season would have likely meant a severe change to that role, but an earlier return to action should make for more of a battle for time on the edge of the Denver defense. Jaren Jackson Jr. Jersey ,
