It’s been a long time coming, but Vancouver and Seattle will be NHL rivals.
The awarding of an expansion franchise to Seattle will renew a hockey rivalry with Vancouver that has its fair share of history.
Back in 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans defeated the Montreal Canadiens to bring the Stanley Cup south of the 49th parallel for the first time. The Metropolitans played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association alongside the Vancouver Millionaires, the only team to ever bring the Stanley Cup to Vancouver.
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The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Vancouver Lions to win the North West Hockey League title in 1935.
In later years, the Seattle Totems formed a rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League.
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One of the Totems’ stars in the 1966-67 season was a towering defenceman named Pat Quinn, who went on play for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, and later coached them to the 1994 Stanley Cup finals.
Archive footage shows the Totems taking on the Canucks in December 1967. Future Hall of Fame goaltender Tony Esposito was on the roster for the Canucks that season.
Totems owner Vince Abbey was awarded an NHL franchise in 1974, but failed to come up with the US$6 million expansion fee.
The expansion fee for the new Seattle NHL franchise is US$650 million.
— With files from The Canadian Press