Who else misses the Houston Aeros? We do. While talks, rumors, and hearsay of bringing a professional ice hockey team to Houston have long been out there – we’ve been listening – it seems like another billionaire Dan Friedkin has entered the chat on bringing the NHL to Houston.
Who is Dan Friedkin?
Dan Friedkin is an American billionaire, businessman, producer, and CEO of The Friedkin Group. His businesses and investments notably include Gulf States Toyota as well as a majority stake in Everton FC English Premier League club and AS Roma Italian Serie A football club. Friedkin’s group was also in talks to make a bid on the Boston Celtics before the team sold Thursday.
Friedkin is also the co-founder of Imperative Entertainment, which produced the Clint Eastwood-directed film, The Mule, and Ridley Scott’s All The Money in the World. For the record, he is not related to legendary film director, William Friedkin.
Friedkin’s net worth varies by source but is reported to be in the $6-$7.5 billion range.
How serious are the conversations?
Reports emerged this past Thursday that the NHL has met repeatedly with Friedkin on the subject of bringing an expansion team to Houston. While in the past few years, it’s seemed that Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta has been leading the Houston hockey charge, ESPN reports that Friedkin has since emerged as the leading candidate.
This, however, depends on whether or not the NHL decides to expand its network over 32 teams. According to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the league is not the formal process of expanding. As of this past October, ESPN reported that expansion wasn’t considered as a “front-burner topic”.
Last year, the NHL introduced the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City, Utah, having relocated the Arizona Coyotes. Before then, the NHL introduced the Seattle Kraken in 2021 following the Las Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.
Houston is not the only city vying for an NHL team. Atlanta is also reportedly a strong candidate for the next expansion team. Other interested cities Kansas City, Omaha, and Cincinnati.
Houston is presently the largest city in the United States without an NHL team.
Those of us who’ve grown up in Houston remember (fondly) the days of the Houston Aeros. Initiated in 1972, the Houston Aeros were originally a part of the now-defunct World Hockey Association (WHA) – a then competitor of the NHL. During their six-year run, the Aeros made the playoffs every year, finals. three times, and won the championship twice.
Two of these championship wins were lead by NHL legend, Gordie Howe. Howe, AKA Mr. Hockey, is one of the most storied hockey players to ever play the game. In 1974, Howe came out of retirement to win back-to-back championships for the Houston Aeros with his two sons.
The Houston Aeros were reinstated in 1994 as an International Hockey League (IHL) expansion franchise. The team kept the WHA Aeros name but adopted a new logo which was, in this writer’s opinion, one of the best logos ever in sports. Although the IHL had financial struggles, eventually disbanding in 2011, in which IHL teams including the Aeros, were reassigned to the American Hockey League (AHL), the Houston Aeros were a success from the get go.
In 2013, however, the Houston Aeros as the team packed up and relocated to Iowa, becoming the Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. The move came after negotiations to extend the team’s lease at Toyota Center fell through, prompting the franchise’s relocation.
See also: Go Bar Down At This Canadian Hockey Pub In Houston