Seattle eager to begin rivalry with Canucks

SEA ISLAND, GA. We are less than three years away from Seattle actually playing NHL games. But that did not stop CEO Tod Leiweke from starting a little trash-talk in what he hopes becomes a friendly rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks.

“I don’t want to send up the flames here because those guys are my friends, but bring it on,” Leiweke said of the Canucks. “We can’t wait. It’s going to be an intense rivalry and it might be the one night I walk in the locker-room and say to the boys, ‘Give it a little more tonight.’ ”

Seattle is about a two-hour drive from Vancouver, which Leiweke called its “sister city.”

“Vancouver and Seattle share so much in common,” he said. “Two absolutely gorgeous cities right on the water with a backdrop of mountains … there’s going to be a built-in rivalry.”

The NHL is rife with geographic rivals, whether it is Toronto and Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary or Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Until now, Vancouver never really had one.

“I wouldn’t overstate it, but obviously it’s helpful,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “(Canucks owner) Francesco Aquilini has been clear on the record for years now that he would love an expansion team in Seattle to create that rivalry. The Canucks are excited about it. I know Seattle’s excited about it. It can only help.”

With Seattle now owning an NHL franchise, the next question is whether this will pave the way for the NBA.

“One miracle at a time,” Seattle NHL owner David Bonderman said. “Obviously the city would be enthused to have an NBA team and so would we..”

The Supersonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. While the NBA has hinted at a possible return, it would likely come through relocation, not expansion.

There had been reports the Coyotes were upset with the NHL’S decision to move the team from the Pacific to the Central Division to make room for Seattle, but team president and CEO Ahron Cohen said he would “work with the league to ensure a smooth transition.”