Thursday, April 2, 2015

Lamar Hunt Jr sets the tone for hockey in KC

This past winter, Lamar Hunt Jr. made an unexpected move and bought Kansas City’s hockey team, the Missouri Mavericks. Who would’ve imagined Lamar Hunt Jr. would buy the Missouri Mavericks? I had no idea the team was even up for sale. Not to mention it seemed unexpected seeing how he and the rest of his family have been mainly involved with the Kansas City Chiefs for decades and FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. There was also a point in time where the Hunt Family was involved with the Kansas City Wizards and Columbus Crew (two more of one of the several founding MLS franchises), and they had a minority stake in the Chicago Bulls.
            Hunt’s purchase was unexpected but at the same time it’s a major benefit not only to the franchise but also for Kansas City and its hockey fan base. The timing of this move was perfect. Hunt wants to not only sell more tickets but he also wants to build more hockey rinks for the community. Building more rinks will help increase the interest of hockey as well as developing youth hockey and other recreational leagues.
            Although this doesn’t seem like the main intention now but I think all of this will also help Kansas City get an NHL franchise at the Sprint Center. Hunt’s intentions of building more hockey rinks to get the community involved and get them interested in playing hockey will help the city raise its awareness to the NHL as a hockey town. On top of that, the Missouri Mavericks is now in a league that is the second minor league. This is the league where potential hockey stars want to play to reach their goal of playing in the NHL.

            Aside from that Kansas City is a city on the rise as it continues to improve by getting national recognition for food, life-style and sports. More people are starting to move here because of these opportunities and other amenities the city has to offer. This long-term plan is perfect because now is the time for Kansas City to go all out and make the NHL in Kansas City a reality instead of just a dream.

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