Proposal to Bring NHL Team to the Northland

City Counselor Introduces Resolution to Bring NHL Franchise to Proctor

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At Monday’s city council meeting, Proctor City Counselor Travis White introduced two resolutions. The first included bringing an NHL franchise to Proctor, the second addressing the need to build a stadium for that franchise.

Back in May, White made a similar proposal, that time hoping to bring an NFL team to Proctor.

He said much of the skepticism surrounding that idea was followed up with suggestions that hockey would be a better fit for the area than football.

And then fate nearly fell into White’s lap.

The Board of Governors and Commissioner of the NFL announced that beginning Monday, July 6, through Monday, August 10 they will be accepting applications for an expansion team.

White says an NHL team would bring in tourism, revenue and create jobs, and most importantly, the fan base is already here.

“You look at Grand Forks, the University of North Dakota, their hockey team brings in about 11,600 fans to each home game, while the lowest NHL team brings in 11,200. That’s part of the market for an NHL team up here,” explained White.

White has received a lot of positive feedback, and the two NFL resolutions passed.

However, others think the idea is unrealistic.

“The skepticism is there, people just generally don’t believe that we can have any professional sports up here,” White admitted.

Right now, the City of Proctor is looking to develop about 80 acres of real estate between I–35 and Highway 2.

White says this area would be perfect to build a multi–use facility that could be home to the Northland franchise, and also a good replacement for the current, aging, hockey arena in Proctor.

He envisions a stadium similar to TCF Bank Stadium in The Cities, a venue to host concerts and other large events.