NHL commissioner has encouraging remarks on the return of hockey to Atlanta

Rumors have been swirling for a couple of years now about the potential return of professional hockey to Atlanta when the NHL decides to expand again, which began when John Buccigross tweeted out in 2023, “NHL team coming to Atlanta again…stay tuned. Alpharetta.”

From there, further plans of a new development led by Vernon Krause began to emerge called The Gathering, a project that is expected to be bigger than The Battery and home to a brand new 18,500 arena, perfect for an NHL team. As of now, the plan is for Forsyth Country to play host to The Gathering, located at Ronald Reagan Boulevard and Union Hill Road, about a mile from Georgia 400, per Fox 5’s Travis Maurer. 

The Gathering will be a spectacle, filled with shops, restaurants, bars, and residential areas, much like The Battery, which has been a grand slam development from the moment it opened in 2017.

“It will have every amenity that you would expect from a modern arena. It will be built to be very fan-friendly. The guest amenities will be second to none. And it’ll be a very interactive space with a plaza out in front and just very welcoming kind of area,” managing partner of Stafford Sports Carl Hirsch said, via Zach Klein of WSB-TV. 

This new plan has most expecting hockey will eventually return to Atlanta, with Vernon Krause hoping to have an arena ready for the start of the 2027 season. Understandably, some are skeptical of the sport returning for a third time. The Flames was the cities’ first professional team, spending eight years in Atlanta, and the Thrashers made it just 12 years before relocating to Winnipeg. However, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said those previous failures will not have any impact on whether the league will go back for a third attempt.

“I don’t think the prior two visits have any bearing on whether or not we would go back if all the other pieces were put together,” said Gary Bettman, via Tim Darnell of Atlanta News First. 

Many more details still have to be ironed out before this plan is officially put into motion, but Bettman is correct in his assessment of Atlanta being able to successfully support a hockey franchise despite previous failures. The Battery has made the Braves a staple of the city, and The Gathering has the opportunity to bring, and most importantly, keep hockey in Atlanta long-term.