There were many in the military that used to use the term ‘hurry up and wait’. I never knew what that meant, mostly because I was late for most things, so it just was just hurry up for me.

That phrase floated through my mind as we wait for the National Hockey League to make a decision on expansion. Now the date for a yes or no is the first week of December… unless it’s not.

I have to admit the process is tiresome without any real pats-on-the-back from the league. This courtship can’t be all about wanting the spend the rest of our lives with them, it has to be a give and take like in any relationship. I understand that this is different but I rack my brain trying to remember a positive comment from the league without it looking like it hurt as the words trickled from their mouths.

It feels like the prom all over again. You know, ask a girl to the prom and then wait as she weighs her options or receives a better one. I’ve said it before, if the league says no then it will be very hard for me to look at their product for a long time. We have bent over backwards to accommodate a league who is asking way too much to enter their fraternity.

The fact that they are waiting until December is not good news for Las Vegas or Quebec.

What if Arizona, Carolina, and the Panthers get off to horrible starts? This will surely mean a further dip in attendance which would ensure that life in those cities would be on borrowed time.

When the NHL says, “we have work to do,” that just means we have to wait and see if these franchises can stand on their own. If not, than how can we justify expansion when we’ll ultimately need a home for these teams or be in a position of contraction.

I really want to trust the process, but this is nothing like the process that the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, or Nashville had to endure. In fact, the Predators goal of 10,000 season tickets sold wasn’t met and they still got a team.

The Foley group has sold almost 14,000 and still the NHL doesn’t know. The Creator was asked if the city of Las Vegas was “serious about their league,” which is ridiculous in itself.

I’m glad I wasn’t sitting next to The Creator in one of those meetings, because the first thing I would have said is, “Are YOU serious about Las Vegas?”