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Investor calls Seattle “the best market in the United States that does not have a hockey team”

Don Levin

The city of Seattle received some solid public relations on Thursday in the form of AHL Chicago owner Don Levin.

Levin told the Seattle Times the city is the best U.S. market without a team at the moment and, in an effort to bring the NHL to the Emerald City, he’s prepared to invest $100 million.

“It’s probably the best market in the United States that does not have a hockey team demographically,” Levin told The Times. “I imagine there’d be thousands of Canadians that would come to every game because they can’t get into the building in Vancouver because it’s sold out and it’s such a good team.

“That would give them an opportunity to come to the city for a weekend to see hockey.”

The Canucks have sold out 407 consecutive sellouts games at Rogers Arena. The sellout streak began on November 14, 2002 and includes 361 regular season games and 46 post-season games.

As for location -- Levin’s idea is for the proposed arena to be housed in Bellevue, a nearby suburb of Seattle. Bellevue City Manager Steve Sarkozy confirmed he has had discussions with “a couple” of potential team owners, including Levin.

“Easy to get in and get out,” Levin said. “I think the city [Bellevue] has a good base of restaurants and hotels, so the teams could stay there and the fans could stay there. You’d be bringing in a lot of people to spend a lot of money.”

Related: Report: Wayne Gretzky discusses bringing NHL to Seattle area