New Orleans Needs A Pro Hockey Team. They Also Need An Arena. Can Both Be On The Horizon?

New Orleans has a metro population of just over 1 million and they don't have a professional hockey team. Heck, they don't even have an ice hockey arena currently! They had both at one time in the past. The ECHL's New Orleans Brass played for a time at the historic Municipal Auditorium. The venue was badly damaged in Hurricane Katrina and has sat empty, without any renovations, since the hurricane in 2005. It's a building that could house hockey and other events if investment is put into making it a sports and entertainment venue again. This article here talks about how the PWHL might be a fit for a renovated Municipal Auditorium, but at just around 5,000 seats for hockey, the venue would be too small for the world's top women's hockey league. 

The best fit for professional hockey in New Orleans, primarily due to other teams in the vicinity, would be the Low-A level FPHL. The FPHL currently has two teams in Louisiana (Baton Rouge and Monroe) and the league is rapidly expanding. A franchise in the Tier 3 junior NA3HL could serve as another tenant for the building and could promote interest in minor hockey in the area. The NA3HL has Louisiana teams in Lafayette and Monroe. Despite not having an ice rink in the New Orleans area, Tulane University recently started a hockey club through Tulane's Campus Recreation Club Sports program (they currently travel outside of New Orleans to find ice!). With an arena in New Orleans, Tulane's club hockey program would have the ability to grow into playing in a sanctioned collegiate league like the ACHA. The establishment of minor hockey in New Orleans would also occur if the Municipal Auditorium were to be renovated for hockey use.