who was the last nhl expansion team before las vegas
Columbus Blue Jackets Minnesota Wild
title: National Hockey League text: a deal that dramatically improved the league's popularity in the United States, and provided the impetus for the 1990s expansion cycles that saw the addition of nine teams: the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets), and in 2000 the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets. On July 21, 2015, the NHL confirmed that it had received applications from prospective ownership groups in Quebec City and Las Vegas for possible expansion teams, and on June 22, 2016, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the addition of a title: Vegas Golden Knights text: team, and a bid from Quebecor to revive the Quebec Nordiques at a new arena in Quebec City. Both Las Vegas and Quebec were invited to move into Phase II of the league expansion bid in August 2015, and subsequently advanced to Phase III. At the league owners' meeting on June 22, 2016, in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas expansion bid was approved by a unanimous vote, with play to begin in the 2017–18 NHL season. The team became the first major professional sports franchise to be based in Las Vegas, and the first NHL expansion team since 2000. Foley title: 2018 Stanley Cup Finals text: alone the Final, with sources like Deadspin and "Newsweek" predicting that Vegas would be among the worst teams in the league. The team ended up enjoying one of the strongest debut seasons for an expansion team in North American professional sports history. Las Vegas was awarded as the NHL's 31st franchise on June 22, 2016, to begin to play for the 2017–18 season. On April 13, 2017, the team announced the hiring of their inaugural head coach, Gerard Gallant. The team then participated in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft on June 21, selecting an available player from all of the title: 2017 NHL Expansion Draft text: chosen, this would be the first "Big Four" major professional sports league to place a franchise in Las Vegas (not counting the city's short-lived and ill-fated football teams in the Canadian Football League and XFL, who played in 1994 and 2001 respectively), but the NHL has had a limited presence in the city with annual preseason games, beginning with an outdoor game in 1991 and the Frozen Fury series held each year since 1997. Quebec City was previously home of the Quebec Nordiques, a team that had moved in 1995 and became the Colorado Avalanche; it has hosted occasional preseason title: History of the National Hockey League text: who then relocated the team to Winnipeg, a stark reversal of the league's Southward expansion more than a decade earlier. The NHL again entered lockout in 2012, cancelling the first 526 games, about 43% of the season, until at least December 30, 2012. Just after 5 am on January 6, 2013, after approximately 16 continuous hours of negotiating, the NHL and the player's union reached a tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement to end the lockout. The first games of the season were held on January 19. In 2017, the league expanded again to Las Vegas, Nevada with