THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: July 22, 2015

After years and months of rumors and debate on where and when the National Hockey League might be coming to the Northwest, those with the biggest chance to do it in the Seattle area failed to do so.

Surprising? Not really.

WHEN THE deadline approached on Monday, five potential groups failed to put in a proposal to the NHL league offices to apply to get a franchise in Seattle in the coming years.

Not a one.

Instead, Las Vegas and Quebec City are the two that the league will focus on going forward to put franchises in those cities.

With the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, you'd think there'd be some interest in bringing an NHL franchise to the area to play at KeyArena or somewhere nearby until an arena can be built.

Maybe it was because the group wanted to bring in an NBA franchise as a package deal, but that's not how the business works.

Interest in the Northwest in hockey is growing - just take a look at the recent Hockey Fest in Coeur d'Alene.

Players from around the league, either retired or currently playing, took time out of their schedules to come to the area, get out on the ice and play to raise money, for an area that doesn't have many options outside of Frontier Ice Arena in Coeur d'Alene.

The NHL has said that they don't plan on expanding anytime before the 2017-18 season, but you have to wonder if this was the city's only shot at bringing a franchise to the area.

Spokane might look more appealing to a team on the move right now than Seattle, though that may never happen.

Bringing another sports team - or two - into Seattle could cause some competition for fans between the Seahawks or Mariners, but when is competition a bad thing?

FANS SHOULDN'T forget that the Sonics won an NBA title in 1979, yet interest in that sport dropped off so much that they have since moved to the Oklahoma City and advanced to a finals appearance as the Thunder, with some of the same players that were drafted by the Sonics.

Rumors are circulating that if there's not a new arena deal made in Milwaukee, that the Bucks might be on the short list to be relocated to Seattle.

But, is that really how fans want to get another franchise?

Chances are, fans will show up and watch if the team is a winner, and the Bucks made it to the playoffs last year under first-year coach Jason Kidd.

Basketball fans in the Northwest are starving for something to do in the winter months after the Seahawks get done playing, and an NBA team seems like the most logical thing.

KeyArena wasn't good enough for the Sonics to continue playing in, and it won't be a permanent home for any future franchise - hockey or basketball.

IF ANYTHING, seeing the potential ownership groups struggle to put together a plan for a franchise didn't come as a shock to me.

To let a championship franchise like the Sonics - no matter how good or bad they were - leave didn't look good.

Saying that you want another franchise, and not going through with it when the time comes, doesn't look any better.

The one saving grace is that - at least for now - the Seahawks have been playing into February and helping some suffering fans deal with that void during the winter.

And for now, that's going to have to be enough.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.