Robitaille, Sakic, Selanne to lead USHL’s West Coast expansion

One of the biggest junior hockey leagues in North America is getting a little bit bigger.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Hockey Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Teemu Selanne are partnering with the United States Hockey League, the nation’s Tier I Junior A league, to become part owners of two of the league’s newest franchises in California.

Sakic will be part of the team set to be based in San Diego, while Selanne will be a partner with the new franchise in Irvine. There will also be teams in Simi Valley, Calif., with another franchise in Northern California, as well as Prescott Valley and Phoenix, Ariz.

The USHL announced earlier this month its intentions to expand to the West Coast. The league has traditionally been stationed in the Midwest, with the U.S. National Team Development Program being the most Eastern team, while the Tri-City Storm, based in Nebraska, are the farthest out West.

Hall of Famer and President of the Los Angeles Kings, Luc Robitaille, is part of the group spearheading the endeavor to make the USHL a league with a coast-to-coast footprint.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the expansion into the West of the USHL. This has been a group effort by multiple parties all with the shared goal of combining our influence to ultimately grow the game of hockey,” Robitaille said in a release earlier this month. “I want to commend Tom Garrity and Ben Robert for their vision and perseverance as well as thank our NHL team partners in Anaheim and San Jose. Similar to the success we saw with American Hockey League (AHL) expansion almost a decade ago, this will create a whole new competitive layer to the western region that will allow junior-level players to develop and compete closer to home.”

The timeline for the new teams’ debut is also expected to be announced on Wednesday.