of the three games played, there where no heat related issues with the ice. (there was one issue, but it had nothing to do with the heat). I spoke to someone who had a company that makes ice rinks for promotional purposes and he said he could make ice on the edge of a volcano if need be. The inside of a 75 degree arena is no problem at all.

The problem with pretty much all cities except for vegas is where do you put everyone? The NHL is limiting each team to 50 people total in the hub city. So just for the teams, that means 600 hotel rooms (12x50). Probably at least going to need to have at least 400 more rooms and other spaces for officials, media, tech people, refs, etc, likely more. With many cities, you would have to employ 8-10 different hotels at least, plus a myriad of other places for people to work and set up their equipment. The NHL would have to take over an entire downtown of many cities to make it happen. And if the okay for fans is given, there would be no place for them in many cities.

Contrast this with Vegas. The Park MGM (formerly the monte carlo) which is about 150 feet from the arena and is the smallest property close to the arena has 2,700 rooms. 2,700. (within a 1/4 mile, there are 4 other properties which each have double that) You could literally keep the whole operation in one place. The only exception would be busing teams to arenas for practice. Plus you can secure the place easily and feed everyone in one place. Logistically, it is so easy in Vegas. Plus, the fact that Vegas handles events of this size and scope about 6-10 times a year means that there is a lot of experience to draw on. It makes a ton of sense. I think the west either plays in Las Vegas or Los Angeles.