RICHMOND IN NHL? ... SURELY YOU JEST

 The National Hockey League is talking 

potential expansion again … with San Diego and

 Quebec City among those mentioned … along with 

Salt Lake City which is said to be the frontrunner for 

relocation of the Arizona Coyotes … ANSON 

CARTER, former NHLer now seen as a panelist on 

TNT’s coverage, is spokesman for a group seeking to 

put a team in Atlanta … which has had two teams that 

now call Winnipeg and Calgary home … I know, I 

know it’s crazy but … what about Richmond? ... 

Specifically, Henrico County, which still plans to build 

a 17,000-seat arena … that is expected to be ready by 

2027 … after delays for assorted reasons have pushed 

ground-breaking currently scheduled for later this year 

… In fact, when TED LEONSIS tried to move the 

Washington Capitals to Alexandria in what proved to 

be a politicly-charged, 

contentious, failed attempt, we asked if the Capital 

City ever came up as potential Plan B … before D.C. 

mayorMURIEL BOWSER found an extra $515 

million in her budget to renovate Cap One Arena and 

persuade Leonsis to stick around 

for another 25 years? … The answer, said DENNIS 

BICKMEIER, executive director of Henrico’s sports 

authority, was: “No … never … not at all.” … At least 

he didn’t laugh at us. Nice man, Mr. B.

By the way … the Henrico Sports and Events Center 

will host the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame 2024 

induction ceremony Saturday (April 20) … This marks 

the first time it will be held outside of the Hampton 

Roads area as executive director WILL DRISCOLL 

is on a mission to make the Hall relevant to the 

entire state … For more detail, check Bickmeier’s 

podcast with Driscoll available on YouTube … or do 

as we did … Go to Safari (or the browser of choice), 

type Dennis Bickmeier in the search portion and click! 

Then scroll down to Showtime: All the Time … 

podcast No. 6 … with Driscoll. Click again … and the 

two of them will tell you all you need to know (and 

more) about the 51^st HoF induction ceremony. HAL 

NUNNALLY, the late Randolph-Macon College 

basketball coach, is going in -- at last.

Among those who -- we’re told -- plan to attend is

 GARY WILLIAMS, who won a national 

championship at Maryland … and wrote the best, 

clearly heartfelt letter on behalf of Nunnally we’ve 

ever read.

TIKI BARBER says the New York Football Giants 

should not draft JJ McCARTHY, the Michigan QB in 

a run-first offense that was good enough to win a 

national championship. “His film doesn’t say he’s a 

first-round quarterback. The scheme he ran … didn’t 

highlight the things you have to do as a pro … I 

don’t want him.” … Chances are that Barber, All-ACC 

running back at U.Va., followed by 10 years of setting 

rushing records with the Giants, will get his way. New 

York has the sixth pick … and consensus among draft 

experts is McCarthy’s over-under is 5.5 … Those rated 

likely to go ahead of him are … Southern 

Cal’sCALEB WILLIAMS (No. 1 to da Bears) and 

LSU’s Heisman Trophy-winning JAYLEN DANIELS

 (No. 2 to The Team Formerly Known as Redskins). 

From there it’s pick-’em among DRAKE MAYE 

(UNC), MICHAEL PENIX, JR. (Washington) and

 BO NIX (Oregon) … as well as McCarthy 

… Barber, by the way, has become something of a 

polarizing figure in the Big Apple where he has a 

popular afternoon callin radio show … and has a knack 

for drawing attention to himself. Smart man, T. Barber.

UNTIL NEXT TIME ...