The NHL is reporting that Tampa Bay's hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, has been purchased by Boston hedge fund manager and co-owner of the Boston Red Sox Jeff Vinik. But it seems Seattle was in the running and the Key Arena would have been the venue.

"There was somebody looking at the Tampa hockey team but someone else bought them," says Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust. She couldn't name the prospective Seattle buyer. However, she says that Key Arena presented some problems with sight lines—as it was never built for hockey. What large tenant will replace the vacuum left by the Sonics? "We're already getting kind of full over there: Seattle University men's basketball, Rat City Roller Girls, the Seattle Storm, and we are really filling up with a lot of concerts," Daoust says.