Not without someone building them a rink on campus. Too bad the AHL rink wasn't done that way.
A higher level of club hockey in the area makes it easier for USC or Arizona to elevate if they ever get (and accept) a golden goose. Those are the two to watch in the region.
https://timesofsandiego.com/sports/2023/09/11/in-sunny-san-diego-aztec-ice-hockey-team-reaches-for-national-prominence/
More ACHA Div 1 teams in the southwest is a good thing.
The holdup on Pinto is their cap situation; with less than 800k free they need to give up a prospect to get someone to take a bad contract off their hands.
Micheletti asking Goon why Clouse being Canadian is relevant is embarassing. There's no way he's oblivious to the ethnocentric reputation of MN/Gopher hockey.
Houston and Atlanta both have what the NHL wants in a city in spades: large corporations that will pay for luxury suites. Bettman would need to commit to both cities the same way he's committed to Phoenix, though.
His specialty is internet-style absurdist humor. The movie part probably stems from all the videos on YouTube of pleasantries exchanged between the two teams.