HOCKEY LAST NIGHT: PENNING (OR TEXT-MESSAGING) PITTSBURGH'S HOCKEY FUTURE

The feeling toward the Penguins staying in Pittsburgh seems iffy, at best.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been saying it comes down to the Isle of Capri gaming company being granted a slot licence on Dec. 20. Otherwise, incoming owner Jim Balsillie (second photo) might take Sidney Crosby and Co. and rechristen them as the Hamilton BlackBerries or something.

The reaction in western Pa. to Bettman's bid to write a role for himself as The Commish That Saved Pittsburgh? Judging by one local columnist, John Mehno, it's, "Whatever, Gary. Either way."

(A Pittsburgh Tribune-Review poll, at this hour, has only 7% of respondents saying the team is "gone," but that's hardly an accurate cross-section of the populace.)

Sunday, Mehno wrote of the Pens' last financial crisis back in 1999, "Their bankruptcy cut deeper for some businesses in the area. They were severely hurt by settling for cents on the dollar after doing business with the Penguins.

"Bettman didn't care about western Pennsylvania or Penguins fans then.

"Don't kid yourself. He doesn't care now, either."

That's coming from a columnist in a market which has had pro hockey in some form for close to a century, has had a NHL team for nearly 40 years and celebrated two Stanley Cups while boasting one of the game's greatest players, Mario Lemieux. This isn't some southern U.S. city that had a team dropped in their market 10 years ago. Yet the attitude of, "Go or stay, life'll go on," is at least acknowledged.

That tells you a lot about the state of Bettman's NHL -- there's teams that have left the locals feeling burned, rather than privileged. Of course, here, as always, the NHL is accounting for some past sin. Way back when the Penguins came into existence in the 1960s, the owners back then carried out a half-baked plan for expansion that, in at least a couple cases, had more to do with lining their pockets than growing the game. (For instance, St. Louis was granted a team since the Chicago' s owner, Jim Norris, owned the arena there.)

The Penguins are struggling, and their 1967 expansion cousins, the Blues, drew 5,410 fans to one game last week. Not to "alarmist" (Bettman's word), but of the six first-wave expansion teams, two no longer exist (the Oakland Seals and Minnesota North Stars). Two more are in turmoil.

Hey, the Blues and Penguins have only had 39 years to become part of their cities. Of course, that should have been enough time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win their 14th Stanley Cup, and you know how that's worked out.

Oilers 4 Canucks 0: Ales who? Ryan who? The Oilers buckled down and got your basic ugly road win against the Canucks, who are packing about much punch these days as Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip.

Dwayne Roloson (right photo) was good and lucky in the Edmonton goal. Vancouver's offensive woes could be headed from bad to worse after team goal scoring leader Taylor Pyatt and Sami Salo, their point man on power plays, went out with injuries.

Bruins 6 Canadiens 5: Watched Monday Night Football instead, to my eternal regret, since this was a barn-burner, with the Bruins winning after failing to hold 4-1 and 5-4 leads.

Stars 1 Sharks 0: You think Dallas is for changing the schedule? Think again. Thanks to Marty Turco's shutout goaltending, the Stars are now 8-1 within the division -- compared to just 10-8 against the rest of the world.

Coyotes 3 Predators 2: In case the good people of the Greater Phoenix area haven't noticed -- and judging by last night's attendance (11,735), they haven't -- the Coyotes have managed to win a few games and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.

Lord knows what Predators coach Barry Trotz really thought about the game. His team was outshot 42-21, gave up a goal just 51 seconds after taking a two-goal lead late in the second and then gave up the equalizer to Yanic Perreault in the first minute of the third period. In fairness, Perrault's goal was a power-play tally after Jordin Tootoo got the extra penalty in a skirmish.

Tonight's better games: Thrashers-Leafs, 7:30 p.m.; Senators-Islanders, 7:30 p.m.; Hurricanes-Flames, 9 p.m.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.