Blog blast past: Balsillie boarded; the Phoenix Coyotes story few people read

As you know, the bond sale that would keep a NHL hockey team in Glendale, Ariz., has gone awry. Reading back to July 30, 2009, it's not surprising when you realize whose interests the NHL and most politicians are really representing these days.

The NHL really showed Wednesday how as a business, it is a game of TEGWAR, The Exciting Game Without Any Rules.

Jim Balsillie's camp smartly pointed out minutes after he was denied that this had nothing to do with his fitness to be an owner, and that the judge in Arizona said in June that the league would have to show he didn't have the cash. Of course, the nets had already been moved, like a group of kids moving their ball hockey game down the street (which might cheese the judge off, but that is neither here nor there). Bruce Arthur's National Post column pointed out, well, if it wasn't money, then it had be something else, but this is the league that let future felon Boots Del Biaggio into the fold.

Granted, being the person who waits for Canadians to wake up to what Gary Bettman's NHL stands for is like being sent out on a snipe hunt. Please, though, sometime between now and the next labour stoppage, clue in that denying Balsillie, again, really betrays that the NHL always represents its interests to the bitter end. It's just that those interests have nothing to do with the great game of hockey and everything to do with corporate malfeasance that could launch six Naomi Klein screeds and a couple Bruce Cockburn ditties. They won't care you could have three teams in Southern Ontario which would each draw more than the Phoenix Coyotes (with higher ticket prices) until the day when the U.S. economy is really up a creek.

The Coyotes are just a game piece in a scheme where, to quote an alternative weekly said the week Balsillie's bid for the Coyotes became public, a "broke" city is "also trying to line the pockets of some of the wealthiest investment groups in New York City, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi." (Phoenix New Times, May 14.)

The above link came via Make It Eight, Eh?. From the look of it, a Hamilton, Ont., insurance broker named Craig Ferguson, over the run of this sordid saga, has evolved from a thinking fan's case for the NHL to put more teams into Canada to advocacy for taxpayers in Arizona in the wake of a swindle/boondoggle which is going down in the American southwest. You really should, if you have time, read through it since Ferguson makes it clear why the hell Jerry Reinsdorf wants to own an unprofitable hockey team which has never been about hockey from the day it arrived in the desert.

"The attraction to the Coyotes hockey team has always been an issue of land development opportunites and great deals with government, and the profits that would go along with them. Nobody in their right mind would take this team with the clear math currently in place. As soon as (former owners Jerry) Moyes and (Steve) Ellman broke up the land from the ice, that’s when the 'Coyote' should have chased the Roadrunner out of town.

"Are we to believe, as mentioned by the Reinsdorf camp, and now even by the new Canadian/American mixed coalition represented by Daryl Jones (Research Edge LLC) that trying to share in a little bit of food and parking is going to cut the mustard? 'Little things add up' is the argument? Were we born yesterday? And, if I might add, if Daryl Jones and his group thinks they are going to break into this game with nickel and dime thinking, they had better think again. Like all politics, what would make sense from a genuine, honest angle usually doesn’t win the prize."

In other words: Cha-ching! Ferguson has flipped over a couple other rocks, noting two weeks ago that Jerry Reinsdorf's son is "is a director of a partnering firm, International Facilities Group (IFG), that has a hand in consulting the City of Glendale for the Jobing.com arena, and more."

It is not like this should shock anyone. For the most part this is the way of the world, at least up until Bear Stearns went nips-up last fall. (At this point, one should allow that maybe the NHL would like Balsillie to pay $350-400 million for an expansion team instead of $212.5M for an established team. At some point, though, these guys have to stop playing the Canada card.)

Most sports fans, regardless of background or intelligence, would be like, "Why should I care that the the city of Phoenix is going to hand over $100 million in subsidies in return for 200 public parking spaces at a time when it can't afford to open public pools? I just want to know if the team is going to relocate or not." Thankfully, no one needs a public pool in a desert during a time of high unemployment). That is just the nature of following a sport, nothing wrong or evil about it.

However, it does seem crazy how few in Canada have really gone to lengths to explain how the Duel in the Desert, so-called, was more than Gary Bettman and Bill Daly delivering a big screw-you to Jim Balsillie. In the grand scheme, this only reaffirms Canadians' Pavlovian slavishness to the NHL. Hockey is a wonderful sport, perhaps the best of the team games, and the NHL is more appealing to watch that it has been at pretty much any point in the Bettman era.

At the same time, to repeat Peter Gent's "every time I say it's a business you call it a game and every time I call it a game you say it's a business" corollary, let's have some clear eyes. At the end of the day, this league Canadians hold so near and dear is run by some not-too-nice people who are only to eager to be part of greater outrages. On a macro level, it does affect the competitive product.

It was nice to speculate for a couple days when that one bid group for the Coyotes talked about playing games in Halifax or Saskatoon and having an AHL team in Thunder Bay. Maybe that was akin to The Simpsons episode when Monty Burns ran for governor: "They're like seals. Toss 'em a couple fish and watch 'em jump."

Point being, smarten up. The next person who says Balsillie needs to learn to play by the NHL's rules should get two minutes for bein' stupid. (Outgoing Montreal Canadiens George Gillett actually accuse of him creating a "distraction" that caused the Habs' season to go downhill was a new low. (Mr. Gillett, I have with me a Mr. Jared Allen who has debunked the myth athletes can be distracted, and he's not above using physical force to make a point.)

Rules? The NHL has but one that it honours, realizing its place as a pipsqueak in the lumbering dinosaur of the American economy, 2009. Balsille, to borrow a line from those Ford ads which have been playing all summer, might "pulled off a game-changer" by moving the Coyotes to Southern Ontario, but there were other interests to defend.

Gary Bettman fits right in with the Boomer mentality where old-economy businesses hide that they are just going around in circles, slowly losing ground before realizing time has run out. The commish is a pipsqueak in the grand scheme of bankrupting America, but like any good CEO, he knows who he works for. That's why they pay him the big bucks.

As previously stated, "It would be silly to use the league's idiotic business practices to justify non-interest in what happens on the ice." However, this has been an exercise in the NHL as usual. It has no rules and when you have no rules, you have less of a game.

Related:
Balsillie vows to press on; BlackBerry billionaire given rough ride by NHL's board of governors as bid for troubled Coyotes rejected (Paul Waldie and David Shoalts, Globe & Mail)
NHL: Anybody but you, Balsillie (Bruce Arthur, National Post)

Gary Bettman cannot see the forest for the empty seats...

The Phoenix Coyotes had 1,000 fans at a game. That is all.

"About 1,000 fans were at the 17,800-seat Jobing.com Arena for the Coyotes preseason opener."

Related:
Coyotes fans blame Phoenix media for lack of support (Phoenix Business Journal, Sept. 16)

Antitrust? The Leafs and NHL asked for it

From The Rink has linked to a Reuters article which said Jim Balsillie is going to have ground for an antitrust suit vs. the NHL.

Wait, there's more: Balsillie and the boys, according to a court filing transcribed by James Mirtle, have "discovered evidence that, despite the NHL repeatedly telling this Court and the Canadian Competition Bureau that the territorial veto rights provision in Article 4.3 of the NHL Constitution is no longer operative, the Toronto Maple Leafs take the exact opposite view." That could be kind of huge, especially with what business experts have said in the past 24-72 hours:

"By offering to buy the Phoenix Coyotes for $140 million in the hope of then flipping it to a buyer of its choice, however, the North American sports league risks hemorrhaging money and an antitrust lawsuit, sports bankers and analysts said.

" 'It's a way to prevent the court's becoming the de facto new commissioner of the NHL,' said Roger Noll, a professor of economics at Stanford University."

" ... Several sports bankers also expect Balsillie to sue the NHL on antitrust grounds, arguing the league is preventing a team in Hamilton for no valid reason.

"In the end, a settlement with Balsillie remains the best option, said Mark Conrad, who teaches sports law at Fordham University's School of Business.

" 'Stranger things have happened,' Conrad said. 'If you want to replicate Middle East peace talks you may have that possibility happen.' "

It is not as if the Toronto Maple Leafs and NHL had no inkling this might be coming. As noted in June, "A court has found that Major League Baseball's infamous antitrust exemption does not apply to the sale of franchises, so speaking as a layperson, it could be a legal tempest." It might go double if MLSEL believes it could act unilaterally to restrict competition. (Actually, in antitrust ruling, it goes triple if the court finds for the plaintiff.)

(You have no idea how long the wait has been to bust out that Rachael Leigh Cook reference.)

The NHL moves the goalposts, and maybe a whole team it was sworn to defend

Honestly, this was just a joke!

"If you want a short and snappy answer about where the Phoenix Coyotes will play, just say Kansas City." — Aug. 6

Then it gets out that the NHL's Hail Mary play to buy the Phoenix Coyotes would only keep the team there for one season before they would try to move it. They have to protect those expansion fees, don't you know (and Eric Duhatschek's put-the-Coyotes-in-Toronto theory actually makes a lick of sense, keeping in mind this is coming from a newspaper which is part of the same corporate family as TSN):

"In an about-face, the league's bid to purchase the Coyotes out of bankruptcy court specifically mentions it is open to relocating the team.

" ... Since the NHL states in its bid that it 'does not anticipate there would be a net profit upon a resale of the team to a Glendale buyer,' its own interests, and those of the creditors, would likely be best served by relocating the team to a market where its value could be maximized beyond $140-million.

The league’s apparent openness to relocating the Coyotes flies in the face of its commitment to Glendale, dating back to when the team’s troubles surfaced last season and throughout the league’s four-month fight with Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie ..." — globesports.com

"... the NHL’s plan (to buy the Phoenix Coyotes) is nothing but a stay of execution. In the short term, it will give Glendale one last chance to lure a local investor or bring (Jerry) Reinsdorf back into play. If it doesn’t work, the Coyotes will be off for greener pastures." Arizona Republic

In the words of a Kurt Vonnegut character, "I had to laugh like hell." Make It Eight, Eh dug out a great quote from NHL deputy commish Bill Daly from just last month.

"Daly stressed the new terms would not allow the Coyotes to break the lease in a year or two and move elsewhere.

"The NHL must fight for the bankrupt Coyotes to stay in Glendale long-term, he said, to send a message to other cities that have spent money attracting or retaining hockey teams.

" 'If we want communities to continue investing in our franchises, we need to work arm in arm to protect their investments,' Daly said."

Whoopsy-doodle. It turned out those "communities" are not actual communities where people live and pay taxes, but groups of really, really rich guys. There is, for instance, L.A. Kings owner Philip Anschutz, whose company owns an arena in Kansas City which needs a tenant from a big ball-and-stick league. (This just a personal opinion.)

Meantime, it's behind the times to portray this as Hamilton vs. Phoenix (Puck Daddy). Never was. Gary Bettman and Bill Daly know who they work for, and it's whoever needs a hockey team as a front for Hoovering back scads and scads of corporate welfare.

Plus, for the Bob Loblaw Law Blog devotees, there is the whole issue of the NHL violating an important legal principle. Sub judice restrictions don't apply in the U.S., let alone in civil court, but it still doesn't mean it's not jerkass arrogance:

"Confident that the fans and the sports media would back them up ... the NHL circled their wagons and put on a Balsillie Is Rotten campaign.

"The pinnacle of NHL hypocrisy came in remarks recently made by Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. Melnyk is often deservedly ridiculed by the outside-of-Ottawa hockey press for his allegiance to a lame-duck general manager (Bryan Murray). Ottawa's recent run of personnel crises has been reflected in league and playoff results.

"Melnyk, as the sports press seems so quick to forget, was the subject of an Ontario securities commission inquiry which alleged misleading and untrue statements made in the financial statements of Melnyk’s company, Biovail Corporation. Melnyk, before the OSC chastised him, blamed his staff! He settled the charges in 2007, was fined $1 million and ordered to cease being director of his company, Biovail, for one year. The OSC record is no credit to Melnyk.

"What pricks the conscious of caring lawyers is the NHL pre-emptive strike against Balsillie even while the bankruptcy proceedings are sub judice in Phoenix. By sending out their general counsel Bill Day to media outlets to spin doctor the rejection of Balsillie by the NHL board based on, apparently, Balsillie’s lack of integrity and character, not only offends the rule of sub judice, but seems to be the epitome of hypocrisy.

"The media is lapping it up too. The venerable Sports Illustrated published an article which actually quoted Melnyk’s self-serving drivel.

Long story short, this is ugly. At least we now know where the NHL was coming from. It never really made sense why they were so gung-ho about Phoenix, other than Bettman's ego. As Make It Eight, Eh says:

"The NHL and the Reinsdorf group were looking to relocate this team either now, or within five years to another centre that fits the plan of the NHL.

" ... The NHL has shunned the fans of Canada, and is quickly shunning the fans of Phoenix.

"Jim Balsillie has a brighter future in the NHL than Gary Bettman, and let’s see who is around in 10 years.

"Jim Balsillie, despite being voted against, has been approached by other struggling franchises, and is the true white knight to help the destitute owners."

Who knows what will happen. There's a fatigue at this point. It is perfectly rational and understandable if you have shunned sports radio and probably will until it gets resolved, since the Howard Bergers of the world are way in over their heads with this story. It has been fun, though.

Thursdays with RIM Jim: Making head and tail of something that should be settled with a coin flip

(If you want a short and snappy answer about where the Phoenix Coyotes will play, just say Kansas City.)

A league with a dated perspective deserves a dated analogy, so the latest turn in the Phoenix Coyotes saga makes the NHL look like the scene in Old School where Will Ferrell screams, "We can't have anyone freakin' out out there! We gotta keep our composure!"

The NHL, as always, is expressing confidence it is going to prevail. There is a half a mind to snark off, like one of Jim Rome's listeners, "Dear Gary, pro sports leagues always prevail in court, sincerely, Al Davis, Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders."

Meantime, the realization the Phoenix Coyotes drama has — with a tip of the cap to lame-duck Ottawa GOSINOG* Larry O'Brien — is more than a big swinging dick contest has really hit critical mass since this time last week. Judge Redfield T. Baum's ruling on Wednesday really takes the animus between Jim Balsillie, Gary Bettman and 26 owners of solvent-for-now teams out of play (see From The Rink). That should be burned into memory. Everyone has seen the Phoenix New Times article which laid out the depth of the sweetheart deal Jerry Reinsdorf stood to score from the city of Glendale, Arizona.

The New Times' Sarah Fenske notes that a "good city manager ... has to do whatever he can to keep the (team)" — stop cry-laughing, Ottawa readers — "But it's one thing to fight to save a team. It's another thing entirely to fix the playing field for connected insiders." Here is the trenchant part:

"Michael Reinsdorf, who is Jerry's son, had been hired to help manage the Arizona Cardinals' stadium in 2004. (His firm, IFG, got the contract as a joint venture with Global Spectrum, a Philadelphia-based firm that just happens to employ John Kaites as a lobbyist.)

"In the fall of 2008, Glendale hired Michael Reinsdorf's IFG to assess stadium operations at the Coyotes' home, Jobing.com Arena. It was IFG — which, again, is Michael Reinsdorf's firm — that suggested Glendale hire Beacon, as city officials confirmed to me.

"The Reinsdorfs have a long history of working with Beacon. In fact, court records show Beacon was sued in Los Angeles by a client who claimed Beacon had leaked a confidential report to, yes, Michael Reinsdorf.

"So when the Coyotes ran into trouble, Ed Beasley brought in Michael Reinsdorf's firm. At the suggestion of Michael's firm, he brought in a second company, one that had a history of dealing with Michael Reinsdorf. Then he stood by as that firm secretly met with Kaites and Jerry Reinsdorf.

"And now we're supposed to look at the firm's analysis as neutral, looking out for Glendale's best interests?

"I simply don't buy it.

"In May, the Coyotes filed for bankruptcy. Its current owners want to sell to an investor who'd move the team to Canada; it's their only hope to recoup even part of their investment, they say. Meanwhile, for reasons that are still unclear — to me, at least — Kaites and Reinsdorf have become the NHL's pick.

The great Stephen Brunt, who makes grasshoppers of us all, characterizes it by saying the "subsidies (Jerry) Reinsdorf is demanding are political dynamite in a place where few are sentimentally attached to the team."

Meantime, as James Mirtle notes, Balsillie's bid still has a legal leg to stand on:

"That the judge hasn't already thrown out Balsillie's bid says to me he won't feel obliged to do so before the auction itself, although we're certainly going to hear plenty of new arguments from the league on that front. And while some of the information presented by the NHL certainly paints Balsillie in such a way that makes it easy to see why they dislike him, the fact his dealings in Pittsburgh and Nashville were aimed solely at moving a team to Hamilton will not likely 'taint' him in the eyes of the court.

"Think of it from the court's perspective: If the biggest issues surrounding Balsillie's conduct relate to his push for a franchise in his backyard, would his winning the Coyotes bidding process not solve those issues?"

Mirtle also linked to an East Valley Tribune column, "Bettman responsible for Coyotes' mess," which made it sound worse than the Montreal Expos situation a few years ago:

"This has become a disaster of Titanic proportions. The Coyotes still don’t know who their owner will be, and they may not have an answer by the Oct. 3 start of the regular season. They don’t have a TV contract. Their season-ticket base is dwindling, and sponsors are scurrying away like cockroaches when the light comes on."

No one can really say for sure how the court will decide Sept. 10, which is just five days before Bettman's overpriced orphans of winter will play their first exhibition game. It's a little funny that no one seems able to definitively answer, "What's going to happen if Balsillie wins in court?"

The great site Make It Eight argues that Bettman has a chance to set "a precedent for accomodation" if the court accepts Balsillie's bid at auction. Go ahead and say that will never happen. To hazard a guess, if Balsillie won, the NHL would insist on holding a vote . Bettman would win in a Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-esque landslide and the league would run the Coyotes and try to scare up an investor who could plunk the Coyotes some place such as as Las Vegas Kansas City, which already has an arena built by the company which owns the Los Angeles Kings. After Wednesday, though, the league's power seems less absolute, but they have wriggled off the hook before.

Related:
Why an empty rink may be better than a local rink (James Mirtle, From The Rink)

(GOSINOG: Acronym for Guilty of Stupidity, If Not Officially Guilty. O'Brien's case perhaps should have never gone to court, but the damage was enough.)

He's hung out the gone drinkin' sign, sir ...

Note to our users: Sager is travelling to the Ontario University Athletics' sports information directors' meeting, so posting might be light(er than usual) today.

Meantime, read Stephen Brunt's take on Jim Balsillie losing the court fight for the Phoenix Coyotes and wonder whether the NHL can get a Popemobile for Gary Bettman to use when he next visits Canada ... ponder how in the hell a labour union can support Quebecor's bid for the Montreal Canadiens when that company has locked out its employees at Montreal's biggest French-language paper ... cheer for Canada's junior men's basketball team, coached by Greg Francis of Toronto, winning a tournament in France last weekend even though Canadian hoops hostshots Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph were playing for the U.S. side (which everyone seems cool with) ... last but not least, you heard right, Brett Favre used the term "we" when talking about his potential role in the Minnesota Vikings: "They do have a great running back, a great running game. If I go there, there are no guarantees. We all know that. I went through that last year with New York. I think every player should think that he is a difference-maker. I think you have to believe that. But in that situation, understanding what is expected of you, knowing your team, knowing that as long as we can run the ball and complete passes when needed, we should be pretty good." May God have mercy on us all.

This has nothing to do with any decision handed down just now by Judge Redfield T. Baum

The dream never dies ... just the dreamer.



Now that the Phoenix Coyotes' status is still uncertain, can Dany Heatley buy them for $1, install himself as captain/coach/GM/president/owner and play himself for 60 minutes a game? Someone was asking about that on Ottawa's The Team 1200 today.

Fronts: Werek to Boston talk, Gilmour the closet Canadiens fan

Rest assured, the Kingston Frontenacs are still generating post fodder, even though it's the off-season and they haven't announced a trade or whether they have signed any draft picks beyond the first-rounder.

New England Hockey Journal has a look at whether Ethan Werek being drafted — irony alert! — by the Boston Bruins. Meantime, there's the ripple from coach Doug Gilmour telling Sun Media he would "one hundred per cent" want to work for Jim Balsillie if he brings a NHL team to Southern Ontario, right in the Toronto Maple Leafs' backyard.

It seems best to start with Werek, since it's less likely Fronts fans have seen it:

" 'He had a tough start to the year but really picked it up as things went along,' said another NHL scout, one who has followed Werek since his days with the Stouffville Spirit of the OPJHL. 'I think Doug Gilmour taking over behind the bench helped bring out the best in Ethan; he’s big, thinks the game well and has a quick release and accurate shot. He can both set up the play and finish it off, and he finishes his checks and plays with an edge.

" 'While his skating isn't the best, I wouldn't say that it's poor either. He could stand to get quicker, but he’s also showed that he can get there when he needs to.' "

The irony of Werek being a possible pick for the Bruins is that he was bound for Boston University before he opted to report to the Frontenacs.

As he has previously, Werek touched on why he didn't go to Boston U:

"Werek was picked ninth overall in the 2007 OHL Priority Selection by Kingston. At first, he spurned the OHL, determined to join legendary coach Jack Parker’s BU squad, even going the extra step to graduate from high school early. However, when there wasn’t enough room for him at BU in 2008-09 and, faced with another year of junior hockey, this time with Indiana of the USHL, Werek altered course and embraced the opportunity to play for one of the OHL's most storied franchises.

" 'It was a tough decision ... I wanted to go to BU and be a part of that great hockey tradition and outstanding academic institution. When things fell apart, and it was looking like I would have to play another year of junior hockey, it was just something that I felt would hurt my development. I give all the credit in the world to Coach (Jack) Parker and his staff; they were all extremely supportive and understood my decision, but it was one of the most difficult things I've had to do."

That does put the lie to any claim that Werek reporting was any validation for Frontenacs management (ignore the folderol about the Fronts being "one of the OHL's most storied franchises," since they are certainly in the top 20, keeping in mind the OHL has only 20 teams).

Incidentally, the article provides some material for the spin doctors in K-Town, noting "23 of the club's 40 losses were by one goal." That kind of ignores they lost 50 games when you count overtimes and shootouts. Really what 23-of-40 talk says is that this team was no good at winning tight games in the third period. Also, eight of their 18 wins were by one goal. Come to think of it, they won in overtime in Gilmour's debut, with Werek scoring the winner in the dying seconds, and beat London when Werek scored the tie-breaking goal with four seconds to play, on a crazy bounce. Thank goodness for randomness, or it might have been a 16-win season.

The hope, of course, is that the Frontenacs will be improved enough to at least treat Kingston fans to some playoff hockey at the K-Rock Pot next March (and maybe even the first week of April). Hope is tempered by being honest about the organization and not echoing the party line about Larry Mavety being an "astute hockey man" or landing the OHL All-Star game goes farther toward hosting a Memorial Cup than icing a competitive team.

(Owner Doug Springer, of course, said at the outset of last season the team's goal was "top four" in the Eastern Conference. Does this mean he won't celebrate if the Frontenacs finish anywhere from fifth to eight in the East and make the playoffs? Don't hold your breath.)

As for what Gilmour said, it was music to the ears to hear a decorated former Leafs captain say, "First and foremost I played for the Leafs ... but for hockey fans in this area it would be great. From the Leafs standpoint it would create a rivalry. I'm not here to go against the rules or start fighting with Gary Bettman. All I'm saying is that it could work. I don't see a downside." It shows he cares.

From a Frontenacs fan's perspective, though, it's just idle talk. The understanding all along, as it always is with a junior coach, is that if a NHL or AHL team comes calling, you pretty much bid him adieu and wish him good luck. It's the same as it is when a player moves up to The Show. Besides,Mark Potter noted on Kinger's radio show six months ago that pro teams would be quick to show an interest in Gilmour once he showed the barest sign of success. Meantime, he seems

It would be a hoot if Balsillie succeeds in moving a team to Southern Ontario and ends up having a couple former Leafs in the organization. It would be just like how the WHA Quebec Nordiques raided the Montreal Canadiens for players in the 1970s. A lot of dominoes have to fall for that to happen. Gilmour will be there in September ... beyond that, well uh, a man makes a contract with an eye to breaking it, not making it.

It has been 599 days since Doug Springer promised to do "whatever it takes" to bring a winner to Kingston.

(Digression: It's not clear if Gilmour necessarily was raised as a Leafs fan. Kingston was always Switzerland when it came to the Canadiens-Leafs rivalry. Geographic distance, general resentment toward the big city and a local conceit than Kingston was of a more discerning taste than other cities of similar size meant it was never really part of Leafs Nation. It had Leafs fans, Canadiens fans and lots of Boston fans, since the Bruins had a farm team there in the 1960s and there was a connection with Harry Sinden, Wayne Cashman, Don Cherry and Freddie O'Donnell having coached or played for Boston in the 1970s.

Gilmour was born in 1963, so he's too young to really remember the Leafs' last Stanley Cup, but he would have been coming of age while the Habs were winning six Cups in the '70s and the Leafs were mediocre, my how times have changed. The Whig-Standard once ran a childhood photo of him in full hockey gear, wearing a Canadiens sweater. Those colours don't run, just sayin.')

A little levity, a little Gary and little coming from MLSE

A little levity is always good with regard to the Phoenix Coyotes situation. Seeing Gary Bettman represented by Nathan Thurm, the chain-smoking lawyer character whom Martin Short played on the mid-'80s Saturday Night Live is almost as funny as the commish himselfclaiming the Coyotes "were never in jeopardy."



Meantime, and it's not as if people are unawares about this, but there is nothing-but-nothing coming out of MLSE about the possibilty of a team moving into Southern Ontario.

One would expect that to be the case, of course, and perhaps people who read the business section faithfully would have heard about the following. However, this section from a Phoenix Business Journal profile of Richard Rodier, Jim Balsillie's legal eagle, really shows how defensive MLSE is about the A-word, antitrust.

"At a 2008 sports business conference in Toronto run by then-Anaheim Ducks General Manager Brian Burke, several people in attendance recount a tense moment when Rodier posed an antitrust question to Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President Richard Peddie at the end of a panel session.

" 'Why, if I’m in the city of Toronto, can’t I watch the Ottawa Senators?' Rodier asked.

" 'I’m not going to debate antitrust law with you,' said Peddie, who did not return calls requesting comment for this story.

"Rodier defended the question last week, saying that it was legitimate. 'To ask a question that makes someone who may be operating outside the law uncomfortable is not in my view a bad thing,' he said."

That can be backed 100 per cent. No doubt a few people have wondered about an antitrust suit against the NHL at some point down the line. A court has found that Major League Baseball's infamous antitrust exemption does not apply to the sale of franchises, so speaking as a layperson, it could be a legal tempest.

Also on this topic, this site's own Andrew Bucholtz was on a conference call where former CFL commish Tom Wright talked about Balsillie's application. Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

That's about it from here. It would be remiss not to pass along something from the article on Rodier that seemed funny, since it furthered the stereotype that all Canadians know each other.

"(Rodier) then went on to the University of Toronto Law School, earning a law degree in 1984 and coming to the Canadian bar in 1986.

"Balsillie graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984 with an undergraduate degree, but Rodier said they didn’t know each other at the time."

The U of T only has 60,000 students. There's a good chance a law student and an undergrad would not be acquainted.

(Pretty please keep in mind a much lazier man was earlier to the game with the Bettman-as-Thurm comparison. Granted, this space has also likened Bettman to the Chip Diller character in National Lampoon's Animal House ("Remain calm! All is well!) and the NHL to Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)

Gary Bettman: Happiness is watching franchise bingo

Forget the Stanley Cup playoffs. With the NHL these days, it's all about atrophy.

There is not enough hours on the day to keep up with all the minutia of the Duel in the Desert over the Phoenix Coyotes, unless you are employed to cover the NHL. However, it bears noting Chris Botta at islanderspointblank.com has spelled out that Johnny Tavares' betrothed, the New York Islanders, have one, maybe two years left on Long Island before they'll have to relocate. Most of you know full well that the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning have a licence to hemorrhage money. All one can really do is try to understand why Gary Bettman is fighting like a drowning muskrat against the interest of most fans. It has less to do with creating anarchy where anyone could move any team. It's a house of cards scenario that basically parallels the financial crisis, which is really about unravelling the economic lies that have become accepted fact since the early 1980s.

There have been enough rumblings to suggest that keeping Jim Balsillie (at this point, just hearing the words "ball" or "silly" is enough to bring on fatigue) from moving a team to Southern Ontario is about preserving a market for future expansion. People pooh-poohed the idea when it was brought up the other day, but Tom Benjamin, who has more hockey geek cred (he's been on Hockey Night in Canada!) said as much earlier this week:

"Bettman's priority is clearly not about saving hockey in the desert. It is about keeping any hockey team from relocating to Southern Ontario. This is a about protecting a territory the league can sell. (And that’s the worst thing about a failed Balsillie bid. The league will expand in response to the fallout in Canada.)"
-- Tom Benjamin

Essentially, Bettman is fighting to hang on so the league can repeat what it did in the 1990s. Most of you know the NHL went into a period of expansion, from 21 to 30 teams, not long after the 1990-91 recession. It's now known as the Southern strategy.

The problem is that these markets only work - both in real economies and the NHL itself - if there's an ability to sustain it. The NHL during the 1990s succeeded for a time in convincing enough people in places such as Miami, Florida, that they needed to buy hockey tickets. Like the original Florida Panthers owner, Wayne Huizenga, told Sports Illustrated back in 1993, "We want this arena to be a happening place when the Panthers are playing, a place to see and be seen. We've got to get people here for all the wrong reasons, then turn them into hockey fans so they'll come back for the right reasons."

That worked, for a time. At a certain point, though, either there is a market for something or there isn't. It goes bust if there's an artificial market. Imposing demand on sports fans fits in with the same kind of consumption for its own sake that ran rampant in North America during the back half of the 1990s and early part of this decade. It's the same as convincing people to buy a third car, when they only need two, or a McMansion (according to Chris Turner's book Planet Simpson, the size of the average American home increased 17 per cent during the '90s). It's like extolling the virtues of (to quote a commercial that was in heavy rotation during hockey broadcasts a while back) having "fifty-two inches of glorious HD" when you can watch DVDs of your favourite shows on a four-inch high window on your laptop.

At some point, the NHL has to pay the bills. Their economic model is broken because it was short-sighted. A friend who knows about such things says this is pretty much a microcosm of the way the U.S. economy has gone since 1981.

You have probably read at some point that Gary Bettman has shepherded the NHL from being a $400-million business to a $2.2-billion one, and that's why the owners like him. The big but is this assumes as long every member franchise was healthy on its own. It assumed there was infinite amount of goodwill towards pro hockey in markets, just as there was an assumed infinite amount of cheap credit.

It's the same kind of thinking that as recently as 12 months ago, meant any number of idiots believed they, too, could be CFO for a hedge fund. As long as there were not en masse bankruptcies and no one lost arenas (which are sub-prime homes in our analogy), it was all good.

In a further irony, as Bob McCown noted on Prime Time Sports last night, there's not an idea how Phoenix could be saved. The NHL has about as many fresh ideas for keeping hockey in Phoenix as Arizona Sen. John McCain had for fixing the U.S. economy. All both could muster is, "Well, that won't work," and try to hold on to the carcass.

All it takes for one franchise to crater and the whole thing collapses. There was no fallback, no bailout, no nothing. Like Benjamin said with regard to the court-mediated tussle over the Coyotes, the longer it goes, "the bigger the league's black eye gets." The Islanders, the Coyotes, who's next, eh?

You can still block it out and watch the rest of the playoffs, which should be wrapping up sometime in June. It would be silly to use the league's idiotic business practices to justify non-interest in what happens on the ice. Be grateful for the ability to compartmentalize.

One 'skate' to drop amid the obfuscation from Balsillie and Bettman

There is more than one way to thin-slice what someone says in a court filing. As soon as the word of what Gary Bettman said in court filings hit the newswires yesterday, one knee-jerk reaction was, "Here we go. Head-fake 'em with the talk about Winnipeg and the idiots go for it." Bettman didn't necessarily say he wanted the Phoenix Coyotes to move to Winnipeg; he just hates the idea less than them moving to Southern Ontario, since it would mean giving in to Jim Balsillie.

Now that the throat has been cleared of snarky phlegm, there is a historical precedent people should think about amid the legal hockey tape holding together the remnants of the Coyotes franchise. If applied, it could represent a win-win for both Emperor Gary and BlackBerry boy. Balsillie would get a hockey team. Bettman would have so much hand that it would be coming out of his gloves!

The precedent involves a U.S. city which just lost a major pro sports team — Seattle — and a team located in Southern Ontario.

Of course, this is just one ass-talker's personal theory, not to be taken literally. It derives from:

• A desire to see a second NHL team in Southern Ontario, although its catchment area is very vague;
• Animus/grudging admiration for Gary Bettman;
• A knowledge of the legal pinholes Jim Balsillie must pass through to enter the kingdom of hoser heaven, owning a NHL team.

As some of you know, the Seattle Mariners baseball team "were created as a result of a lawsuit." (Wikipedia.) The city had a team, the Seattle Pilots, which existed for only one season, 1969, before they were bought and relocated to Milwaukee. All three levels of government sued the American League for breach of contract and eventually, the league set things right by offering them an expansion franchise to begin play in 1977.

The Toronto Blue Jays also came into being during that round of expansion, since a baseball league requires an even number of teams. For those who don't remember or find this as dry as a great-uncle's funeral, shortly before that time Labatt's had almost succeeded in purchasing the San Francisco Giants and moving them to Toronto. An 11th-hour effort by business and political leaders in San Fran, including late Mayor George Moscone, kept the Giants from moving.

The thought of three levels of government, the city of Hamilton, the province of Ontario and the government of Canada, suing the NHL might be a little far-fetched, even if Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a professed hockey nut who's not above being litigious. We're probably too docile to take that step.

All three levels of government certainly have self-interest. The city council wants to revitalize the rapidly deteriorating downtown core in the Hammer. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government, as others have already noted, would like to take back some once solidly-red ridings in the 905 area code that have gone NDP in the biggest union town in Canada. Attaching a hockey team to any big federal-provincial infrastructure project, such as the expanded light-rail system Southern Ontario is begging for, would make it an easier sell. (As an aside, you do realize that by 2025, you're going to be nostalgic for the days when gas for your car was only $1.30 a litre?)

There is a scenario which could come into play as this winds it way through the court system. The NHL, as baseball did, could turn around and offer Balsillie an expansion team. It would be a face-save and a sop to Canadian patriotism, plus it is probably inevitable that the NHL will have to put a second team in the Toronto area, since it is one of the 10 largest metropolitan areas in North America and the largest where hockey is a major sport (where it ranks in size is debatable, see the comments from Jason Cormier). Two of the larger three, New York and L.A., have more than one hockey team. Chicago also has a thriving AHL franchise.

It would allow both to get what they want. Balsillie gets a team, albeit an expansion outfit instead of the Coyotes, who are presently a good young team that's close to being a contender. He gets time to build an arena that is more accessible to fans in the Kitchener-Waterloo region and in Toronto. This addresses any concern about a team playing out of Copps Coliseum siphoning off ticket buyers from the Buffalo Sabres, who always seem to have one skate on the banana peel which is Western New York's economy:

"The Sabres are always in a very precarious financial position, given Buffalo's shrinking size and awful economy. The Sabres (company name Niagara Frontier Hockey, L.P.) depend on the roughly 15 percent of their business that comes from the Niagara Peninsula, all the way up the Golden Horseshoe to Hamilton. Never mind that after almost 40 years most of the Canadians who attend Sabres games do not root for Buffalo; the main thing is that they’re helping to fill the HSBC Arena."
— Jeff Z. Klein, The New York Times

Meantime, Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly will still have "hand," to borrow George Costanza's term, in the relationship. It reduces the possibility of Bettman having to present the Stanley Cup to one of Balsillie's employees in the near future.

Bettman, et al., certainly want to expand the NHL from 30 to 32 teams, even during a recession.

The Hollywood producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, a noted "celebrity puckhead," (From The Rink) is apparently interested in owning a team in Las Vegas (David Shoalts, globesports.com). Please also keep in mind that another fish Bettman would like to fry is to provide a tenant for the Sprint Center in Kansas City, which is operated by L.A. Kings owner Phillip Anschutz's company.

It could become a three-minus-one: The NHL adds Kansas City, Las Vegas and thethe Golden Horseshoe Hammerheads, while subtracting Phoenix. It could also be four-minus-two, if the Sabres' situation in Western New York becomes untenable if the local economy continues to crater; relocation to a more western city such as Winnipeg or Seattle could be on the table. (Klein, a Sabres fan, makes a good point that people should stand up to defend "a true hockey city" such as Buffalo, but he lays on a little thick by pointing out that many hockey people make their home there. They moved to avoid paying Canadian taxes.)

No one knows how an Arizona bankruptcy court might mind. The best we get before Tuesday is an educated guess. However, people should at least be open to the scenario where Balsillie gets his team through expansion, although this would be a few years down the road, so try not take it too literally.

A 32-team NHL with four divisions even works out in terms of scheduling. Each team plays six games vs. each divisional foe (42 games), three vs. inter-divisional opponents (24 games) and one against each inter-conference team (16 games) to make up an 82-game schedule. For argument's sake, here are possible alignments that try to maintain existing rivalries:

• Adams Division: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Tampa Bay, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton
  
  
• Patrick Division: Atlanta, Carolina, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, N.Y. Islanders, N.Y. Rangers, Washington
  
  
• Norris Division: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Kansas City
  
  
• Smythe Division: Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver, Las Vegas
  

Obviously, the NHL would probably copy the NFL and divvy up 32 teams into eight divisions of four. But the fantasy has gone this far ...

Anyway, this is not a prediction on how it might shake out, but an acknowledgement of a possible compromise. Balsillie is not going to give up. Bettman, like one of those Southern expansion teams playing the neutral zone trap back in the '90s, could just be trying to prolong the inevitable.

It's better to look at this way than to jump to conclusions about what a paid liar like Bettman says in a court filing. Sure, he might prefer the Phoenix Coyotes to move to Winnipeg instead of Southern Ontario. Taken another way, that could be on par with a man saying he'd rather be kicked in the rear end than in the groin.

Balsillie season: The NHL's game of Calvinball

Many containers of alcohol should be poured and consumed in James Mirtle's honour for unearthing NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's words on when it's time to move a team, from a February interview with Hockey Night in Canada's Jeff Marek:

"The fact is, the biggest litmus test ultimately was nobody wanted to own a team there (referring to Quebec City and Winnipeg in the mid-1990s). And when the marketplace decides that it doesn’t want to own a team there, it has no future."

It seems like something to keep in mind when the NHL is pitching bull and woo about sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf's "underfunded bid" (Jeff Blair, globesports.com) to buy the Phoenix Coyotes so Jim Balsillie can't.

You have to love the NHL's endless game of Calvinball when it comes to keeping a team from relocating to Canada. The double standard is so obvious it barely requires pointing out. Anyway, there's only so much an outside observer can add to the mix. It is hilarious the NHL wants Jerry Reinsdorf as an owner, considering that in his capacity with the Chicago White Sox he was a main culprit in scuttling a World Series and that, with the Chicago Bulls, he deep-sixed a dynasty to prove some point that only mattered to him and economics professors. But I digress.

Stephen Brunt did a honker of a chat the other day that covered a lot of bases, including putting Wayne Gretzky in the crosshairs (which Blair also did in the above-linked column):

"If the Coyotes wind up in bankruptcy and (Gretzky) indeed endorses the alternative offer for the Coyotes (from Jerry Reinsdorf or whomever), would love to know what he's been promised in terms of the teams obligations to him. Gretzky has $22.5-million hanging in the balance here, and as an unsecured creditor, would otherwise have to get in line.

Fun, fun. Five days until the big showdown in an Arizona bankruptcy court.

Related:
On when to pull the plug (From The Rink)
NHL helping cash-strapped Coyotes (cbcsports.ca, Feb. 5, 2009)

Why Leaf Fans Should Support Balsillie

The man of the moment in the NHL seems to be RIM CEO Jim Balsillie. His plans to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Southern Ontario (recent reports suggest Hamilton is the number one candidate) have been gaining momentum over the last few days and it is looking more likely than ever. As they should be most hockey fans are excited about this potential move. Taking a struggling team to a thriving hockey area. The only people who seem to be upset about the way things are panning out are, Gary Bettman, all seventeen Phoenix Coyote fans, and Toronto Maple Leaf owners MLSE.

Of course anything that takes the game away from a struggling market in the United States and moves it to what is sure to be a successful market in Canada is a bad thing for Bettman. This time however it looks like Bettman will have no alternative other than to let the deal go through.

On the other side of things MLSE has to be very disappointed about the possible competition another team in Southern Ontario would bring, but to all you Leaf fans out there don't panic. In fact for the Leafs there really is nothing better for the organization than a little bit of competition.

For years MLSE has been content with a very poor product on the ice as long as the money keeps coming through. Of course with the Leafs being such an major brand it's been a pretty easy sell, especially pre-lockout when Toronto was a consistent playoff team.

This meant that Leaf fans had to put up with five years of the John Ferguson Jr. era. Since Ferguson's firing in 2008 things are starting to look up with the hiring of Burke. Even with Burke at the helm, MLSE still cares very little about the product the Leafs are putting out on the ice, as long as they continue to rack up the cash.

A new team in the area would change that. With the threat of losing bandwagon fans (which in Toronto tends to be most of the city, just look at Raptors attendances this year vs. last year) MLSE will be forced to make sure they do everything they can to improve the team. If this new Hamilton/ Southern Ontario team makes the playoffs before the Leafs do you can be more than sure that the GTA would get behind this local team and several fans would inevitably be swayed to follow the new, more successful team.

Leaf fans wallets may also be considerably fuller if Balsillie brings a team to the Toronto area. Leaf tickets are not only very difficult to get, but also extremely expensive. For many people getting to games is impossible. Balsillie has already shown support to hockey bloggers, and his commitment to making this a fan accessible team has been outlined. He will be sure not only to offer significantly reduced ticket prices, but also make them more available to the general public. In a city with two major universities, filled with students livinig on limited budgets this would be very good news to many.

Now it is naive to think that anything would stop the Leafs from continuing to sell out every game, but MLSE wants to make sure that the Leafs continue to make revenue through paraphernalia, TV deals and sponsorship deals. If fans are leaving to go watch a more accessible team in the area, then there will undoubtedly be a major revenue loss. In order to keep the fans they have MLSE may have to change a few things up on the business side of things as well.

However inadvertently, Balsillie could force major improvements in the Leafs organization, so Leaf fans out there should welcome him with open arms into Southern Ontario.

The nearly nightly Balsillie roundup

Someday, it will seem like this was coming from a mile away.

It is notable how it seems to breaks down along old media/new media lines on the eve of the big bankruptcy court showdown over the Phoenix Coyotes. It seems like the belief in some circles that Jim Balsillie will never own a NHL team reflects a desire to be reassured that othing is going to change in the NHL, everything is status quo, their place in the grand scheme is secure. The great upheaval is not coming (feel free to draw a parallel with any suffering media industry).

Stephen Brunt noted that the last time around (with the Nashville Predators in 2007), "the NHL propaganda machine worked to portray Balsillie as a loose cannon — which a large segment of the hockey press reprinted as gospel." It's noteworthy, in that respect, that Balsillie's people curried favour with bloggers more so than traditional media (and no, we didn't get the memo).

What people need to understand is that this is a collision between, for lack of less general way to say it, new money and old money. Tech companies such as RIM are not like traditional companies. They were formed by guys who did not conform to regular practices. Pro hockey tends to be the ultimately in stuffy, hierarchical corporate conformity, a model that's hopefully going to die out in our lifetime.

Balsillie approaches things from a different perspective. He is 48 years old, but he can be, for some intents and purposes, slotted in with net geners who prize transparency, to a point. (Obviously, that wouldn't have worked with his Coyotes plan.) Conversely, when one of the NHL old boy clubbers like Red Wings president Jim Devellano talks about how the NHL likes to do things on a "quiet basis," he's saying that costumers have no right to transparency, that they'll get whatever the powers-that-be decide is best for them. That is no way to run anything in the 21st century.

That's how you end up with the NHL that wants to fight a guy who is willing and able to increase their equity, all on the basis of some stupid, broken notion of expanding the American market.

It is funny as hell how Gary Bettman could stand there and say someone is trying to break the rules, when, as Brunt pointed out, Balsillie own the Pittsburgh Penguins if the league hadn't moved the net and tried to bind him to owning a franchise which has gone broke several times.

A lot hinges on what the court finds. A bankruptcy judge whom the Arizona Republic noted one possible ruling is that, a "non-debtor party (the league) shouldn't have the right to prevent creditors from realizing on that value." It seems clear as mud.

There are a million and one elements to this (does anyone even care who won the playoff games last night? Both were 3-2 overtime games). The CBC, whose playoff ratings have been hit-and-miss with no Eastern Canada team still alive, would obviously love it. Bell GlobeMedia (is The Globe covering anything else?) would love having the Ontario Coyotes or Golden Horseshoe Hammerheads to enhance the value of TSN2.

Whatever happens, happens. The NHL might find a way to keep Balsillie at bay, but that doesn't make it right.

Anyway, here's a selection of stuff from around the web:

Allan Maki, globesports.com: "The commissioner's job is to make the game popular and profitable. Right now, he can barely keep it stable and that can only mean the pressure from the inside may soon be as great as the pressure from the outside.

"You think NHL owners are eager for protracted litigation against moneybags Balsillie? You think the owners would prefer to lose bundles of cash funding a team in a questionable locale rather than have one managed by a rich owner in a solid market?

Kukla's Korner: "The NHL had been propping up the team financially and looking for a new owner who would keep the team in Phoenix. They had been trying to do this quietly, but the media got wind of it. It looked like the NHL had found their owner to keep the team in Phoenix. Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, was willing to buy the team at a cheap rate.

This idea didn’t go over very well for current owner Jerry Moyes. Why should he have to sell the team for a low price? He had a back-up plan. He had been negotiating with Jim Balsillie ... These negotiations had been ongoing - but unknown to the NHL."

Steve Simmons, Sun Media: "If Balsillie’s bid is accepted, the league will get its money back. If Balsillie's bid is rejected, the league will still be out $35 million. So how, if you’re Bettman, do you explain to your fellow owners that you are acting in their best interest in turning down repayment of league money in an economy where that is next to impossible?

"A high-end insolvency lawyer, who has been involved in other NHL transactions in the past, believes that Balsillie won’t be turned down by the bankruptcy court. He believes that a great deal of work went into structuring the offer, making certain that few loopholes were left unexplored and that the first responsibility of the court is to look after the creditors and not worry about franchise movement in the NHL."

The Globe & Mail: "Little Canada was marginal to the future that Mr. Bettman foresaw for the NHL (in the 1990s). Here, though, is big Canada, the Canada of high technology, globally aware, wealthy enough to rescue the financially distressed. And Mr. Bettman is putting up no end of roadblocks.

"His battle is not in the best interests of the game. There is no business case for it. The Phoenix franchise is ownerless (the NHL has been paying its bills), its revenues are in decline, and the marketplace is tough. Southern Ontario has a staggering appetite for hockey. It can't lose. But this seems personal with Mr. Bettman. This is a classic case of a chief executive officer who has been in the job too long; he clings to a failed strategy and puts personal vendettas ahead of the organizational good."

Anaheim Ducks left wing Teemu Selanne, via Jeff Blair: "Canada deserves more teams. It's sad that franchise (the Coyotes) has to move again. (But) there's always a market for one more team (in Canada)."

The start of Balsillie season

Obviously, the rooting interest is that BlackBerry boy, Jim Balsillie, has found a way to split the defence pair of MLSE and Gary Bettman.

Others have already pointed out that in a Chapter 11 proceeding, the court typically makes its ruling based on what's best for the creditor(s). In other words, it would go beyond the NHL's the court says what's best is for the Phoenix Coyotes to be sold to this group which will only buy on the condition it can relocate the team. You can imagine the legal wheels spinning.

The chain of events, you know about: Balsillie sounded off about buying the Coyotes and assuming the franchise's debt as long as he can move it into Southern Ontario. Within 25 minutes of Balsillie putting out his press release, a second one went out saying the Coyotes have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, which "include(s) a proposed sale of the franchise to PSE Sports & Entertainment, LP, a Delaware limited partnership ... which would move the franchise to southern Ontario, Canada."

Sure, it would have be a frosty Friday in July before MLSE would give up its turf in Toronto, but that bridge won't have to be crossed for a while. There might be very little that Bettman or the Leafs could do to stop it. A settlement with some compensation for territorial rights seems fairly plausible.

Puck Daddy believes it will happen:

"So the franchise that relocated from Winnipeg in 1996 appears on the brink of moving back to Canada. The near-fanatic obsession of the Canadian media with the failure of this franchise — fueled by a desire to 'get one back' from the States, or to see Wayne Gretzky coaching a Canadian team, or both — appears to have been warranted."

Here's what Balsillie said:

"The current team ownership asked that I table an offer to purchase the Coyotes and significant discussions resulted in an offer that is in the best interests of the franchise, the NHL, and the great hockey fans of Canada and Southern Ontario.

"... I am excited to move closer to bringing an NHL franchise to what I believe is one of the best un-served hockey markets in the world, Southern Ontario. A market with devoted hockey fans, a rich hockey history, a growing and diversified economy and a population of more than 7 million people." — via press release

It can be conceded that people are probably getting Balsillie fatigue at this point and don't want to hear about it until he either does succeed in repatriating a franchise from the U.S. Sunbelt or gives up. Your guess is as good as any as to which is more likely.

Chicago Bulls/White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is also rumoured be kicking the tires with the Coyotes. The players' association has a vested interest in seeing a second team put in Southern Ontario. It wouldn't hurt the Toronto Maple Leafs one bit. The competition would be good for both sides.

Who knows if Jim Balsillie will succeed, but you have to admire his chutzpah. The NHL might not like the way he carries himself, but money-wise he's good for it as far as anyone knows, unlike some of the folks the NHL has welcomed into the owners' ranks. He's wanted a NHL team he can move to Southern Ontario (did you notice he never said he was interesting in buying the Montreal Canadiens?)

According to blogTO, more than 2,000 people signed up at makeitseven.ca within 100 minutes of its launch.

The NHL is going to make this very hard for Balsillie and pull out every stop. Keep that in mind.

Related:
Balsillie Makes Offer To Purchase Phoenix Coyotes (Canada NewsWire)

Zen Dayley: Mr. Balsillie, would you like to buy a ballclub?

Talk about Stockholm Syndroming yourself.

The report this morning from the estimable Bob Elliott that Rogers Communications could sell the Toronto Blue Jays ought to raise fear, not squeals of joy.

" 'One and one might add up to 11 here, but you have to admit if you put everything together, the Toronto club looks to me like a team getting ready to be sold,' a former Blue Jays employee said.

"... 'It's like the different machinations we went through when Interbrew owned us,' another former employee said. 'Our spending was frozen, there were cutbacks and layoffs.' "

Please bear in mind that Elliott, going by the writing, leans a lot on scouts who got the ax when Rogers operated on the principle of scorched earth when it first owned the team in 2000, '01 and '02. Regardless, two words to stop any Jays fan for jumping for joy: Montreal Expos.

Losing Charles Bronfman as owner was an early nail in the Expos' coffin. The ownership was never stable again. Having Rogers' corporate muscle behind the Blue Jays, for good or ill, does ensure that they'll be a nice, mid-level team coping with its own limitations in the harsh face of being in the AL East with three superpowers, one with bucks, one with brains and one with both. (It's tolerable, most of the time. Anyone who needs her/his team to win in order to enjoy baseball and doesn't get the joke of having 8379 as your pin number on your bank card can go find another sport.)

This is just spitballing, but feel free to wonder what Rogers is getting out of owning the Jays at this point. Their corporate profile has grown by leaps and bounds since it bought the Jays in 2000. They're probably going to be identified with the team no matter what for some time into the future; it's getting to the point of diminishing returns, familiarity breeding contempt and such.

It might also be time to find bigger, four-down football-playing fish to fry. The Telecom That Ted Built is also going to sink quite a lot into its 24-hour news channel (as an aside, that should be a hoot -- CityTV can barely fill one hour).

There are people who, at the first sign of trouble, will predict that baseball isn't long for Toronto. A few truths here is that Canadians do not spend money on sports like Americans. The Jays have the entire country to themselves, but the everyone-hates-Toronto mindset tends to limit their appeal among casual fans outside the centre of the universe, unless they're deep into the post-season.

It's hard to imagine a day when there wouldn't be any Toronto Blue Jays. The reality is there are no good markets for expansion or relocation, so until such time as MLB allows three or four owners to have teams in New York City or Los Angeles, they're nothing to worry about -- except for the Jays being a 66-win team instead an 86-win team.

Cunning, that Bunning

Hilarious: Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, the U.S. Senator, helped kill the auto bailout and now he's showing up in Michigan to sign autographs Sunday. The World of Isaac has more.

Damn, the Jays

• The Tao is wondering why there's been little free-agent buzz about Adam Dunn (all he does is hit home runs) Maybe J.P. Ricciardi really was on to something with "you know he doesn't like baseball" phillipic last season.
• C'est la vie for Seattle sports fans: A profile on Travis Snider points out the Mariners passed on both him another player from the Evergreen State, Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, in the 2006 draft. Snider is also in an "elite conditioning program" during this off-season, for anyone who's afraid about his weight.

Related:
Blue Jays for sale? Signs point to the possibility (Bob Elliott, Sun Media)

How about the Niagara Falls Sabres?

It's a tough time to be a Buffalo sports fan. The day after the beloved Bills sold out (figuratively, anyway) by playing in Toronto a report has surfaced to suggest that the Sabers may be up for sale and that Jim Balsillie is front and centre to buy the team.

The key word there being centre, if you follow.

Half the Sabres' season-ticket base lives in Niagara anyway, right? Niagara Falls is 79 miles from the ACC in case you were wondering.

If you are really stuck on Hamilton (which would be appropriate since downtown Hamilton looks pretty much the same as downtown Buffalo), it's easier to pay off one team than two.

Snark break ...

As you were down at the free clinic, getting shots for Nerd Flu...

A strip club is opening in Seattle just 400 feet away from Safeco Field, the Mariners' stadium. The cab drivers in Seattle must be ticked -- now a trip to the rippers is walking distance for the ballplayers.

Former Nashville Predators owner Boots Del Biaggio, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's buddy, was slapped with federal charges in the U.S. on the same day Sean Avery was on the carpet in New York City for "conduct detrimental to hockey." That's irony on a base level.

If Del Biaggio ends up in white-collar resort prison, please don't refer his spouse, Kristen, as "sloppy seconds." You wouldn't like Gary Bettman when he's angry!

(How about, as Kurtenblog noted, what about Avery being the front-page story on NHL.com, using a to drive traffic? Hypocritical, much?)

"Unlike before the internet when the only publication professional sports clubs controlled was the game program (unless they owned a newspaper writer or two), teams today have a powerful and wide-reaching outlet — their website — that they can dress up as an objective journalism operation, which can be subsequently employed to boost revenue.

"In a somewhat related story, it's interesting that despite the NHL deeming Sean Avery's infamous remarks on Tuesday in Calgary "detrimental to the league and the game of hockey," the league's website - which the NHL is relying on to create buckets of cash in the near future — seems to be taking full advantage of the publicity that the incident has created."

The San Francisco Giants gave Edgar Renteria a two-year contract for $18.5 million yesterday. They had to waive their age requirement for a starting middle infielder — Renteria only turned thirty-three last summer.

More great headlines that cannot be written: "Another J.P. to boo at Rogers Centre."

From Demetri Martin: "I think statues are wonderful. They show what great people would look like if pigeons shit all over them."

Former Saskatchewan Roughriders QB Steve Sarkisian might be the new coach of the Washington Huskies. Washington was 0-11 this season, so wouldn't a former Ottawa Rough Riders QB be better equipped to take over that team?

This has nothing to do with sports, but it might be the all-time greatest Kids In The Hall sketch:



This post is worth nothing, but this is worth noting:

• Former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Quincy Carter's new team is, wait for it, the Rio Grande Valley Dorados.
• Minor League Ball has a look at the Blue Jays farm system, good reading for everyone who thinks J.P. Ricciardi should just be out signing some free agents, any free agents.
• Kurtenblog has a how-to for the Teddy Bear Toss event that many junior hockey teams hold. Alas, the Ottawa 67's already had theirs, while Kingston Frontenacs fans should be throwing lumps of coal.
  
  This actually happened ... a group of us, which included a couple people who had never been to a hockey game, had Halifax Mooseheads tickets. We showed up about five minutes into the first period, not knowing the Teddy Bear Toss was on, and entered the concourse at the Metro Centre right at the moment the Mooseheads scored. As the teddy bears rained down, we had to assure one person that this was not a regular thing.
• This one's for faithful commenter, OttawaFan: An update on what CFL legend Hal Patterson, now 77,as been up to lately.

Snark break...

Roberto Luongo was injured in the Canucks' game today. I never saw an entire team get helped off the ice before!

More great ledes that cannot be written: "It was classic Vince Carter and classic Sam Mitchell last night."

The New Jersey Nets would win the NBA championship if Carter could face the Raptors 82 times a season. All you need to know is that Carter is the worst kind of person for claiming these games against the Raptors don't matter -- it was five years ago -- and then acting like he won the Olympic gold medal and NBA title on the same day when his team beats the Raptors.

Honestly, Raptors fans have moved on, or would have, if the Raptors could hold an 18-point lead or find a way not have Jose Calderon guarding Vince Carter in the endgame. They blew 18-point lead, couldn't deny Carter the ball twice on sideline out-of-bounds plays at the end of a quarter, that falls on the coaching. They also ran a last-second play for Jamario Moon instead of Chris Bosh, which seems, well, odd. RaptorsTalk is already speculating that Dec. 17 is the "over/under" on Sam Mitchell's ouster.

You have to love this bit of arrogance from NHL second-in-command Bill Daly: "God bless the Canadians. The fact that they love hockey so much is great for us, and great for our business." Our business? Which country's fans are keeping this league alive ... just wait until Jim Balsillie gets his hooks into the Nashville Predators.

Pro Football Talk is up in arms over a video that shows a NFL executive celebrating after Brett Favre's Jets beat the Patriots in overtime. The NFL openly rooting for Favre? Never.



(No word of a lie, I was watching this episode with a family member who does not follow the NFL, doesn't know Brett Favre now plays for the Jets. Even he laughed.

Snark break ...

As you were getting ready for the big derby between the Manchester I Don't Give a Craps and the London Not A Real Sports.*

David Shoalts is reporting that the NHL would give Jim Balsillie an expansion team in Toronto. Richard Peddie is quoted the Leafs board would do what's best for hockey, which raises the question of which tropical island they all plan to move to.

(If the team can be called the Toronto Toros, even better.)

You know how guys who work in construction get the winter months off? It's looking like that will be the case for Barry Melrose (you're surprised, why?).

A fan in full Vikings regalia congratulating Randy Moss for a scoring a touchdown for the New England Patriots ... it makes Brad Childress' coaching seem almost tolerable.

More great headlines that can never be written: "Anaheim Dick takes on Toronto."

One benefit to the National League refusing to play by modern baseball rules ... getting a kick from reading that Padres ace Jake Peavy, who is going to be traded, doesn't want to switch leagues because "he is a pretty good hitter, and he views that as an advantage."

Peavy's career average is .243. Not batting average -- slugging average. Leave the hitting to the professionals, Jake.

Mike Singletary, the newly installed 49ers coach, will probably be asking LensCrafters to make him a set of blinders after he sees J.T. Sullivan's efforts.



Last but not least, Minka Kelly has the sickly taint of the Jeter.

(For the future of humanity, Ms. Kelly ... as one of North America's sexiest southpaws, you should be dating David Price. Two left-handed parents have a 4-in-10 chance of southpaw offspring.)

Twenty people died for this joke ... and it's not even that good. A man writes a letter to Health Canada, "A while ago, the Stanley Cup came to my town and I kissed it ... I just want to know if this means there's any chance I could get listeriosis?" ... "No, the Cup has not come in contact with any Maple Leaf products since 1967."

You're all sick, you know that?

This post is worth nothing, this is worth noting:

• Our man at the Merc, Greg Layson, is reporting he has it on "very good authority" that Mike Morencie is out as head football coach of the Windsor Lancers. Whether it is university football or major junior hockey, it's about the wins and losses — well, except with the Kingston Frontenacs.