Calling All Owners - Except for Anyone Called Jim

I don't know if I have all my facts straight when it comes to hockey, but I see where some billionaire named Jim Balsillie wants to buy an NHL team and move it to Hamilton, Ontario. He has tried to buy a number of teams, including ones in Pittsburgh, Nashville, and, I believe, Atlanta. And in case you have been sniffing a little too much Round-up these days, you will be aware of his protracted fight with the NHL over the team in Phoenix.

With the exception of Pittsburgh, the Phoenix option has Balsillie rescuing a hockey team from a non-traditional hockey city, and bringing it back to Canada, where it belongs.

To summarize: We have a dedicated hockey owner, with deep pockets, wanting to bring a team back into Canada. Is there anything wrong with this picture? Your loyal scribe (that would be me) doesn't think so, but apparently others do. Commissioner Bettman is against it, and so are many of the NHL owners. I can understand teams in Toronto and Buffalo having issues with another team drawing from their fan base. Other than that, what gives?

In a day when virtually many professional hockey teams are losing money, mostly through obscene salaries to upper-echelon players, we finally have a responsible, hockey-mad owner in the wings. Not only that, he has the will and the heart to carry it through.

I'm still smarting, in a dumb sort of way, when I think of Quebec City and Winnipeg losing their teams to Denver and Phoenix, respectively. With the robust commitment of fans at the CHL and AHL level in both places, I have no doubt both cities could still support an NHL team. The same could be said about Saskatoon (Regina already has the Roughriders), and possibly a team in Halifax.

This is not the right time to jump on the NHL-in-Canada only, but it does have some merit. In terms of North America, it is still primarily a Canadian game, with the upper continental USA arguably as hockey-crazy as us. What the NHL was thinking when they granted franchises to hockey hotbeds (not) in Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Phoenix, I have no idea. It might have been for the money, but, ironically, each one of those franchises, plus other ones, are in deep financial trouble.

For instance, Tampa's two owners are fighting and want to buy each other out; one of Nashville's owners has run afoul of the law over illegal money – and he's heading to jail as I write this; and the league is now talking of taking over the troubled Phoenix team, unless Balsillie can gets his hands on the franchise first. And these are only the ones we know about.

In the face of all the nonsense that Mr. Balsillie has gone through, it is a wonder that he persists in his quest for a team. Others like myself would have quit years ago. To be sure, he has more money and pluck than yours truly – two qualities that make him a potentially great owner. On that merit alone, he should be given a team somewhere.

Hamilton Tiger-cats have re-invented themselves as a bona fide football team in the CFL, so it only seems fitting that they get an NHL team, too. They could even still be called the Coyotes, though I think the Hamilton Badgers would sound right. "Coyotes" just seems so lame. For that matter, the Tampa Bay Lightning could quite easily become the Saskatoon Cyclones (Lightning and Cyclones are related to weather), and Halifax could become the Buccaneers (on the water, stealing treasured victories – get it?). You can do your own name-calling, er, name-making with Winnipeg and Quebec City.

But back to Mr. Balsillie. He has made his millions through his MRI success. Good on him; and now he wants to put that money back into something very Canadian. If for no other reason, it would give the fans of the falling Leaves and the rusty Swords an option to watch some real hockey for a change.

Or, with apologies to Glen Campbell: "Buy the team I get from Phoenix, and they'll be playing..."