THE PHOENIX COYOTES' DEBACLE- THE NHL`S EMBARRASSMENT

The Phoenix Coyotes' debacle has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. Jim Balsillie negotiates directly with the owner of the Coyotes to purchase and move the bankrupt team to Hamilton. Gary Bettman gets his nose out of joint because he feels that Balsillie is attempting to usurp his authority. They proceed through the legal system for a resolution and when things start to go bad for the NHL, they put forward their own proposal to purchase the team (a clear conflict of interest in my opinion). To make matters worse, the judge's decision is essentially a non-decision......although he decided that Balsillie has to follow proper procedure to acquire and move the franchise, he rejects both proposals. Now, the Coyotes continue to hang by a thread financially, coach Wayne Gretzky is unceremoniously forced out of his job, fan support has dwindled to nothing and the creditors still have no compensation.

This has become a battle of egos between Bettman and Balsillie. Meanwhile, the franchise sits on the edge of the abyss with no sign of a legitimate resolution. It is clear that Phoenix cannot and will not support the Coyotes, and yet the NHL continues to throw good money after bad by propping up this crippled organization. Who in their right mind will be willing to buy the team and keep it in Phoenix, with the prospect of losing millions of dollars every year? And since Bettman seems to have an aversion to moving teams to Canada, he looks to Las Vegas and Kansas City as possible locations. Moving the team to another non-hockey city is not the answer, it will merely relocate the problem, not eliminate it. Bettman argues that if Hamilton wants a team, they should apply for an expansion franchise and that his responsibility is to preserve the existing teams. If that is true, where was he when Quebec and Winnipeg were allowed to move to U.S. cities? I don't recall him offering to purchase the franchises and keep them in Canada. He made little attempt to help these teams remain in their cities and to negotiate with the local governments to build new, viable arenas. It appears that there is a double standard here, and his real objective seems to be to protect his Southern U.S. expansion scheme at all costs. Southern expansion has been a disaster, yet he refuses to face reality and accept the blame for a failed strategy.

Jim Balsillie has made some mistakes in his approach. Yes, Gary Bettman made it clear that he was never going to give his approval to the move. However, Balsillie fed the fire of conflict with the league by refusing to negotiate with the NHL, and he ignored the league's legal corporate authority to control the ownership and location of its franchises. That being said, the NHL needs passionate hockey fans with deep pockets like Balsillie to operate the franchises. And Hamilton is a perfect place for a team, located in "hockey-mad" Southern Ontario- there are more hockey fans there than in the entire Southern U.S.! (and NHL, give your head a shake, a team in Hamilton will not hurt the Toronto Maple Leafs- it will create an exciting and profitable rivalry!) Gary Bettman has to either swallow his pride and accept responsibility for his mistakes and open the door to Canadian cities and to owners like Balsillie, or the Board of Governors need to take a close look at his leadership. The greed for expansion dollars is driving the Governors, but they need to start doing what is best for the long-term survival of the league.

It's time for a change of philosophy and a change of leadership. Or the NHL will continue to struggle in many U.S. cities, causing further embarrassment to the league. Canadian fans have long felt alienated by the league; a very dangerous situation as it is the Canadian fan who will ensure the long term financial survival of the league and of hockey as a legitimate professional sport.