It's over. Jim Balsillie is 0-3 in attempting to relocate failing NHL franchises to the land that loves hockey. Pittsburgh, Nashville, Phoenix. Don Quixote gave up his quest to move the fiscally hapless Coyotes to Steeltown yesterday, when a U.S. judge - a U.S. judge, a U.S.-headquartered league, 80% of the franchises are America, are you getting the picture? - rejected Balsillie's bid. And, to be fair, a bid by the NHL itself, although His Honour encouraged the league to come back soon with a better bid. Balsillie he told to go ice fishing on Ellesmere Island and not darken his courtroom again.
Reading the Star's Damien Cox on this today, I couldn't help thinking of a Godfather scene where someone is patiently explaining that "It's just business."
True enough, as Damien explains:
"Having 24 U.S. owners in a 30-team league means very few will ever see the benefits of another team in Canada even if it means taking a shot in a U.S. city that has previously failed to support an NHL club...
"The league's philosophical stance against allowing U.S. teams to move north was established decades ago...
"This, you should understand, isn't anti-Canadian, really. It's more a consistent expression by American businessmen that more Canadian teams don't enhance their business.
"You'll never convince an owner in L.A. or Dallas or New York that adding a team in a small Canadian market – and that's all we have left – will put more people in his building or more money in his pocket."
Will we ever get a seventh Canadian team? If greed prevails, possibly:
"Now expansion, that's a different deal, and given that NHL owners have a pretty good idea that they could add a team in southern Ontario and make a cool $400 million or more out of the deal, it has a small chance somewhere in the future."
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