It’s 11AM in Southern Ontario, where hockey fans and Hamiltonians are eagerly anticipating the outcome of the NHL vs. Jerry Moyes in a bankruptcy court down in sunny Arizona. Of course, it’s only 8AM on the battlefield, and so we will have to keep our breath held for just a little longer. Will the NHL thwart yet another attempt by Jim Balsillie to return hockey to its rightful home? Some feel, and with good reason, that if the NHL is victorious this will be Balsillie’s last foray into the National Hockey League. Or will the Moyes-Balsillie camp live to see another day?
I’ve weighed in on several issues including the future of Gary Bettman in the NHL should he win this case. Once more, Bettman feels that the Balsillie bid was a personal attack on him. A lack of “respect for the rules” he says, but what are rules, when they can be altered or changed at the discretion of the National Hockey League. We have heard countless falsehoods from the NHL, including one of the dirtiest tricks (I think) the NHL has pulled on us yet. The NHL claimed that they were favouring moving the Coyotes back to Winnipeg, and that they wanted Southern Ontario to have an expansion team in a few years – RIGHT! Playing on the sympathies of the twelve year heartache in Winterpeg. The interesting thing about this statement (lie) is that Bettman had said earlier this year that Winnipeg and Quebec City were failed markets because no one wanted to own a team there. What’s changed?
Also, and only a couple months ago, Bettman told a local radio show that Hamilton and Southern Ontario weren’t fit for the NHL because no one had been studying the market, and we can’t give Ontario another team based on “probability.” This latest PR stunt was obviously an attempt to put the fire out on the anger and hatred Canadians are beginning to feel for both Bettman and the National Hockey League. But, I’m sure that if the League wins today, then we will get squat. This latest carrot being tossed to us is surely a plastic one.
From lying to backtracking and name calling, the League has shown us an ugly and desperate side over the last two weeks. Another hotly debated non-issue is the League playing white knight to the Leafs territorial rights. It is my understanding (though I could be wrong) that the Leafs never formally commented on this non-issue. They were being tightlipped for good reason. It is my opinion that the Hamilton franchise could only help them. The Leafs would not lose season ticket holders, in fact they likely wouldn’t even lose waitlisted fans even if said fans successfully acquired Hamilton tickets. Why? Because the Leafs are still the Leafs and fans associate history and original six-ed-ness with prestige. Sure, Hamilton had a team in the twenties, but it’s really not the same thing.
Also the Leafs only make new revenue through non-ticket ventures in avenues like media and merchandise. The Leafs and Coyotes would obviously have to come to some sort of compromise with CBC and TSN, which means fewer Leafs games on basic cable. Maybe this seems like a bad thing, but for Maple Leaf Sports, the owner of LeafsTV, a channel already showing twelve regular season Leafs games exclusively, will suddenly be televising additional games on their terms and maximizing profit. This also means more true blue fans will have to purchase the Leafs TV package if they haven’t done so already. Plus, nothing promotes a hike in merchandise sales like a little competition and provincial rivalry.
I am not denying the disaster that will ensue in Buffalo as a result of this team, and neither is the Sabres organization, they have been just as vocal as the league in smearing the Balsillie camp. Of course the reason the Sabres are in danger is because a majority of their season seats are owned by hockey starved SOUTHERN ONTARIANS! Sure, they will lose much of the Golden Horseshoe, but only if the Coyotes tickets prove to be more cost effective. The Sabres tickets don’t break the bank, and likely the Coyotes will be valued higher than Buffalo, but slightly lower than Toronto.
And speaking of territorial rights, who was there to defend the Rangers territory when the Islanders moved in, and again when the Devils moved in? How can the Rangers function with two teams each twenty minutes from them? Seems Bettman and the League are either (once again) lying to us about our own market, or somehow trying to tell us that New Yorkers are better hockey fans than us? I think I hear the sound of Canadian blood boiling!
If Bettman and the League win today, then they will be facing serious problems down the road. Hockey is, for the most part, an unmarketable commodity. People either want it or they don’t. Phoenix has proven that all but a weak few do not want to see hockey in the desert. A new owner that has to keep the team in AZ will not do any better than the last. Should this go down, the League will be stuck with Phoenix. If they try to move the team a couple years down the road as the debt accumulates (the 2009-10 season projects a $45M loss in Glendale), then no one will stand for it after the major blemish that the Moyes battle will be on the face of the NHL. Surely, Bettman will be removed from his position, and neither Canadians nor Arizonians will ever forgive the NHL.
Make no mistake, fellow Southern Ontarians, the League has no intention to act in our best interests. Our only savior is Jim Balsillie. Our thoughts, hopes, and wishes are with him and Jerry Moyes today. If everything goes well today, then let us pray that the NHL governors will look kindly on us and write a new page in the ongoing history of hockey by bringing the game back to Hamilton.
