The stage is set. Exactly three weeks before the 2009-2010 NHL campaign is set to kick off, a potentially historic event could be underway. Judge Redfield T. Baum, the power that is presiding over the endless saga that began earlier this May when Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has validated Jim Balsillie, the CEO of Research In Motion to participate in the September 10th auction for the team. This means that Balsillie's bid of $212.5 million, thus far the highest, will be put forward to buy the team. Considering that Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of baseball's Chicago White Sox, is the next highest bidder with an amount of $148 million, it appears as if the Phoenix Coyotes are headed to Hamilton, right?
Not so fast.
Not so fast.
Last week, the NHL board of governors rejected Balsillie's application for ownership, as they are adamant on keeping the team in the Jobing.com Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, and are willing to scavenge through a laundry list of buyers to do so. The problem is, Bettman and his group of cronies have not really stated as to why they don't want Balsillie as an owner in the NHL. Thus far, the Blackberry boss' plan to move the team to Hamilton has been rather solid. He has the financial backing, and the obvious fan and community commitment, as Balisillie has been given exclusive rights to Copps Coliseum in Hamilton until November. Now that Balsillie has been given the opportunity to bid, the only thing in his way is a blockade of angsty board members, who are really going to have to scramble for legit reasons to prevent him from moving the team to Hamilton.
If Bettman conjures up a way to keep the flailing Coyotes in Phoenix, it is going to come off as yet another move to further the Americanization of the league that he has been hell bent on doing since he became Commissioner in 1993. In that time frame, two Canadian NHL franchises have moved south of the 49th parallel. One was the Quebec Nordiques, who became the Colorado Avalanche, and they have obviously done well. The other was the Winnipeg Jets who are now a struggling Phoenix club on the verge of being bounced out of town, and for good reason. The Phoenix Coyotes, for a lack of a better word, suck. In 12 seasons, the Coyotes have never won a division title, and have made the playoffs in five, last in 2002, and have never advanced beyond the first round. You could argue that there are worse clubs out there by saying "Hey, the Lightning have only made the playoffs five times in 16 seasons!", but a Stanley Cup Banner in the St. Pete Times Forum tells you they have had more productivity.
So why have the Coyotes been so woe-begotten, when their predecessors, the Jets, were quite a respectable club? Being three-time WHA Champions and having a plethora of NHL postseason appearances, it was certainly not performance that felled the Jets. The answer is simple. No one gives a fuck about hockey in Phoenix. Since 2001, Phoenix's attendance has averaged out to being ranked 26th in the league. Sure, there are the diehards that have risen up to protest a potential move, but that's all they are. Diehards. Winnipeg had a strong core, but being relatively small at the time of the move to Phoenix, the city of Winnipeg just couldn't keep up with the demands of a growing league. In Phoenix, sports' fans have better things to care about. Even before 2001, when the Diamondbacks won a World Series, no one was crazy about the Coyotes, and back then, out of the four major sports, the Coyotes were the best team statistically. Both the Diamondbacks and Suns were having off-and-on years and the Cardinals were just all around terrible. Yet like in every other American city, hockey was at the bottom of the priority list as far as sports was concerned. With Arizona being in what the average Canadian would call a state of constant summer, the Coyotes have struggled even more. No one wants to go watch hockey when its always hot out. Now, the issues for the Coyotes have grown. Since the arrival of Steve Nash, the Phoenix Suns have become an NBA Powerhouse, and the Arizona Cardinals were 35 seconds away from a Super Bowl victory this past February, while the Coyotes continue to dwindle away in mediocrity.
So I think the answer is simple. Move the team to back to Canada, where the team will be cared about, and money will be as big of an issue as what to name the team. Hamilton is rabid for NHL hockey, I believe that much is obvious from attending an Bulldogs' game. With a huge market and more buying power, a Hamilton team would be able to attract star players in free agency to supplement top draft picks should they have seasons as dreadful as Phoenix has been having. This will then build Hamilton into a strong team, something Phoenix has no hope of doing. Since becoming the Coyotes in 1996, the franchise has done absolutely nothing as far as drafting goes. The only noteworthy player they picked up was Daniel Briere in 1996, and he is obviously not playing for Phoenix. Meanwhile, Winnipeg is responsible for such players as Dale Hawerchuk, Teemu Selanne, Stu Barnes, Keith Tkachuk, Nikolai Khabibulin, Kris Draper, and Shane Doan, who still remains with the team for reasons beyond me.
So, the choice is simple. Either the NHL comes around and lets something that is financially and strategically smarter for all parties involved and lets Balsillie move the team to Hamilton. Or, they can stay in Phoenix, and Bettman can sleep better at night knowing that America continues to apply a chokehold on a league they had virtually no part in creating. Oh well, at least in 20 years, we can watch a 53-year-old Shane Doan lead a group of promising young Coyotes into the year with hope that that will be the year things finally turn around.
