Be careful what you wish for

For the past while I have held off posting anything about the soap opera that has been going on between the NHL and the Jim Balsille take over bid for the Phoenix Coyotes.  I admit, it was mostly because I had a hard time wrapping my head around the entire issue.  When I first heard of the Balsillie plot, I was happy because I thought the NHL was being foolish in letting the Coyotes suck millions of dollars out of league quicker than I down a case of beer on a Saturday evening.  But I was wrong. 

As it stands, it looks like that the drama in the desert may soon be coming to an end.  The judge hearing the case has decided that if he rules in favour of Mr. Blackberry, er I mean Balsillie, the NHL can charge him a relocation fee.  Today, on his ‘Make it Seven’ website, Jim has claimed ‘he is one step closer’ to  bringing the team to Hamilton.  That my friends would be very bad for the NHL.  Very bad indeed.

I am not saying that Hamilton does not deserve a NHL team.  There are probably 4 or 5 cities in this country that ‘deserve’ a team.  That is not the issue.  Nor is the fact that the NHL has been dumping millions into the Coyotes to keep them afloat and after ten years in the desert it seems that the people of Phoenix could care less if the team stayed or went the issue.  The real issue is whether a sports league can determine who can own one of their franchises and where that franchise must operate and Jim Balsillie is hijacking the entire process. 

A few years ago Balsillie tried to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and when the league told him he could not move the team he backed out leaving Mario Lemieux looking for a new dance partner (I am pretty sure that after back-to-back Stanley Cup appearances, the people of Pittsburgh are quite happy that the NHL told Jimmie to go fly a kite).  A year later, he tried the same with the Nashville Predators and got the same result.  This time, he got the Coyotes to claim bankruptcy, which they should not have been allowed to do as the owner had signed off control of the franchise to the NHL back in December, and then made an outrageous bid for the team in which no judge looking out for the well being of creditors can ignore.  It was a dirty move.  

If the judge decides in Balsillie’s favour, fans of NHL teams should be very alarmed.  What the ruling basically will say is that a potential owner of a NHL team can decide that they will move the team if they gain control to any market they choose.  In terms of franchise rights, there are no corporations that allow that to occur.  A franchises territory is protected.  If a person was to buy a bankrupt Kwickee Mart, they can not move that franchise to a location near another Kwickee Mart that is doing good business.  The successful franchise has their location and territory protected.  But that is what will happen if the Balsillie bid is allowed to go through by the judge.  Essentially a potential NHL owner can make a bid to buy a team up for sale, not tell the NHL that he plans to move the team to, lets say Montreal, and go ahead and do so when he gains control of the franchise.

To most Canadian hockey fans, the above scenario of two teams in Montreal sounds delightful.  Some would say lets have 2 teams in Montreal, 3 in Toronto, a team in Winnipeg and 2 in Vancouver.   But before you go running off pumping your fist for Jim’s victory, you should also consider that the ruling could work against Canadian cities that already have teams as well.  A few years ago, the Montreal Canadiens were in some financial trouble and went up for sale.  Not one potential buyer from the city of Montreal or the entire province of Quebec stepped up to buy the team.  Eventually the sale went to Wisconsin native George Gillett Jr. who promised to do everything in his power to keep the franchise in Montreal.  Under the Balsillie blueprint, George could have decided to move the team to Madison, Wisconsin and there would be nothing the NHL could have done about it.  Missing 100 years of tradition and a history of 24 Stanley Cups would leave a huge void in the city of Montreal.  And it was only a few years ago that Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary were all in serious economic peril.  What is to stop potential owners from eyeing those teams as great opportunities for Kansas City or Portland, Oregon a couple years from now if their fortunes were to take a turn for the worse again? 

If the judge rules for Balsillie, the NHL would not be able to determine where a team is allowed to play.  So be careful what you wish for.  Six or seven years from now you could be watching the Houston Oilers take the ice and be wondering just how did the NHL let it happen or where it all went wrong.

The Greener \m/