From the Globe & Mail:
If the National Hockey League had played its cards right, one of its most troubled franchises would soon have a new home in a stable hockey market, with stable ownership and a stable future. Instead, having outsmarted itself in blocking the move of a U.S.-based team to Canada, the league has an unholy mess.
Little more than a year ago, Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie was set to buy the foundering Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton. It was a marriage made in heaven. Mr. Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research In Motion, is a dynamic and deep-pocketed owner of a kind the NHL needs more of. And a team in Hamilton would have thrived; more than 12,000 fans quickly put down deposits for season tickets in expectation of the Predators' arrival.
Read the entire editorial here. (Hat tip to Puck Daddy)
I tend to agree with this editorial. If the NHL was not going to give Balsillie the option of moving the team, why did it essentially give that option to Del Biaggio? Would NHL hockey be more profitable in Kansas City than Hamilton? C'mon.
2 comments:
I think one of the most overlooked items from the infamous Boots Powerplay presentation was the 'expansion fee' that he has penciled in for 2010 (or so). I'm wondering if Gary and the boys have a city in southern-ontario (Hamilton/KW) in mind for that and that is why they are so anti-Balsillie (i.e. don't move a team in there for free when we can get mucho dinero for the honour).
Regards,
M. Ilard
What a massive debacle. I just fisted Bettman and the NHL brass with a piece on my site and went searching for others' takes. Well done with this piece IC, I hope spreading the word will allow us to write about new leadership very shortly.
Cheers, D-C9
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