All seems quiet on the Balsillie-pursues-the-Coyotes front . . . today, anyway.
Great column by the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons, published Friday, on the endless soap opera. About time somebody in Canada took Captain Canada Balsillie to task. The media coverage of this whole affair in Canada, generally speaking, has been shamefully cheerleader-like.
Bottom line: all the populist nonsense like appealing to Canadians' love of hockey (gee, ya think?) matters not a wit. The court has ruled (view story-by-story package), and despite the endless posturing and shenanigans, the NHL indeed doesn't want Balsillie in its club. Think about it dispassionately: would you? He's obviously a major pain in the neck.
Imagine what he'd be like as an owner? Based on his tactics in ongoing efforts to land a team, he'd never follow league policy, he'd likely be forever telling his coach and general manager what to do; in short, close to another Harold Ballard.
Yes, the NHL has had its share of pain in the butt, even criminal owners, in its lodge. So maybe the league has learned its lesson and don't want another headache. It's really getting rather pathetic, bordering on buffoonery and naivete, with the Balsillie camp now whining that the NHL has taken to ignoring Balsillie's entreaties for mediation and so forth.
Besides which, Balsillie isn't the only potential owner in the world, folks. There may be others who will eventually bring another team to Canada. But not Hamilton. Sorry, the so-called Hammer isn't getting an NHL team. Not now. Likely not ever. The NHL has enough trouble "selling" Canadian teams to U.S. fans - and try coaxing players to come to Steeltown. It doesn't mean it's a bad city, or there's an anti-Canadian policy; it's just reality when measured against other, more appealing markets. Not to mention that in terms of location, with all the issues about infringing on the Toronto and Buffalo markets, Hamilton is situated awkwardly.
And getting just 3,500 people out for a rally (when organizers hoped for and predicted as many as 10,000) doesn't exactly help your cause, although media spin made it sound like 3,500 was a good turnout.
Of course, who was the brainiac who decided to hold the rally on a weekday afternoon - and after the judge's ruling came down? Sure, nobody knew exactly when that judgment was to be rendered, but setting June 19 as the rally date was Bal-silly.
It should have been scheduled while the actual process of tabling arguments was still going on. At that point, if you believe in populism, maybe a huge turnout - and chances of getting a huge turnout were better, obviously, before the judge ruled against Balsillie - might have had an impact on the judge's decision. Unlikely, but worth a try - if you believe in populism which is essentially the only card Balsillie seems to have had all along. Hamilton deserves a team because, well, you know, it's a Canadian city and, well, damn it, it just ought to have one.
And another thing. Enough with the "Gary Bettman hates Canada" nonsense. First off, he doesn't get a vote in the matter of who gets a team.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, Gary Bettman, folks, is one of the main reasons there are still NHL teams in Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and perhaps Vancouver. Most Canadians can't stand Bettman for petty reasons that come down to he's an American running what Canadians see as "their" sport when Canadians should be proud that "their" sport has been embraced by so many outside this country. Talk about parochial.
As for Bettman's alleged hatred of Canada, remember when the Canadian dollar was at 60 cents or so U.S.? Bettman and the NHL came up with the Canadian currency assistance plan and helped find owners for the Canucks (egad, and an American owner at the time, too, when no Canadians stepped up), Oilers (a community group) and even the Montreal Canadiens (American George Gillett, who has just sold the team back to Canadian interests in the Molson family).
Where, praytell, was Captain Canada Balsillie then?
Meanwhile, how does Teflon Man Wayne Gretzky, he of the $8 million coaching salary for repeatedly missing the playoffs, get off without criticism in all this? He's a prime reason the Coyotes are in the state they're in. Just because he was a great hockey player does not mean he's a great owner, coach, manager; something he's proven so far.
Phoenix is not a traditional market (yes, I know, so why have a team there but it's all about trying to 'grow' the game and non-traditional markets like Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose have long worked) so it's that much more important for the team to be a winner to have a chance of survival. These aren't the Toronto Maple Leafs we're talking about.
So we really don't know about Phoenix as a market until the team improves. And with Gretzky as coach the last four years and managing partner of the team - in charge of all hockey operations, you can check that fact out on the Coyotes' website - since 2001, chances of that happening appear slim. It's all there in the record.
It's not pretty.