I have been holding on to my opinion on this subject for too long.
But with all that has happened in the past few weeks, I can’t bite my tongue any longer.
Who is going to replace Steve Carell on The Office? NBC has been about as tight-lipped on the subject as the NHL has about the Phoenix-Winnipeg-Atlanta saga.
Which is also actually the real topic of this column.
I can understand why the league brass, specifically commissioner Gary Bettman, wants to keep the details under wrap and keep people’s attention on the playoffs.
But at what point does an actual, formal announcement from the league on its intentions need to happen?
As always, the main issue seems to be money. I write for a living, so math, ledgers, leans, transfer fees and all the technical jargon may as well be written in Greek.
To me, the issue seems simple: Hockey doesn’t work in the desert.
The Coyotes have been losing money every year and they have no real, loyal fan base or any local ownership groups interested in establishing any type of tradition for the club.
Now, the Glendale City council voted to pay $25-million to keep the team for one more season. How is that going to change anything?
It’s delaying the inevitable and is a colossal waste of taxpayer money.
After that happened, all of a sudden the Atlanta Thrashers (who have muddled ownership and arena issues) are said to be close to moving to Winnipeg. Here we go again.
Plenty of questions surround the possible move: Is it fair to keep teasing the patient fans in the Winnipeg area with all these reports and rumours?
How long can the NHL wait to set its schedule for October?
Do they really have a two-case scenario?
Is it fair to force a move upon the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and its personnel?
Is the 15,000-seat MTS Centre capable of handling an NHL franchise?
Should the team, if it goes there, be called the Jets again?
But the biggest question of all is: Should the NHL even return to Winnipeg and how would things be different this time around?
Its metropolitan area serves less than 700,000 people, which would make it by far the smallest market (behind Edmonton at 1,034,945).
Corporate sponsorship wouldn’t be great there and TV rights could become a significant issue as Rogers Sportsnet has western contracts with the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
Not to mention a likely re-alignment by the NHL, which would have plenty of potential fallout.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it would be great to have a seventh NHL team in Canada, but I just don’t see how this situation would end any different than it did for Winnipeg in 1996.
Maybe it’s just not meant to be.
