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Rumors are swirling right now that the Atlanta Thrashers are heading to the great hockey city of Winnipeg and we are going to hear about it after the Olympics....If you remember on the Hockeybuzzcast Prediction Podcast back in December, I predicted we would start to hear these rumors post Olympics, everyone would deny them until after the season...hmmm
All bragging aside, while I would love to see it, I am not yet convinced.
Some sources are telling me they fully believe the NHL will move one or two teams in the next five years, but I am not certain those teams will move to Canada.
While it has been true for 2-3 years now as many as ten NHL team owners would sell, there is no denying what we just learned again in Phoenix. The NHL may let a team move, but only on their own terms. The NHL controls this game. Like it or not.
I am always a supporter of Winnipeg getting their team back. I would go to rallies up there if I one was held...so I want to say they will get a team...but so far I just can't.
The Thrashers ownership issues are well documented. The trading of Ilya Kovalchuk was certainly a blow and Don Waddell, who really is the leading hockey force and the reason the NHL franchise still exists, is not only the GM of the Thrashers, but we all hear he is running the NBA Hawks as well.
The Thrashers are definitely one of the ten teams who you could purchase, but as Jim Balsillie has shown us, you need more than money. You need to play by the rules. You need to go to the NHL and make your intentions known from day 1. You need to allow the NHL to decide where you can put your team.
There are many potential ownership groups who have done just that, and one group from Winnipeg (I have heard possibly two groups actually) has been talking to the NHL for quite some time now. They are on the correct path.
But the steps are huge and the questions have answers that are absolute.
There are no gray areas when it comes to this process.
#1. The NHL has to approve your group.
#2. The NHL has to allow you to buy a specific team.
#3. The NHL has to permit you to move the specific team to a specific city.
#4. Then and only then does the process actually begin.
I have heard from VERY good source the NHL may allow 1 or 2 teams to move in the next 5 years, but may not allow it to Canada.
One source told me he is 100% certain the NHL will either move a team to Quebec or relocate there in the next five years. Many sources I talk to, including three separate members of the Board of Governors, confirmed with me today that Quebec is what they feel is next up.
But I have also heard the NHL may not just "make it 7"...they may make it 8.
Sources also tell me they could see an 8th Canadian team enter the NHL in the next 5 years. Where would that team be?
Ontario, likely Toronto.
It is almost unanimous that the NHL is considering a major group's request to put a second team in Leafland.
Winnipeg, while possible, feels like a bigger risk to the business NHL people I come across. I hear Winnipeg lacks the industry and corporate sponsorship believed needed.
So how does it work when sources are telling me they won't move a team to Canada and yet the NHL is considering "making it8?"
There is also a groundswell of people (like myself) who want to see, and believe we will absolutely see, 32 NHL teams.
The benefits of 32 teams are numerous. I have heard the NHL likes (as do I) the concept of four/eight team divisions. The NHL loves playing up rivalries and four divisions with divisional playoffs are the best way to do this.
Is this possible? I defer to a source with far more knowledge than I who said to me this morning..
"Too soon to fully predict, but I see a future where we have 8 in Canada and 24 still in America. While in support of the great hockey fans of Phoenix, Atlanta, or either Florida market, I can not guarantee we find owners willing to keep those teams in those markets long term. The new owners would likely be asked to make a go of it, and even sign off that they will not consider relocation for 24 months or so. But after that I could see Kansas City, or Las Vegas, or Houston, or Seattle making plays. If the goal is 32 teams, it just makes more sense to do the expansion north of the border. Those markets will be more patient. Where if you move teams within the States you will at least open with a somewhat competitive and established organization."
I asked, "So two more Canadian teams in the East, and possibly two teams moving to the West?"
"Yes," he continued, "Unless it is Phoenix staying out West, in which case you would have to move a team from the East to the West."'
"So what current team moves to the West?"
My friend laughed and added, "Oh no. Let's not go there yet."
more to come..
To hear my Olympic Hockey Prediction, listen to the latest Hockeybuzz Rumors MinuteCast Lexycast go Here
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