Balsillie is the NHL’s Mark Cuban/Al Davis

Gary Bettman is a douchebag, but Balsillie isn’t too far behind. Months and months of deliberation have seen the worst from the NHL, and now the Canadian billionaire, Jim Balsillie, is going batty. The whole thing has been a well documented mess, and it’s gotten so bad that Reinsdorf has withdrawn his bid to become the new owner of the NHL franchise in Arizona.

Bettman and Balsillie come from two completely different camps. Bettman is trying to revitalize hockey in the southwest, while Balsillie prefers to put the team in the financially stable and endearing hockey market of Southern Ontario. Hasn’t Arizona spoken about hockey? I can hear the faint sounds off the southern winds, but it pretty much sounds like, “What the hell is hockey doing here? We don’t care!”

The millions lost in revenue annually by the Phoenix Coyotes make it staggering to me how and why the NHL would feverishly try to keep the club in a market that doesn’t want the team. If you were losing $30 million a year, wouldn’t you consider that your plot to expand the NHL product isn’t working? In a credit crunch, doesn’t it make more sense to put the team in a place where people are willing to spend money on hockey?

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Since Reinsdorf’s group has yanked its deal, Bettman and a firm known as Ice Edge have stepped in to place a counter-offer for Balsillie’s $212.5 million offer. So instead, the Ice Edge group, headed by members of the NHL are basically positioning themselves so the NHL can buy the team instead. Is this really worth it? Doesn’t a league that has lost its true fans, is on the cusp of revitalizing the league in general and trying to climb out of nearly a billion dollar in losses have better things to think about than keeping hockey in Phoenix?

That being said, Balsillie’s antics have started to wear thin. Ottawa Senators owner, Eugene Melnyk offered words to Balsillie in the form of a public letter stating that Balsillie’s actions were debasing his public figure and embarrassing the league. Don’t worry, Melnyk, the NHL as a whole embarrasses itself as a whole by being watched by fewer viewers than the professional bowling tour in the USA.

The reason I’m so adamant about Balsillie getting the team is two-fold. First, I think his intentions are that of a fan who sees economic viability in Southern Ontario, and rightfully so. The second reason is a little more intrinsic.

It’s been long documented that Al Davis has been good for the NFL. Mark Cuban has done similar things in the NBA by being such an outspoken and unique owner. Wouldn’t the NHL be revitalized by some new blood in the ownership ranks? Granted, it’s obvious how scared the owners are of Balsillie by voting unanimously that he is unfit to be an NHL owner, but that just makes me want to see him own the team more.

While Ice Edge on the NHL also have solid intentions, their direction is fueled by money and greed. They are refusing to cut ties with business opportunities in Phoenix, and Jobin.com who owns the rights to the arena, that have already lost them hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s like the anti-Sonics situation. The city wants them to stay, the league wants them to stay, and all the investors that have sunk money in to the Coyotes want them to stay. As opposed to the situation in Phoenix, it’s the fans that don’t want them to stay.