Room For Another In The Horseshoe...?

Well, duh...

Globesports and TSN in Canada are bringing out the idea that some National Hockey League governors have informally ((emphasize the word- informally)) floated the thought of a second franchise in the Greater Toronto Area ((pictured, thanks NHL Images/Getty Images)).

Would the area support another franchise...?

Mental Note: What has Jim Balsillie been doing trying to bring a group to Hamilton and renovate the Copps Coliseum...?

Hello...???

Anyway... David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail brought up the idea after talking to some governors who suggest that one scenario is to give Balsillie an expansion franchise in the GTA after restoring financial stability to the Nashville Predators...

((Ed. note- Isn't that what got the Preds into this mess with Craig Leipold, AEG, and the Los Angeles Kings...? Just axin'))

From Shoalts... ahem... quote...

"Calgary Flames co-owner Harley Hotchkiss, a former chairman of the NHL board of governors, is also aware of the Balsillie movement.

“I've heard bits and pieces of this scenario, although not in that kind of detail,” he said. “Our priority is to have the existing franchises solid.”

“[It is] an interesting scenario,” Mr. Hotchkiss added, “ but I can only speak generally.”

Richard Peddie, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said the organization would not automatically reject the idea of a second team in Toronto.

“When and if the league brings expansion to the table, we'll listen and decide what is best [for hockey],” he said."

One governor told Shoalts that Balsillie would never get a team into Hamilton because "it's a minor-league town." There is also the thought that a team in Hamilton would put up a road block for anyone in the Golden Horsehoe ((the area from 12:00 to 6:00 hugging the western edge of Lake Ontario)) that, previously, would go catch a Buffalo Sabres game.

"We do not want to kill the Sabres,” the governor said. “But if there was a second team in Toronto, that would not hurt Buffalo.”

But another interviewee by Shoalts thought that asking Balsillie for a massive expansion fee would placate the Sabres financially...

Stephen Brunt likes the idea, but only if it's through relocation...

TSN's coverage is in black...

TSN's Dave Hodge waxes on the thought in black...