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...

Your Daily Jim Balsillie Update

According to an article from the Globe and Mail's David Shoalts and Sean Gordon, wanna-be National Hockey League/Nashville Predators ((pictured, thanks thetennessean.com)) -minority/majority owner Jim Balsillie has some competition for the 27-percent stake of the franchise currently up for bankruptcy bidding from the portfolio of William "Boots" Del Biaggio...

The rest of the current ownership group...

Minority owner Herb Fritch and two other sources told Shoalts and Gordon that the group headed by David Freeman has put in a number of their own to the bankruptcy court in San Francisco.

The article goes on to say that the 27-percent stake is valued at US$20-million, but the courts view it to be slightly higher in their own assessment. Fritch admitted that the ownership group's bid was at an undervalued rate to the assessed value.

Don't be surprised, though, if Balsillie bid over either value since he was willing to part with almost US$240-million to pick up the Preds in the first place. The current ownership consortium ((that's a fancy name for "group")) ended up grabbing the team from ex-owner Craig Leipold for US$176-million.

But another rub in all of this is the approval of the new owner by both the rest of the group and the National Hockey League when the bankruptcy court decides on a final winner in the case.

Ahem... quote... from the article...

"I believe our group has to approve any sale of those shares, so we have some control over who gets them... I don't care what the amount [of the bid] is, it's got to be approved by the powers that be," Fritch said. "I think the bankruptcy trustee has to take that into account."

Stephen Brunt follows up the work from these two with a column of his own... feeling that the current US economic downturn may lead to Balsillie's riding a white horse and bringing a second NHL team to southern Ontario province after all...

Strangely enough... the local paper in Nashville hasn't touched this yet...
As of the time of the story developing, anyway...
When we know more... you'll know more...

UPDATE: Sources tell Sportsnet's HockeyCentral that the Predators, on the whole, are not for sale and that Balsillie's interest is dependent on the 27-percent Del Biaggio portion of the ownership stake. Apparently, even with the Del Biaggio percentage being less than a majority, the National Hockey League Board of Governors would still have to approve the transfer.