Now that the NHL has added a team in Canada for the first time since taking a pair away in the mid-'90s many Canadians are surely hoping the floodgates have opened.
After all, there a number of teams in the U.S. struggling to stay afloat and a couple that are outright drowning.
Atlanta is moving to Winnipeg, ending a four-year saga of fierce negotiating to get a team back in Canada, which seriously began with Jim Balsillie, of Research in Motion, trying to move the Nashville Predators to Hamilton in 2007.
For the last two years, Winnipeg investors were looking to acquire the Phoenix Coyotes. Just a month ago it was looking pretty much like that would finally be the case.
Then the City of Glendale and the NHL put the kibosh on that dream, guaranteeing the Coyotes one final year in the desert.
As soon as that was over, True North Sports and Entertainment, who were looking to bring the Coyotes home, turned their attention to the struggling Thrashers franchise in Atlanta and voila, the deal is done, the team is moving and the saga is over.
As it turns out there could be a lot more to come. Nashville is still clearly a precarious market and could require a move if the team slips again and the city loses all interest.
The Coyotes were bailed out by the City of Phoenix, are under ownership of the NHL, and despite being saved for the 2011-12 season, have zero future in Phoenix beyond that, except under more NHL ownership.
Phoenix's dead franchise was, and still is, losing $25 million per season. Recent reports show that the Columbus Blue Jackets are also losing that amount each year. They may need a new city soon too.
Quebec City wants a team, whenever they get their new arena built, but they could only house one franchise.
There are now reports that a Seattle group is interested in an NHL team. They will need a new arena too. Microsoft is not part of that group.
Southern Ontario is still looking for a team. There will probably need to be an NHL-quality arena built there as nothing in Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo or London will fit that bill. Copps Coliseum in Hamilton holds 17,000, but it may not have the facilities necessary to support all the nuances of having an NHL team.
So there are places for all three teams, though arena work needs to be done. The recession, it seems, is finally catching up to the NHL teams in poor markets. The Florida Panthers must be ready to close up shop anytime now. Where should they go? Maybe they'll be a Vegas sideshow.
Any other franchises in trouble? The California teams are hopefully playing well enough to keep an avid fan base. They accounted for three of the eight western teams in the playoffs this year.
The NHL went after large American television markets with big corporate sponsors. Those corporate sponsors have lots of money, but they don't want to lose millions of dollars each year.
TV markets are great, but once the networks realize hockey viewership in the U.S. is on par with basketball in Canada, they will pullout. The NHL needs to be a little more choosy than they have been in the last 15 years when finding supporting cities.
