There’s nothing more frustrating for a sports fan than waiting. Yet, that’s exactly what followers of professional hockey and football in Winnipeg are being forced to do.

For one group, the dream is still a pie in the sky; for the other, ground-breaking events could begin this year.

Mark Chipman, governor of the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, has let it be known that Winnipeg may be interested if the owners of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins opt to move the team out of Pennsylvania.

Sure, it’s a long shot. Particularly with potential owners in Kansas City offering free rent for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal et al. And there are other U.S. cities with deep-pocketed sports fans and would-be owners, such as hockey-mad Houston.

The buzz at Portage and Main is that the city needs an NHL team to lock in the economic and other gains made since the Jets took their final flight to Phoenix in 1996.

The finances are in place for raising the US$150 million-US$200 million needed to buy an NHL team. An NHL-ready rink, the 15,500-seat MTS Centre, was built a few years ago. The red flag is the annual operating costs.

“We could do it, no problem, with a salary cap of $35 million,” says one Winnipeg high- roller. “But $45 million is a different story.”

Should the NHL ever return to the Mani-toba capital, the concern isn’t whether people would buy seats during the honeymoon. It’s whether they’d support the team at $100 a pop if it was losing more than winning.

The word around the campfire is that a few teams have to relocate before Winnipeg re-enters the big leagues. That’s when supply and demand will tilt in Winnipeg’s favour.

Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean is on record saying the NHL’s expansion into the southern U.S. will fail and, when it does, the league will come back to cities such as Winnipeg and Quebec City.

So, Winnipeg hockey fans wait.

On the football side, events are being fast-tracked. David Asper — son of the late Israel Asper, who was Winnipeg’s biggest fan — is awaiting word on his $145-million proposal to take over the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, build a state-of-the-art stadium and adjoining retail development, and take the team into the big leagues.

The plan, which would include $65 million of Asper’s own money, would also require the federal and provincial governments to pony up $40 million each. The proposal also includes repayment in less than seven years from taxes generated by the construction and retail operations.

If the Blue Bombers’ board gives its blessing, construction could begin this summer. The team could be playing in its new digs in 2008.

One of the sticking points is the Blue Bomb-ers have been a community-owned team for more than 75 years, and fans have long memories when it comes to controversial owners such as the Gliebermans in Ottawa. However, there is no doubting the Asper family’s commitment to Winnipeg. In addition to spearheading the proposed Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Asper name is on countless buildings in town and one loses track of the millions of dollars they have donated to education, the arts and business. The headquarters of Asper-controlled CanWest Global Communications Corp. is also here in Winnipeg.

The football project is a no-brainer. Now we just have to wait for the owners of the NHL’s Nashville Predators or Florida Panthers to get tired of losing money, and all Winnipeg sports fans will be happy. IE