Winnipeg hockey fans are quietly confident that they\u2019ll be watching National Hockey League hockey in their hometown at this time next year.
The seemingly never-ending saga of the Phoenix Coyotes has to be completed by the NHL\u2019s Dec. 31 deadline. But there\u2019s a growing feeling in the Manitoba capital that we\u2019ll know before then that the Jets are coming home.
In fact, some observers are speculating that the outstanding bid from Chicago-based financier Matthew Hulsizer is a sham, a product of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman\u2019s wish to fulfil the league\u2019s obligation to do its best to find a buyer for the money-losing team. Hulsizer\u2019s offer is remarkably similar to the one by Chicago White Sox and Bulls\u2019 owner Jerry Reinsdorf, which was rejected earlier this year.
Hulsizer apparently has a \u201cconceptual\u201d deal to buy the team \u2014 whatever that means. But voting on the deal wasn\u2019t on the City of Glendale\u2019s council meeting agenda on Oct. 26, and the next council meeting isn\u2019t until the second week of November.
Any potential memorandum of understanding must be voted on and approved by the council before a lease agreement can be negotiated and an official offer to purchase is submitted to the NHL. That offer then must be voted on by the NHL\u2019s board of governors. Tick, tock.
In the meantime, Winnipeggers open the sports pages every morning to check the hockey box scores. Not to check goals and assists in our hockey pools, but because we want to see how badly Glendale residents are supporting the team. After a near-sellout of more than 17,000 tickets in the home opener, the announced crowds for the next three games were below 8,400 \u2014 actual attendance was estimated to be much lower \u2014 bringing average attendance down to slightly more than 10,000, lowest in the league.
The Coyotes\u2019 second game got the most attention when a photograph of the crowd during the second period, in which just a smattering of fans can be seen in the lower bowl, went viral. The photo prompted one-liners from hockey analysts and even Coyotes\u2019 player Paul Bissonnette, who tweeted: \u201cBig win tonight. Had the crunch of the game. Thanks to the 5,000 fans that showed up. Did people think it was an 11 o\u2019clock start?\u201d
His rant continued the next day: \u201cMorning folks. Guess we actually had more than 5,000 fans for our game. Didn\u2019t realize it was Dress Like a Seat Night. Close to a sellout.\u201d
Further buoying Winnipeggers\u2019 spirits is that, even if Hulsizer\u2019s deal does go through, there are so many other teams in trouble that the NHL\u2019s return to Winnipeg is a matter of when, not if. The Atlanta Thrashers, for example, are attracting only a few more people per game than the Coyotes; the same goes for the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders. We hear that the Dallas Stars are soon going to need help to pay the bills and the majority owners of the St. Louis Blues have been trying to sell that team for more than a year.
Why postpone the inevitable? Bettman apparently has a certified cheque in his desk drawer from a group led by Manitoba Moose governor Mark Chipman and his billionaire buddy, David Thomson, to bring a team back to Winnipeg.
Here\u2019s betting it gets cashed.
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