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Amid rabid speculation that the Phoenix Coyotes face an insurmountable debt load, the team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier today. Following the announcement, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie put in a US$212 million offer to buy the team, under the condition that it is relocated to Southern Ontario. (His previous bids for the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins were unsuccessful.) Chatter of moving or creating a team here has re-ignited in recent weeks, but the NHL refused to confirm any of the speculation until today. The Globe and Mail is reporting that the NHL's management, which has an acrimonious relationship with Balsillie, plans to fight the offer, but Balsillie hopes to avoid this battle (which hurt his previous bids) by building grassroots support for the team—he's encouraging all fans of the proposal to visit www.makeitseven.ca in order to voice their support.
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I'm pretty sure Balsille has no Toronto plans (he'd be foolish to, anyway). N/W GTA, maybe.
I wonder how Winnipeggers feel about this -- I'm sure they'd love to have their team back.
Pretty sure his target area is K/W or Hamilton, not Toronto.
Not that it matters. If 30 million Canadians voiced their support for another team, Bettman wouldn't care. As far as the NHL is concerned, the real money is in US cities where nobody gives a rat's ass about the game as opposed to the country that provides a disproportionate amount of the revenue for the league.