Every time an NHL team gets into financial trouble, the media in Winnipeg stirs up the pot about how maybe the team will relocate to Winnipeg. This bugs me to no end. The NHL in its current state is not viable in Winnipeg. We are too small a market and there just isn't the corporate base to finance a team. While the NHL would be much more viable than it used to be now that there's a salary cap, it's just not going to happen here.
Having said that, the NHL in any incarnation is not viable in a whole lot of the markets where it's currently operating. Gary Bettman is either a fool if he truly believes that the Predators, Coyotes and Thrashers are ever going to make money, or he's a flat-out liar to keep saying that these franchises are doing well. Who does he honestly think he's kidding?
The main problem is that people in these markets are just not that into you, Gary. They don't grow up playing hockey, they grow up playing baseball and football. They don't get the game. They have never been passionate about it, and despite your trying to jam it down their throats for a decade, they still aren't. This is a square peg in a round hole -- it just ain't gonna fly.
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