Jets Getting Louder

During a May 11 interview on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman seemed to dismiss rumours that a franchise in Winnipeg was on the short-term radar screen. When reporter Scott Oake started talking about a potential ownership group coming forward in the Manitoba capital to relocate the Phoenix Coyotes, Bettman interrupted with “you say that’s true, but nobody has confirmed that in Winnipeg for sure”. Well, now it appears that Bettman himself has provided this confirmation.

Fast forward 17 days after the CBC interview: It’s now May 28, and Bettman is addressing the media with his annual update on league affairs prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final. Instead of dismissing the Winnipeg rumours as he did during the Oake interview less than three weeks earlier, Bettman does a 180-degree turn, confirming that “Winnipeg did make a bona fide offer” and, referencing the Jets original departure from Winnipeg in 1996 and the Nordiques move from Quebec City one year earlier, he adds “I’d like to try and fix something that I wish might not have happened in the first place”.

So, what does all this mean? The Phoenix Coyotes have yet to find a buyer that is committed to keeping the team in Arizona. The league has set a deadline of June 30 to ink a deal and there is growing speculation that none will be reached. If the June 30 date comes and goes without an announcement, the league would be in a legal position to move the team unless city council were to make good on the infamous $25 million guarantee - far from a certainty. Nonetheless, with the NHL schedule set to be released on June 22, it is highly unlikely at this point that any franchises will be on the move in time for next season. But after that, all bets are off.

Bettman’s drastic shift in message to the media in such a short period of time suggests that the league is now actively embracing Canadian relocation and that teams in both Winnipeg and Quebec City are legitimate short-term possibilities. “Winnipeg, I believe, has an NHL building,” Bettman commented, “and in Quebec, they’re talking about building one”. And at NHL headquarters in New York, you’ve got to believe that they’re seriously talking about teams coming back to Canada. They're certainly talking about it on this side of the boarder.

TONIGHT'S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 3, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)