[cferneyh]

cferneyh he facilitated the Jets move by helping Shenkarow find his buyers. If you think the owners are the only ones to blame you are grossly underestimating Bettman's role. And sure, the Coyotes may be worth $143M today, but they still aren't profitable on an operating basis. Their loss of $6M last year places them 28th in the league in operating income.

But - again - finding the buyer and helping Shenkarow get the best possible deal for his franchise is Bettman's job. And obviously chances are it is going to be easiest to find a buyer in the US. It's simple economics.

And regarding the Penguins, lets not forget that a Canadian had a deal in place to purchase the team for $175M. He withdrew his bid after the league placed restrictions on his ability to move the team if their arena deal feel through, including the possibility that the NHL would take over control of the team rather than allow them to be moved. Why didn't the Jets get that kind of support from Gary's office? And why was it even necessary for the Pens, considering Balsillie repeatedly said he wanted to keep the team in Pittsburgh? Could it be that the thought of losing an American team to Canada was so disturbing to the league, that they would turn away a buyer just to eliminate that possibility, no matter how remote it was?

All very valid points....especially about the NHL not giving the Jets the same kind of support, but, and let's be honest here - there's a hell of a lot more going on behind the scenes than we've been privy too. I mean how the hell can Mario come out and publicly blast Balsillie, say he's keeping his deposit - all because Balsillie was told he couldn't move the team - and ia week later announce that he's going to look at moving the team?

Anyway, I think we've both made our points here - you blame Bettman, I blame the owners. In all likelihood the blame probably should fall somewhere in the middle.